My PS2 - A Work Of Genius (Sony Playstation 2)

Member Name: qrf1

Product:	Sony Playstation 2
Date:	15/04/03 (1813 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: In the Opinion

Disadvantages: In the Opinion

Buying my PS2 a while since its release has often confuses my friends. 'Why Bother?' they ask, or more, 'Why?' To them I say a few things - one, that I've only just got hold of the money, and two, my love of role-playing games far outweighs my need for air, water or food. Or at least I try to make them think that.

I bought my PS2 early last October, for which to some I might seem a bit stupid. But then look at the great array of games I have to now to purchase - Gran Turismo 3 A-Spec; Grand Theft Auto & Grand Theft Auto: Vice City; Final Fantasy X (and hopefully if they ever bother, Final Fantasy XI); Legaia 2: Duel Saga; Dark Cloud; Kingdom Hearts; Tekken Tag Tournament.... And at the price of only £175, a bargain.

The PS2, for those who don't know, is essentially the first of a series of high-powered game consoles. Running at a blinding number of Megahertz and able to render millions of polygons, Any console from now on will get bigger and better. The PS2 has slots for two controllers, allowing to play two player games, Though to play multiplayer (as in more than 2) games such a Timesplitters 2, a 'MultiTap' has to be purchased - and these cost around £5 - £25, depending on which one you get. There are two spaces for memory cards, and these allow you to save your game data. Each game uses a different amount of storage on you memory card, but as I play RPGs, I can save around 50 games onto one official Sony memory card. There is a massive storage facility at the back, so if they ever decide to release the hard drive from Japan over in the UK you can put a hard drive into you PS2, enabling the bigger and better games to run at a proper speed. The USB connection ports on the front of the PS2 enable owners to put steering wheels, joysticks and other spontaneous peripherals that can be released onto the PS2 market.

The PS2 game database is huge. Go into any GAME, HMV, Choices or even your local gamin
g outlet and you will see a vast display dedicated to PS2 games (that is unless its a Nintendo only outlet). Search on Special Reserve, Ask Jeeves, Amazon, Dooyoo (!) or anywhere and expect to get links to hundreds if not thousands of PS2 games. No one can say they are all crap and meaningless. If anyone does then they do not deserve to ever be recognised in any sort of a community. Dig yourself a hole and live in it. It's the only place suitable for those sorts of people. While I may be a huge RPG fan, before you say 'Why don't you get a Gamecube? They've got Zelda and Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles.' I haven't got any more money! If I would I could but being skint sort of reduces the amount of money I can spend on games. Besides, I don't classify Zelda as a proper RPG, its more of an adventure game.

The local competition comes in the form of the Microsoft X-Box and the Nintendo Gamecube. Let's break it down:

DVD Player

PS2: Yes
GameCube: No
XBox: Need remote, costs £20

Controller Ports:

PS2: 2, can have 8 with two Multitaps
GameCube: 4
XBox: 4

Memory Cards:

PS2: 8MB each, £15-25
Gamecube: 59 blocks (therefore max 59 saves) £20
XBox: Internal 4Gb Hard-Drive, 8MB cards optional £20

Games:

PS2: Several Hundreds
Gamecube: Under 100
XBox: Under 100

Ease of use:

PS2: Easy
Gamecube: Easy
XBox: Impossible - get a flat one from www.cex.com for £30. (That's Computer Exchange's Website)

But anyway, back specifically to the PS2. Its sleek cool design and classic games enable you to present your house like a palace. Set it up vertically, and place it next to your plasma screen or set it up horizontally and place it on your normal TV. It's your choice - it's your PS2. You make the rules. Welcome to the THIRD PLACE!

Advantages:

The Best Toy, Ever!
D
VD Player as well
Hundreds and Hundreds of Games
Graphic speeds are to notch
Only one step away from VR

Disadvantages:

Which Game?
MultiTap required for 2+ players
Only 24 hours in the day
No Phantasy Star Online
The Good Japanese Games aren't released over here!

qrf1

Summary: