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Games Entertainment

Sony Playstation 2 North America Launch 113

Posted by timothy from the that's-a-base-price-ma'am- dept.
trazom28 writes: "According to ZDNet, Sony has announced the release of the Playstation 2 in North America on Oct. 26. MSRP is $299 with an 8 meg memory card, controller and multiport for $34 extra. Predicted software prices will be $49. Can you say drool? :-) " [Updated 18:20 GMT by timothy] According to dairypope, the price of $299 will not include the 8-meg card, but rather "only an AV cable, power cable, and one Dual Shock controller, as reported by DailyRadar."
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Sony Playstation 2 North America Launch! More

Sony Playstation 2 North America Launch!

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  • PS2 vs. Dreamcast (Score:3)

    by thegreatbadger ( 163664 ) on Thursday May 11, 2000 @02:41AM (#1079722)
    Although it looks like Sony has the upper hand when it comes to hardware and there are some other powerful systems due out this time next year, I think this round of the console wars might just go to the Dreamcast. Starting on June 4th and ending on August 31st, all Dreamcast purchasers will be eligible for a $50 rebate. This drops the price down to $150. Also, if you sign up for Sega's online gaming service you get a $200 rebate. Sega's basically giving their hardware away to build a strong customer base. Even though it's not quite as powerful as some of the yet unrealesed systems (PS2, X-box, and Dolphin) it's here now, it's cheap, and it has a fairly good software library with more on the way. I'll probably pick up a PS2, but I think when the dust settles this round is going to go to Sega.

  • To date 1.8 million units have been sold in Japan

    I don't understand this, if they are (rumored to)having hardware problems why are they selling them in Japan?

    Second if 2 mill sold in Japan already, don't you think 1 mil for USA is going to be pushing it? Right around Christmas time too.

    The company said the new system also supports the existing PlayStation software catalog of more than 800 titles now on the market.

    That is extremely cool, I hadn't heard that before. That is a good idea, remeber Ninetdo, Super Ninetdo, N64, game boy? All there games where incompatiable. i remeber back to the days of the Turbo GX 16, which used flash cards for the console, and the cards where so small they even worked in it's portable device, it was amazing to me at the time.
  • same time
  • EB [ebworld.com] and software etc/Gamestop [gamestop.com] have been taking pre-orders both online and in brick and mortars for months now
  • You've got some good points. But I see 3 problems with your arguments.

    1. Ridge Racer 5 was the first killer app, are more are comming. Sony has to beat Sega's 18 games at lauch the October and they have the THIRD-party developer support to do it

    2. No system starts out with developers using the whole power of the system. It happened on the NES, the SNES, Genesis, Gameboy, is starting to happen on the Playstation, Saturn, and N64. Learning a new system takes time. PC's have been on x86 for years now, deelopers know the platform. Are new apps gonna be able to take advantage of Itanium (or whatever its called) or Sledgehammer? No. . Look at Donkey Kong Country for the SNES. 5 years after the system came out here was a game displaying graphics that were thought to be reserved for the next-gen system. Give it time.

    3. The PSX has over 800 games,this is a small thing but it is worth noting that the PS is the first system since the NES to have this many.

    I'll admit that most of the stuff for PSX right now sucks, but on it we've seen some fo the most innovative games ever. Tobal #1, Devil Dice, FF VII (8 sucked admit it)Twisted Metal, Gran Tursimo. Just because a game isn't a best seller doesn't mean it will suck. There are thousands of droids that will follow the crowd, that doesn't mean the crowds are right.

    Oh and the PSX2 will play PSX games from the start. The I/O chip for the PSX2 is the same main processor used in the original PSX.

  • The Sony licensees paid a lot of money to get their hands on the developer kits, but they claim there are no (?) libraries available for such things as multiprocessor programming.

    What are the odds that one of the developers will open-source their libraries under GPL or something? LOL

  • As far as I can tell, the console market in japan is extremely brand loyal. Sony could've put out a repackaged NES and it would've sold.

    I think the US lauch will be a bit different. Nintendo thought they had a stranglehold on the market in the US..and look what happened to the N64.

    As far as backward compatibility with the PSX..the Dreamcast beat them to the punch. The DC will be able to play PSX games in a few weeks.

    D

  • Actually, what that means to me is that I'll get both, and be able to play the Dreamcast early while I wait for a PS2!! I'm thinking there will be a lot of people to do so, given the great games coming out for both systems...

    I was thinking the Dreamcast price would come down when they released the PS2, but now I don't have to wait!
  • No good games so far
    Hardware's potential is not being used in current games library

    The same could have been said for PS1 when it first came out. And you definitely could have said the same for N64's release. Shoot, all the way back to original NES release, what was there...Super Mario Brothers and Duck Hunt? And a couple of games for that stupid robot? Dreamcast released with about 10 games ready on the shelves, and that was considered revolutionary.

    It takes a while for great games to come out for a new system, just like it takes a while for programmers to start fully utilizing the hardware. I'm thinking that Sony is playing this about right: an October release gives game manufacturers a month to finish their games and get them on the shelves right at Christmas. I'm betting PS2 will be a huge Christmas seller.
  • Facts: The 'anti-aliasing' you're talking about is in fact bi-linear texturing, and it is done in hardware (it's a 'free' effect in the GS, in fact). Makes the textures look blurrier, but smoother.

    Fantavision is already available in Japan. I've got a copy on order myself - apparently it's one of the best games out so far...
  • I discovered that lots of my friends, who weren't gamers before, suddenly bought PlayStations and loved games that I'd never touch (Parappa The Rapper anyone?).

    I consider myself an avid gamer, and I'm going to admit it in public: I _LOVE_ Parappa The Rappa. I can't stop laughing when I play it.

    .. kick, punch, it's all in the mind ..
  • I agree that Nintendo makes some of the Best RPGs (Zelda for example) but I have never played a good sports game on the N64. While Sony and Sega systems seem to excel with these titles. After seeing what the Dreamcast has done with their new line up of games, I can't wait to see what PS2 comes out with.
    This alone will force me to try the PS2.
  • They are, but not in the box. Sony took out the PCMCIA slot and put in a expansion port for the american version. the HD is alleged to go there, that is if they can get it small enough. they may also put it on firewire. Its supposed to be around 20-30 gigs too.

    As for the modem it will go through firewire or usb, and is supposed to be out a month or two later. they are thinking of making it similar to dreamcast where you get the modem and HD for free when you sign up for the service.
  • Why not create your own network? Its not too hard. Just find a large number of other people who agree with your philosophy, and connect your computers together. The clever thing is that you could even route packets across the internet. Packets can encapsulate other packets.
  • I have also heard rumors that some of the PlayStation 2 games (The next few Final Fantasy episodes) will be purely online games. This is pretty cool in some respects (Everquest is quite sweet), but I don't want to have to tie up the phone line all weekend just to increase my amount of Gil, or pad my experience points. Er, no one calls me anyway. *shrug*
  • Chuff-all = no (none)
  • I found this article about the difficulties PS2 developers have had with the system. Given

    No console has ever been easy to develop for. They all require you to read big, thick manuals of arcana and warp your game to fit the strengths of the hardware. The difference this time around is that lots of people who have only done desktop OS programming (mostly Windows, but similarly Linux and MacOS) are jumping into the PS2 with stars in their eyes and discovering that it's a different world. They just want to be able to use Direct3D and OpenGL and Windows API calls and rely on a bottomless virtual memory system, and instead they have to deal with the hardware on its own level, as typical embedded systems programmers do.

    The bottom line is that you can't listen to these people. Of course they're going to whine.
  • Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • I'm very selective when buying games, but even so I think that I've been pretty lucky to build a solid PS collection. There is so much crap out for the PS that it brings to mind the crap that was out for the Atari 2600 before the '83 Crash. I mean even Barbie and the Spice Girls have video games on the PS.

    I'm sorry, but even some of the biggest hits are mindless, PaRappa is a simple "Simon" game. FF8 is amazingly tedious (even though I love the series.)

    There were great games (for the era) on the Atari 2600 before the Crash, but the overwhelming tide of crap drowned out the gems. For every Hot Shots, there 30 Space Hulks. Most of the games don't even try to take advantage of the hardware, the companies are more concerned with meeting deadlines. And with game magazines hyping every game like it's the second coming of Pac, buyers will start to feel screwed and lose interest.

    Dare I say, I actually like the N64 better in part because it uses carts. There is so much less garbage put out for the N64 (not to say that there isn't any, just that there's less of it.)

    -sk

  • If anyone has a Japanese PS2 and would like to get English menus, here's what you do right after a reboot:

    Down (move cursor to System Configuration)
    Circle (select)
    Up (language selection)
    Circle (select)
    Right (move to English)
    Circle (select)

    From then on things should become clear....
    It's not ALL English but it is better.

    Incidentally I have a 1.01 version (was in Akihabara the weekend after the 1.00s sold out) and the Circle + Square any region hack doesn't work for me.
  • The PS2 is architecturally MUCH more difficult than the original PSX (which really could be modeled as a simple von neumann architecture, with a seperate single graphics accelerator module).

    The PS2 has much more explicit and obvious paralelism, which is never as easy to code for.
  • My birthday too. Thanks Sony!
  • Do you know if it works on all American ps1 discs? I ask because I know some of the later discs were made somehow to avoid people disc swapping on the psx, and that the disc swap doesn't work for those (they're more concerned about people burning copies than buying imports I think). I assume it wouldn't work on the ps2 either.

    And yes, they certainly do suck.

    The bus came by and I got on
    That's when it all began
    There was cowboy Neal
    At the wheel
    Of a bus to never-ever land

  • Yup, I'm planning on it. (: I still have one question though: will the PS2 DVD player be able to decode Dolby Digital or DTS? I think I read somewhere that the PS2 will have 6 audio outputs...
  • >1. PS2 currently has the best fighter and racer >available for *any* platform.

    what???? whoa... when did capcom port marvel vs. capcom 2 to the psx2? oh... my bad... you must be talking about tekken tag... ... yeah, suuure... damned tekken monkeys...

    j----
  • I am, although I already have a DVD drive in my computer hooked up to my tv. I'd rather not have to turn the computer on to watch a video.
  • Part I'm sure is development. With the DVD probs and all I'm sure it's easier to focus on one place and release there. Then if tech probs come up (like they did) it's easier if you got several thousands of disappointed customers, rather than Millions.

    If Sony waited and stocked up so they could release to the world (I wonder how long that would take alone) then had a major malfunction, even a huge company like Sony would be hit hard in the bottom line, let alone consumer confidence.

    Now even having said that. I think it sucks you guys get shafted as much as you do. Movies, other stuff too.
  • The original PSX redefined the games playing demographic from young kids and teenagers to a more mature young adult audience. I, being one of these gamers, can enjoy violent games without wanting to go out and shoot someone in the same way as I can play a driving game and not jump in my car and drive around residential streets like a Formula 1 driver posessed.

    It is not up to the console manufacturers or games publishers to limit violence to protect what is now an equally sized proportion of the games buying market. If you don't want kids buying violent games don't buy them for them in the 1st place. It is an individual parent's responsibility to control their playing habits just as it is to control their TV/movie viewing habits. Legislation can and does exist to assist people in making these decisions such as age certificates and recommendations. If parents decide to ignore these warnings then it is an example of bad parenthood thus it is entirely their fault how their kids turn out.

    It is not the resposiblity of console manufacturers and game publishers to bring up your kids, it is yours. If you use a console and a TV as a baby sitter then heaven help your kids.

    Long live violent games and people with the intelligence to play them as the fantasy that they are.

    Peace out...

  • Re:DVD (Score:1)

    by acvh ( 120205 )
    I *was* waiting for PS2 in lieu of buying a DVD player, but the wait just became too long. I'll buy that Toshiba SD2200 now, and use the PS2 (God, I wish they called it something else. I keep having visions of an IBM Model 90-0J9) in the basement game room when it comes out.
  • Napster Vs Lars: mp3 Warz First act: Take control of an elite team and spend hours tapping away at a keyboard until you have a large list of names. Then print out this list (in the game only, of course), while the Metallica mp3s you've found blast away from your computer. Essentially a C&C style endeavour, you must manage your team as they try to do as little work as possible to achieve their goal. Second act: With your new found list of names, play as Lars and battle thru the suits of Legaldom to reach the gates of the Evil Napster. Weapons include 'MusoSpeak' and the terrible 'Black Album'. Later levels of difficulty also burden you with the difficult-to-deal-with 'Orb of HeadUpAss-ness'. Third act: Having arrived at the gates of the Evil Napster, battle with your credibility as you present the list of names and everyone sighs in disbelief.
  • Any word on how the cheap the original Playstations will be after PS2's launch?

  • PS2 - It's worse than Xbox (Score:4)

    by PsyQ ( 87838 ) on Thursday May 11, 2000 @02:53AM (#1079753) Homepage
    Yes, I said Xbox. Seems Microsoft removed the dash from the name. A few reasons why I think the PS2 is not worth buying:

    • No good games so far
    • Hardware's potential is not being used in current games library
    • Sony aims to create an "entertainment monopoly", and the PS2 is one of the cornerstones
    • Sony is a consumer electronics company, not a games company. They don't give a shit about the quality of the games. Which leads us to:
    • The PlayStation has a games library of over 500 titles. Roughly 20 - 30 of those were huge hits, and some of them only in niche genres (music/dance games etc.) The rest just.. Umm.. Sucked.

    I'm trying not to be biased. I've loved gaming on computers and consoles since the C64, Apple ][ and NES. Like many people, I've played most of the great hits that came out on such systems ever since Wizball and Paradroid were released.

    When the Playstation 1 came out, I was a Saturn owner, and naturally felt threatened by the huge company called Sony entering the games market. But after a while I got used to the new player and saw the Saturn face certain death, despite all the great and innovative titles available for the system. Sony crushed Sega. First through huge price drops, then by seducing all sorts of highly acclaimed developers to develop for the PSX. I bought a PlayStation and watched it catch dust. There were NO good games. Nothing innovative. Sure, Metal Gear Solid was nice and seeing all the transparency effects in Wipeout had something cool to it, but the games lacked substance. They were geared towards a new crowd: the "Casual Gamer".

    That was the day when I started analyzing the new games. What makes a game good or bad etc. I discovered that lots of my friends, who weren't gamers before, suddenly bought PlayStations and loved games that I'd never touch (Parappa The Rapper anyone?). These games had nothing in common with what I was used to. They lacked quality and tried hiding that behind glitzy graphics. Look at Tekken. Some would argue that it's the best fighting game ever created, but in the end it's a very primitive button basher. Even Super Street Fighter II had more depth.

    Since history repeats itself, I expect to see something similar on the PlayStation 2. More games for casual gamers, and less games for hardcore gamers. And slowly, without anyone noticing, you'll see the PS2 turn into a private little marketing machine for Sony. Keep in mind that Sony is not a games company. They also offer music and movies, for example. If the PS2 catches on, they'll be like the Microsoft of entertainment. They could potentially control what you view and listen to on your PS2, and they'd automatically control what you're playing.

    The Dreamcast, on the other hand, is one of my favorite consoles ever created. It has style, it's innovative, and with Bleemcast you might even be able to play PlayStation games on it. The two or three of them that are interesting, at least. There have been quite a few games on it that are novel and old-school (as in: for hardcore gamers) at the same time. That's something that seems to be very hard to accomplish in this new "casual gamer" market Sony created with the PSX.

    So, before you buy your PS2, take a look at the $149 Dreamcast. You might get much more entertainment from it, and you'd know that there's a games company behind it, not a media and electronics giant.
  • Can we say "Tekken Tag Tournament, Tekken Tag Tournament and finally Tekken Tag Tournament". =)
    All I need. Heck Tekken 3 is the only game I have my PSX for!

  • we usually get late, sub-standard transfers with chuff-all extras.

    Um, what does 'chuff-all' mean? ...

  • I feel that points 1 and 2 are invalid. In all likelyhood, There will be good games, and there will be games that push the hardware. I also think that Parappa the Rapper had the benefit of being an origional idea.

    Sony and various associations its a member of e.g. MPAA, and RIAA - Ooops, I seem to be karma whoring here - strike me as a worse company than Microsoft. For one thing, MS are much less litigious (Look at their court cases. They are defending an awful lot). MS has even managed to produce some quite clever ideas.

    Something I've noticed is that games are a hell of a lot easier than they used to be. There were a lot of c64 and Amiga games that I never finished, whereas a lot of PS games seem to be completed in about a week. Crash Bandicoot took a couple of days. PS games seem to be written to provide a quick ride rather than a game. I don't know anyone who took more than a couple of weeks to finish any game.

    I don't think the hardware is to blame for this though. Its the software companies. Producing a game doesn't require a lot in terms of resources (considering the potential for profits), so it isn't difficult for a reasonably large company to set up a games division. The people who run these are only interested in making a game that seems good for as long as the reveiwers play it for. Originality isn't important. Only the buzz you get for a short time. Games that don't give an instant reward are slammed for being dull.
  • 1. PS2 currently has the best fighter and racer available for *any* platform. It has a very small game base right now, but the lineup is insane.

    2. The hardware is NEVER used to its potential until YEARS after a console is released. People are JUST starting to get the original PSX's potential, and it looks as good as any Dreamcast game! All my DC owner friends are still pulling their PSX's out to play the newer games because they look just as good, just lower resolution!

    3. Monopolies in the entertainment industry.. If this is true, then why do YOU think Dreamcast will win? You're being a bit two-faced, no? Sounds to me you're rebelling just for the sake of rebelling.. You know, dye your hair purple because everyone will theink you're "weird" .. Etc..

    4. They dont give a crap about the quality of games because they let companies have the FREEDOM of doing what they want. I have seen MANY stinkers for the Dreamcast. Again, you are being rather two-faced.

    5. The PSX library is HUGE, and yes, not nearly all of them were hits. The same goes for the Atari 2600, NES, Sega, Dreamcast, TG-16, and Gameboy, or ANY OTHER library. It's fact that not every company can make great games. What IS fact is that the PSX library DOES have the highest amount of winning titles than losing titles of ANY of those platforms I listed, right next to the original NES.

    As far as you liking the DC more, thats fine. But saying they have the more 'hardcore' games is a bit lame, because it simply isn't true. PSX was not the 'casual' gamer machine, it was more of the RPG machine, and the whacky Japanese import game machine. Parapper the Rapper was VERY innovative, and FUN. Not to mention god damn WEIRD.

    The reason I wont buy the Dreamcast is simply because it doesn't have Dolby Digital 5.1 audio out. I want to play all these new great games in full and total digital surround. Oh, that and because I *love* my PSX to death, and I have a HUGE library i'd like to play on the new PS2 with added effects and better rendering engine.

  • It depends on how long you can live without a DVD player. I personally wasn't able to last beyond March 1999, and purchased my Pioneer DVD player at that time. And I am very glad that I did.

    Of course, now I can't stand to watch movies on VHS! :-)

    If you have a Playstation, or a bunch of old Playstation games, and you can hold out 'til October to join the DVD revolution, then there should be no problem holding out for the PSX2.

    (Let's see... the least expensive DVD player on the market is $159. A Dreamcast is $199. Yeah, you'll still be saving money.)
  • Dude, You are a whiner and you are obviously very biased. PS rocks, Pa rapper was a great game, because it was funny and innovative. *kick* *punch*. Anyway you said, don't buy PS2 because "Hardware's potential is not being used in current games library", that is the dumbest comment. Duh, it is going to get better, it takes time with every consoles for developers to learn it. As a matter of fact, I was talking to a PSX developer 2 weeks ago, and he was just telling me of some neat trick he discovered in PSX, he has been deving for 4 years and is still discovering new ways to push the hardware to the limit. I doubt you read the technical specs for PS2, if you did, you will understand that this machine is 100%+ raw beast.

    "Sony aims to create an "entertainment monopoly", and the PS2 is one of the cornerstones", Everyone in every market wants to create a monopoly. Who doesn't!? How Sony goes creating "entertainment monopoly" is what matters, if they do so by designing the best console, I am with them. Look at Cisco, don't they have a monopoly, how did they go creating it?

    "Sony is a consumer electronics company, not a games company. They don't give a shit about the quality of the games.", bullshit!!!! Sony is a console developer, look at Nintendo, what is nintendo? Nintendo doesn't share information, very closed ass mothaf$##$, Sony on the other hand is very open, they share information. Look at yaroze for example. Sony developed a devkit for homebrew developers, Nintendo will never ever do that. After Sony did that, they provide documentations and information about their console. Look at the articles descripting the detail of PS2 emotion engine works. You still cannot find an article disucssing how N64 RSP works today, only thing that is known today is what was reversed. Sony is a great company, Sony understands the market, give them credit, that is why they are successful.

    "No good games so far", Do you have PS2? So how would you know? Unless you are in Japan right now, you can't even make that comment, my Japanese friends are very happy with what they are seeing, and again, I will mention that PS2 is just new, so what we are seeing is first level quality games, The developers are still testing the water and experimenting.

    "The PlayStation has a games library of over 500 titles. Roughly 20 - 30 of those were huge hits"
    Again, that is a huge blah, Playstation had many huge hits, and the most important thing to remember is that game console is not about "huge hits" but about a lot of varieties to satisfy as many game players as possible. My sister liked PSX, My dad likes it, I like it, My cousin who just started walking likes it, there is every kind of game for everyone. That is again the success of PSX. These huge game library came as a result of Sony Openess as well, Sony was not anal and shared information about its Console, thus letting developers develop good games. Unlike Saturn, Sega was not very open, and the hardware was horrible and hard to code for, thus not many people can code for Saturn.

    Your mention of the fact that Xbox is better is #$#, duh! When was PS2 annouced, and when was Xbox annouced? So don't you expect that the specs for Xbox to appear better? But specs is nothing, what matters is the actual hardware, Xbox's advantage is the fact that it will be a familiar hardware. Better specs don't count. Look at N64 and PSX, N64 beats PSX hands down in specs, but if I could only live with one console, I do choose PSX.

    The only truth you have is that Dreamcase is a good console. Anyway, quit your whining, you are a sad sega fan, Don't blame Sony for Sega woes.

  • By placing the drivers in hardware they also make it a lot harder for people to bypass the regioning on the player. This is I imagine quite important to Sony as they were not best loved of the MPAA when it was discovered you could bypass the regioning on a Japanese PS2 by pressing buttons on the handset.

    I imagine as people learn to program PS2's and reverse engineer the DVD drivers it would be possible to write your own region switchable drivers. By placing the drivers in the hardware this is more difficult if not impossible.
  • Kinda dumb, aintcha?

    That's like denying access to schools, libraries, and bookstores to anyone under 18. You don't keep kids locked in the house because there's a strip joint somewhere in town.

    If you think it's a "liberal" principle that people of all ages should have access to knowledge and information, you need to re-examine your wacko little worldview.

    The 'net is not becoming a cesspool. The net is becoming commercialized, like the rest of the world. Fortunately, like the rest of the world, the 'net has quite a bit to offer in the enlightenment and education department.

    Besides, who gets to decide what's "undesirable" in a web user? I'm fairly certain I don't want you around, based on your poorly thought-out reactionary rant. Do I get to lock you out? I hope not.

    And where do you get the idea that the web was purely educational and enlightening before it became popular? Methinks you are confused. Perhaps you were swayed a bit by "rhetoric and promises" when you were a kid. Perhaps you are now. Let's blame the medium.
  • Sure alot of people are gonna think that the Xbox is gonna be a lot better than the Playstation 2 because its faster, and has a few advantages than the PS2 such as memory and sound support but this isnt the whole story.

    The playstations 2 chips are specilized for games, the xbox, for spreadsheets. nuff said'.

    Playstations 2's Memory management is loads better than Xbox. just look at the original playstation, with its measly 2 megs of memory, it produced graphics that PCs with 8 and 12 megs of video memory couldn't.

    As for the games, pretty much everytime that a gaming system is released in Japan the games released with it are not all that impressive or good. The Japanese are more forgivin than us. They already know that the programmers are learning the system, so the games wont be all that stellar until 6 months down the road. Remember that most of the playstation 2 games created start to finish in 9 months. Most games take a year to a year and a half to complete.

    I urge people to look at the sony section of www.dailyradar.com and look at some of the second generation playstation 2 games such as madden 2001, and knockout kings. if the first games didn't impress you these will.
  • Squaresoft's decision to support the PSX2 instead of the Dreamcast was a big factor for me in not buying a Dreamcast. I wonder how many other people feel similar...
  • They've announced a $50 rebate for users who register online between June 4 and August 31. Add this to a $200 rebate for signing up for a year of Sega.com internet services, and that's a free game and a free system.

    Don't get me wrong though, I'm buying a PS2 before this time next year... there's no way I can miss out on Metal Gear Solid: Sons of Liberty [thegia.com]

  • You can get multi-modality Play Stations in Beijing. Watch out for knock-offs and rip-offs.
  • Even if you didn't like the current crop of games, there are going to be a lot of game announcements at E3 - I think until E3 is over it's really too early to say the lineup will not look good!

    Another factor is that games that may not be that appealing now may be further beefed up, though that does seem a bit of a long shot to me.

    Some of the recently announced games that sound pretty interesting to me are (I'm using DailyRadar as my source):

    Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty [dailyradar.com]
    This is getting amazing reviews, though sadly release is Fall 2001! If only I get get through to the FTP server to get the in-game movies they have up...

    Aliens: Colonial Marines [dailyradar.com]
    Squad based Aliens game, not too many details right now.

    The Bouncer [dailyradar.com]
    A great fighting game with lots of enemies at once.

  • *buzz* wrong. If you are going to complain about video game violence, you better start on the Motion Picture Industry as well. Oops, you can't, they have that lovely rating system in place to protect young people. Generally parents adhere to these ratings, and do not permit their children to watch PG-13/R rated movies.

    Guess what. Above said rating system exists in video gaming as well. A high percentage of games sold are sold to adults purchasing the games for their children. It is up to the parents to decide if such questionable material is appropriate for their children. And don't say that parents do not pay attention to video game ratings. I have to constantly hear my siblings complain about not being able to play Resident Evil, because of the mature rating.
  • Ummmm.. Einhander is not "import-only". I own a US version :-)
  • I don't care how great the Playstation is, you can't play the games at above 350x200 or whatever the crumby TV resolution is.

    I've seen the japanese PS2 play fullscreen on HDTV. So you sure about that limitation?

  • People are JUST starting to get the original PSX's potential, and it looks as good as any Dreamcast game! All my DC owner friends are still pulling their PSX's out to play the newer games because they look just as good, just lower resolution!

    Yes, I agree. However, most people fail to notice that the DC is also equal in graphics ability to the Atari. Pole Position looks just as good as Crazy Taxi, though it's resolution is somewhat less.

    Josh Sisk

  • DVD (Score:2)

    by Duxup ( 72775 )
    I wonder if anyone else has been like me and been waiting for the PSX2 and not getting a DVD player since the PSX2 does both?

    It seems an economical idea. Anyone see any possible problems with that plan?
  • It comes with an 8 meg memory card and a controller. A mulitap can be purchased for $34 extra (and I believe another controller and another memory card are $34 each as well). Current Playstation games will be down around $29.

    It will ship with a 3.5 drive bay for the rumored HD and an expansion slot for the modem/nic. Lastly, unlike the japanese PS2, the DVD drivers will be firmware and _not_ on the memory cards. The jp PS2 had issues with certain games (RR4) corrupting them and they would have to be reloaded from the disc that comes with it.

  • The article says only a million units are going to be in the initial shipment. Don't you think that since this is close to Christmas that a million units will be shooting themselves in the foot? Sure, years ago, people would just decide to wait and get it for a birthday, but now, they have an option of getting a Dreamcast if those don't sell out.
  • A friend of mine bought one up in Manhattan last weekend... Not sure what he paid for it or what the current software availability is for it.
  • Ok, so if I pop over the pond and pick up one of these new fangled Playstation2 machines in October, how much cheaper will it be that getting one in the UK? When the original PSX arrived it was selling here for £300+ (which is what I piad for mine). Then two weeks later it halved in price (oh, how I sobbed). And now you can get one for less than £100. Perhaps someone would be kind enough to post me one if it's going to be cheaper? Then I'll be saying 'drool' ;o) (hopefully first post and not makred down to Troll..)
  • £300!?!?

    WOW. I remember when I was in the UK that CDs were terribly over priced compared to home (US), I even sold some to some people I met because I felt sorry for them. £300, that's terrible.
  • Some suggestions:

    The Final Fantasy Movie: The Game
    Disney's Dinosaur Movie: The Game

    Can anyone else thing of any other worthy gmaes for this platform?

    Every rule has an exception, and this is the only rule with no exceptions! Huh? -- Spatch
  • How can people be sure the swap trick really works if there are no American games to try on the Japances playstation (or American playstations to test with Japanese games) yet?

    The bus came by and I got on
    That's when it all began
    There was cowboy Neal
    At the wheel
    Of a bus to never-ever land
  • I remember reading a little while back about the continuance on the Final Fantasy Saga for Playstation 2. They were going to release a 9th one, the final one, for the regular Playstation, and then they had already lined up two more of the series for the Playstation 2. They had a screen shot up before of another game, in such high detail, it was incredible. I can hardly wait to see what they'll be able to do with this new machine.
  • Then how about this [arstechnica.com] article from Ars-Technica that supports much of the detail in the MSNBC one?
  • According to an article in The Register [theregister.co.uk], this'll also be the date for the European launch. And according to the Register, they're only shipping a million to each territory, and will have sorted out the DVD `issues'.
  • Just wanted to say, spot on dude, you rock. I've played a M8's PS2 and I was underawed to say the least. I've heard that DC Dead Or Alive2 looks and plays better than the PS2! I'm going to be sticking with my Jap import DC for a while.
  • The Register has this article [theregister.co.uk] on how to play any region DVDs on your PS2 - has anyone tried this?

    The Unfettered Mind: Takuan Sôhô - ISBN: 0-87011-851-X
    My contact details are here [wiretrap.net].

  • ... when you can grab a Japanese one here [209.245.246.144]!

    sorry, link doesn't lead to the actual item, you'll have to click around. ^_^

  • In all of the `best console'-type discussion here, I see very little about Nintendo, which I believe to be by far the best console going.

    It certainly has some of the best software out there -- The best console game ever, I believe, is Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Plus, Goldeneye is an amazing console shooter and Perfect Dark is lining up to succeed it. There are a lot of other impressive games, even though the library is rather small ("Quality over quanity" being Nintendo's motto.)

    Plus for the Dolphin, with second-party studios like Rare and Silicon Knights (who's coming out with the amazing looking Eternal Darkness) lined up, I'm holding out.

    And to those who think Nintendo's a kiddie-console, check out the footage/screenshots of Conker's Bad Fur Day on IGN64 [ign.com]. This is pretty much one of the most twisted games I've seen. Nothing compares to the violence done to a cute squirrel.

    I guess I feel like I've almost never been disappointed by a Nintendo game, but a lot of the PSX games I've played around with haven't been all too impressive to me. Truth be told, though, I haven't played that much with the Dreamcast, so I can't say much about that.

  • I'm willing to bet while the US prices for console and games are $299 and $49 respecitevly, in the UK at least it'll be 299/49 pounds - a lot higher in terms of actual cost.. Sigh.
  • No need. Look at theregister.co.uk for news about that. Some weird button combo.
  • Check this link [ebay.com] for a few PS2's for sale on EBay. Get ready to see some big bucks...
  • Check it out Munch's Odysee [oddworld.com]

    Vermifax
  • Of course the hardware isn't being used yet, and of course there are no good games! The console has only just been released - the good games generally start to appear at the second or third wave.. You've got to remember that even now people are managing to push the old playstation further (although I think it's gone as far as it can now).

    Onto the rant! ;-)
    Sadly I can't agree with your view that the Dreamcast games will be better. My reasons:

    1) The PSX2 hardware is faster - no two ways about it. This does not however a good games machine make ;-) It's also not limited to a rather measly 33.6k internal modem, since you'll just buy whatevers supported and fastest at the time.

    2) Part of the reason you haven't seen a lot of decent playstation games is because of idiotic marketing strategies, that leave utterly stunning games (Einhander) in import-only land. It's not even Sonys fault, it's down to the software produers. Another example is Gradius III/IV - I doubt it'll see the shores of the US, or the UK where I live. Or Kessen, which is AFAIK not destined to even get a translation from Japanese.

    3) The PSX2 will always have more games (yes more bad, but also more good) because Sony aren't as restrictive as Sega and Nintendo about who can produce what for their console. Can you go out and buy a home development kit for the Saturn? nope. For the playstation you can. It's a lot more open, and I think it's going to help it grind the Dreamcast into the ground like the PSX1 did the Saturn (a machine I liked!)

    Sure they did almost create the casual gamer market, and there are a lot of games geared towards them (including the Tekken games, which really are too easy for anyone who cut their fighting teeth on SF2 in the arcades ;-) ), but there are also games geared towards the more able in most of the genres:- Kensai and Rival Schools spring to mind when I think of decent fighting games (the former is a beauty to watch). Gran Turismo when I think of racing. While Sony churn out the casual games, other companies (hello Square) are putting out decent titles - it's not fair to judge the games availability of a console purely by the releases of the parent company when you're looking at a platform anyone can develop for.

    I've finished now ;-)

    PS - controversial I know, but I agree re: Metal Gear Solid - it had _some_ innovative ideas, but it was too easy and the stealth thing had already been done several times better in Tenchu. Syphon Filter (1 and 2) are more playable alternatives.
  • I have one of these fun little toys. Software is expensive though - especially here in the UK (cheaper to double-import via the US...)

    Incidentally, there's a swap trick that defeats the regional lock-out, IIRC. You have to disassemble your PS2 and hold the discs in place manually, though, so I can't see it catching on...
  • I think many of you remember on September 9, 1999 with the crazy "midnight madness" of the unveiling of Dreamcast in the USA. I was there at Electronics Boutique right next to the Barnes & Noble store in Santa Clara, CA and believe me, it bordered on insane, to say the least. :-/

    I wonder will Sony do the same for PlayStation2 when that is released on Thursday, October 26, 2000? Given the even bigger hype for PlayStation2 than Dreamcast, I _know_ it'll be even more crazy than what I mentioned above if Sony does this. And I won't be surprised that Sony does this--after all, Sony Computer Entertainment America's main offices are in Foster City, CA.
  • Check it out Munch's Odysee [oddworld.com]

    Vermifax

  • Check out Yahoo! here [yahoo.com].

    Apparently it's a simultaneous US/European launch and Yahoo! quote it at 200quid.

    S-J

  • Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • excuse me, you retarded bastard, but isn't that a fucking dial up account?

    I'm sure I don't know; it certainly is slashdotted now. The frontpage is at http://www.ncsx.com [ncsx.com]. Thanks for your kind words. ^_^

  • difficulties PS2 developers have had with the system

    Guess Sony didn't learn anything from the failure of the Sega Saturn. New design (not the standard von-neumann CPU with coprocessors), very hard to program for, few good titles... Console makers make their money on title sales (through trademark and patent licensing).

  • Check it out Munch's Odysee [oddworld.com]

    Yep. This is the main reason I might just have to break down and get a PS2, even if I can't really afford it. The movies on their site are breathtaking...

  • From what I've read, developers are having problems with the fact that the PS2 has less texture RAM available than the Dreamcast. Of course we've probably also all heard the articles about how the Dreamcast is easier to program for and such.

    These are things that helped kill the Saturn. That and I haven't been all that impressed with anything on the PS2 so far. I don't care for Tekken at all and am rather bored with the FF series so there's not a lot that looks appealing to me vs. the Dreamcast.

    Plus price. The Dreamcast will be at $150 and the PS2 at $300. While I'm sure all the game heads will go out and get one (I'll probably be one of them) the average consumer will notice that they can buy 2 Dreamcasts for the price of one PS2 or a Dreamcast, game, VMU and extra controller. That will probably allow the Dreamcast to get a pretty good presence in the 'states before Sony can do anything about it. Developers will see this and, whether due to frustration with PS2 development or something else, they will probably all take a serious look at the Dreamcast and, perhaps, favor it over the PS2. Fewer games will kill it, just ask Nintendo about that.
  • "No good games so far"

    That's subjective. I actually DISLIKED mario64 when it came out, this was supposed to be n64's flagship game that made the system worth buying. I was turned by Zelda and some other other titles. Just cause there's nothing out now that interests you doesn't mean it's not worth buying.

    "Hardware's potential is not being used in current games library"

    Sorry to be this blunt, but are a moron or something? Name one first-gen console game that has really used the full potential of the hardware. Go ahead, I'm waiting. If you were a console developer instead of a PC developer, you might understand why I'm so pissed off here. Developing for a console is basically re-inventing the wheel everytime something new comes out. It doesn't help that the way the PS2 is set up makes it drastically different efficiency-wise than what's out there right now.

    "Sony aims to create an "entertainment monopoly", and the PS2 is one of the cornerstones "

    .. OK you're actually right here. Really right. I'm worried about this myself, but fact is, PS2 is nice. If it ends up winning market share, it'll be cause of its own merits.

    "Sony is a consumer electronics company, not a games company. They don't give a shit about the quality of the games"

    I'm sorry what? History has clearly proven if the games aren't there to back the system up, away it goes. Sony - The Business - would probably like money, and to get that they need market share, and to get that... hey! whaddya know! they need good games. You wanna bitch, you don't bitch to sony, you bitch to the developers.

    "The PlayStation has a games library of over 500 titles. Roughly 20 - 30 of those were huge hits, and some of them only in niche genres (music/dance games etc.) The rest just.. Umm.. Sucked"

    How is this different from any console? Seriously, perhaps you're thinking back in the days of the NES, when everything was golden and good. Here's a wake up call.. the NES is the PSX. It was the major marketshare, so it had the most games. A lot of them, incidentally, were shit. You may remember the good ones, but how about the 10-20 other mediocre ones that were alongside it on the store shelf? This is no different. Nil.

    Personally, I say.. wait. Wait to buy, wait to pass judgement, wait to flame, wait to defend. Don't take a look at one system and the ghost of another, and try to make comparisons, ok?

  • Isn't that game (field is six by about twelve units; red bomb destroys contiguous groups of red blocks it touches) also available for Sega Saturn and PC, as Baku Baku Animal? Seeing as I have already cloned [rose-hulman.edu] Puyo Puyo aka Kirby's Avalanche aka Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine, it should be no problem for me to do a baku clone.

  • I have a personal gripe with all consoles - when are there going to get some decent friggin controllers for them? I've never used one which didn't utterly suck for analogue control and leave your hands feeling like you've been playing handies with a gorilla.

    I mean, is an actual reasonably sized joystick too much to ask? (even if it has to be bought seperately). How about having some actual standard ports on the damn thing so I can use my PC flight sim joystick?

    OK, I feel much better now.

  • waiting for the games (Score:3)

    by tuffy ( 10202 ) on Thursday May 11, 2000 @02:33AM (#1079803) Homepage Journal
    I found this [msnbc.com] article about the difficulties PS2 developers have had with the system. Given how unconventional the PS2's design is, I'm going to wait and see until some games arrive before plunking down cash on it. Call me skeptical, but I don't see what all the drooling is about at present. Let's see how the launch titles shape up first.
  • Not only does it cost a lot for electronic goods like PSX's, we also have to wait a lot longer for them.

    I've ofton wondered, does anyone actually know what advantage companies such as Sony think there is in delaying release's to diferent parts of the world? I'm sure it can't be purly technical.
  • A hardware based DVD movie player may be harder to crack and less of a hassle, but what is going to happen if someone actually _does_ crack it? They can't fix a hardware bug easily, not without a massive hardware recall. Sony had better be ultra-careful on this. Also, does the unit have true S-Video and/or RGB out? Not an adaptor cable, but one that really uses it. If not, there's no way the PS2 will replace my DVD player.
    - Amon CMB
  • That has to be a Japanese import model, then, since there are no US (or European) PS2:s out yet. Here in Sweden, some cool stores [psxcare.com] have Japanese import machines, but I don't know if they actually sell them... I think they do, though. Of course, since (AFAIK) noone has yet cracked the PS2's regional lock-out crap, you'll need Japanese games for these machines, too. A (Japanese) PS2 machine imported from Hong Kong's Lik Sang [lik-sang.com] goes for $609...
  • $299 isn't too bad a deal, but I wonder how it'll play against Dreamcast's $199 price. Not to mention that N64 and PSX1 are both $99 (though I wanted to pick up a PSX1 yesterday, and everywhere I stopped in was sold out). The big question is what will the competition do? If Sega responds with a price cut to, say, $149, it may slow Sony down.

    After all, each of these companies has had, and squandered, the market lead at some point - except Sony so far. Is it their turn? I don't think the average console gamer is concerned about the gory details that we may care about ("Gee - the PSX2 processes an extra megatexel per second compared to the Dreamcast - of _course_ everyone will buy the PSX2!") so much as they care about the important stuff, like:

    How much are the games?
    How cool are the games?
    How many cool games are there?
    Are there lots of good accessories?

    If Sony slips on any of these, they lose - and selling the box for $299 makes the margin for error even thinner.

    - -Josh Turiel
  • It will be for us in the UK. Apparently the DVD software on the US/UK version is not on a memory card like the JAP incarnation, but in the PS2 itself. This may make it a bit trickier to play disks from regions other than the one the PS2 was designed to play for. Like I say, probably not a problem for you guys over the pond as you get most releases first on region 1, whereas we usually get late, sub-standard transfers with chuff-all extras. Its getting better, but there are still plenty of DVDs which aren't available on region 2. Having said that, it'll be hackable in time I'm sure! Al.
  • There are approx 207 games in deveopment for PS2 and it does some anti-aliasing (not in hardware) to make _some_, not all, old playstation games look better. It makes the textures cleaner looking and the jaggies not so jaggy. :-)

    One of the games that are in development/done are fantavision a fireworks display 'puzzler' that has hundreds on invidual explosion objects/pieces flying around at the same time.

    If you build it, they will come...

  • Thats for the jap version
  • but what about those of us after world domination?

    how much does it cost to use one as a missle defence/attack system?

    i'm thinking of upgrading from my commodore 64, just doesnt cut it in the world of tactical warfare these days...
  • Can we take the PSX2 apart and try to run Linux on it also? Pleeeeeease CmdrTaco pleeeeeeeeease.
  • Just for a point of note, those of us who do follow the Final Fantasy Series and what's going on with it, already know that Square owns upto ff15.com.

    FFIX is going to be for PSX and FFX and FFXI will be for PS2, and, if I remember correctly, FFXI will be a cross-platform simultaneous release (ie, it will be released for PS2 and PC at the same time) All three of those games are currently being worked on/designed

    There is also going to be a Final Fantasy move (which you can check out here [finalfantasy.com] )
  • I thought I read something a few weeks ago on CNET that said Sony was planning on adding an internal hard drive and 56k modem to their US release, to keep up with the X-Box specs. Was this just a nasty rumour, or is it possibly a "down-the-road" thing?

    $299 is a pretty good opening price, low enough that I'll definitely pick one up. True, all the other systems are cheaper, but I think PS2 will do good for the same reasons hot new processors/video cards always do well when they first come out: the "gee-whiz" factor. N64 is dead save for Perfect Dark, PS1 has lot's of titles, but is really starting to show it's age. Dreamcast might present a challenge if they continue to bring out good games. PS2 has an advantage, I think, because of some of the titles it will have: Gran Turismo, EA Sports Line, etc.
  • Well, perhaps I didn't include enough info. I compared the first-generation PS2 games to the first-generation Dreamcast games. And, in comparison, I think the PS2 gets second place. I know that first-generation titles can never come close to what fourth or fifth-generation games look like, but all in all I think that the PS2 had one of the worst collections of launch titles so far.

    When you mention quality control, I think you see that too much from the technical perspective. Sure, you won't see any (or too many) games that crash or have glaring bugs. I wasn't talking about that, because something like that exists on any system. I'm talking about the quality of gameplay, and the depth of the games. In short, it's Sega or Nintendo saying "Sorry, we won't let you release that crappy game for our system" while Sony says "Yeah, whatever, go ahead."

    I think the Saturn had potential, and the price wars between Sony and Sega let a lot of this potential go unused. Well, maybe the system was just a bitch to program on, at least that's what seemed to be the general opinion amongst developers. Still, with Sega backing it and with all its in-house arcade titles, I'd love to see what the system could have grown to be if the PSX had never come along.

    And yes, I do play my Dreamcast, and I do so a lot. I love Crazy Taxi for its innovation and "enjoy in 5-minute doses" style. I played MDK2 till the sun came up the weekend I got it. We had a ton of fun with DoA2. The last time I had this much fun with a console system was when Bomberman came out for the SNES. And that is precisely what the PSX (and probably PS2) is missing. It's that certain magic other consoles like the NES, SNES and Genesis had.
  • I don't care how great the Playstation is, you can't play the games at above 350x200 or whatever the crumby TV resolution is. I can barely see anything when I try to play Crash Team Racing with 4 people on my playstation and 28' TV. And I don't see how PSX2 is going to help this any. PSX2 games will always be second fiddle to PC games as long as we can't display them at a decent resolution.

    Fox
  • Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • Say what you like about PlayStation, but it had the all-time best racing game - Gran Turismo. Nothing else came close. If I had the space for a Daytona machine at home that might be better - but not by much. I'll buy a PS2 JUST for GT2000 when it is released later this year.

    (Metal Gear Solid? Nice concept, but totally lame story and characterizations. I mean, picture Brian Denehy, Christian Slater and Asia Carrera)
  • The one million unit announcement will just create a false sense of rarity. Nintendo did it when they released the N64...

  • PS2, GPS, and weapons. (Score:3)

    by afrop ( 181815 ) on Thursday May 11, 2000 @02:39AM (#1079830)
    Man, I don't know about the rest of you guys, but ever since they finally deactivate Selective Availability on the global positioning system, I've been chomping at the bit to get my hands on a couple of those weapons grade ps2's to finish off this cruise missle.

    I take it that sony has all of the export paperwork done, since they actually announced a date. I personally cannot wait for one of these.

    Now, who is going to take it apon themselves to write a patch that lets me play dvd's from other regions?

  • Re:Games for the Playstation 2 (Score:3)

    by jeremy f ( 48588 ) on Thursday May 11, 2000 @02:39AM (#1079831) Homepage
    Just to add a little bit of information. Look for Square to continue the FF franchise up to part 15.

    Registrant:
    Square Soft Inc (FF66-DOM)
    949 South Coast Drive Suite 200
    Costa Mesa, CA 92626
    US

    Domain Name: FF15.COM

    Administrative Contact, Technical Contact, Zone Contact, Billing Contact:


    I wouldn't be suprised if it goes past there, but it looks as if ff16.com & ff17.com have already been taken by some 'fans'. But with the release schedule of the Final Fantasy series, I wouldn't expect those registrations to last by the time anything past FF15 is released. ;)

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