Customer Reviews

PlayStation2

5 star:		(105)
4 star:		(27)
3 star:		(26)
2 star:		(13)
1 star:		(17)

 

 

I recently came back from summer vacation and I have to tell you it was quite exciting. Not only did I get to visit a long time friend, but I found out he had imported a japanese ps2. For over a year I've been waiting to play this system, to see what all the hype was about and out of the blue came my opportunity. During my short stay there I only had a chance to play three games. He bought the imported version of Tekken Tag Tournament, and rented Dead or Alive 2 and Ridge Racer V ......... First off, I'd like to say that I own a Dreamcast and a Playstation and I'm not biased in any way. We all share pros and cons for our systems and the ps2 has its share.

The games I played were about average, I'm not really into Tekken, but Ridge Racer V was great fun. So far the graphics are on par if not a tad better then the Dreamcast. True the games we played did have an AA issues, but then again, so do most Dreamcast games (Virtua Tennis-just look at the net, NFL2k2-any cinematic view, being picky isn't it? same deal). I wouldn't even consider the AA problem a problem because the problem was in hasted programming. I believe that if Namco had more time, the games would have seemed more polished. Now don't get me wrong, the graphics were great and the games were fun, but I don't believe anyone has really dug deep into the potential of the ps2. That is, until he showed me the Metal Gear Solid 2 DVD video trailer. Anyone who got to see this video will instantly be shocked at the fluid motion and amount of detail. Now this is what I'm talking about! this is the future of what the ps2 can handle. This looks revolutionary, this is what people have been waiting for. Then it occured to me. One, the ps2 is still in its infancy, we all can't expect revolutionary games from the get go, what are we supposed to expect? The developers need time to learn the programming tools for the system. Look at history, the Japanese Dreamcast launch was a joke, Pen Pen Triathoon, Godzilla anyone? At least the ps2 launch in Japan was better then the DC launch. Now look at how succesful the American launch for the DC was. Ummmhhmmm, trust me the American ps2 launch will be great. I believe that the ps2 will be just like the playstation, with way better graphics, and way more options. I consider the ability for the ps2 to play DVD's icing on the cake. The picture and sound quality are just as good as any $400 player. And in the future when they relase games on DVD, not only will the graphics and sound quality increase, but so will the storage capacity since a dual layered DVD can hold 3.25 gb. And in the future when sony releases it's hard-drive modem then we'll be able to play games with broadband and download games and movies all onto the hard drive. In closing all I have to say is don't buy into the negative hype, I like the Dreamcast and unlike my other Dreamcast owners I choose to like the ps2 also, instead of trying to critisize it. The future looks bright for Sony, [release day] will be a great day for me.

I felt I should chime in after reading "gamers" review. Now I know that is not a Sega vs Sony discussion group, but I felt the argument presented against the PS2 was flawed.

1) Price, yes it will cost more than the Dreamcast, (same price as the PS1 at launch), but all of your current PS games and controllers, and memory cards will be supported. In fact sony has offically announced (www.videogames.com) that the PS2 will enhance certain PS1 games.

2) No, the PS2 does not come with a 56K modem, and it doesn't use leaded gasoline either. Any true PC based game knows that online gaming and phone modems are dead. The PS2 will be ethernet ready to provide support for both cable and DSL modem support.

3) It is a DVD player! Why is this bad. What if you purchased a Dreamcast and a seperate DVD player and someone wants to watch a movie, same problem. In fact a remote is available for purchase, or Universal remotes to work.

4) Monster 3rd party support...EA PS2 Madden 2001 has features that the Dreamcast version doesn't have, and the PS2 will have 30 launch titles. Add this to all the PS games you already own, and you are a gaming, movie watchin' fool!

Note: I own a Dreamcast and have been very dissapointed with the lack of games and support from Sega (I shouldn't be surprised). Even rumors of Sega abandoning the hardware business (www.videogames.com, EGM)sour me on the future of the system. The job by Sony creating an entertainment console, with the customers in mind (full backward compatibility, haven't seen that since the Atari 7800), foreshadows years of continued entertainment

Remember when you upgraded from the snes or megadrive to the playstation 1 for the first time? Remember when you had sore thumbs for a fortnight from playing on wipeout continously? Well get ready to feel like it all over again. The graphics are astounding and are photorealistic. Everything is just so ergonomic and well designed for the game player in mind. The sound is breahtaking especially if linked with an av processor. I don't play driving games much on the playstation 1 but have been playing ridge racer 5 continously for 2 weeks. The detail possible with this machine is astounding. You can actually feel as if you're there on the racing circuit. It's a shame that there is so little software for it at the moment. Finally game developers can finally realise all their ambitions in designing their games. I've got a dreamcast as well and this is just so much better and so much cooler. The dreamcast is a bit like a playstation but in high resolution mode and with more colours. The playstation 2 is on a completely different level. The graphics I'd say where better than some of the dedicated sega arcade machines and run flicker free without any slowdown.

To all those people out there who say the DVD quality on the PS2 will be bad are wrong. The japanese version has bad DVD playback due to the DVD drivers being stored on the memory card. The American version has built in hardware support for DVD playback and so the quality will be much higher. My father works for Sony Computer Entertainement, which is resonsible for the creation of the PS2 and I have played the AMERICAN console, the DVD quality is, as i said earlier much better.

I got a chance to play an import PS2 yesterday. I played Tekken Tag Tournament. The game was awesome. By far the best Tekken game yet. The backgrounds were incredible, but not really anything better than Namco's Soul Calibur for Dreamcast. In my opinion, Soul Calibur's characters flowed better, and had a little bit more realism. This also is not Sony's fault. Namco made the game, not Sony. OK, there's no doubt that PS2 has the hardware to produce awesome graphics, but do developers know how to tap into this hardware? If PS2 is only going to give out graphics comperable to Dreamcast, why spend the extra money. Well, I'd say the backwards compatability has to be it's srongest point. Even more so than the ability to play DVD movies. Everyone knows what great games are out there for Playstation now. Metal Gear Solid, Resident Evil series, Syphon Filter, FF VII & FF VIII, to name a few. If you're like me and doesn't have a Playstation, it's a nice little bonus to know that I'll be able to play all these games on PS2. If you want to be able to watch movies out of your video game console, then PS2 is the one to get. If you're a hardcore gamer and don't really watch movies that much, you may not use the DVD feature; but it's always going to be there. Who knows, you may want to rent a DVD once in a while. While a US release is still a while away, I think PS2 is definately going to dominate the console market, just like Playstation did. If you already have a Playstation, wait until a little more info on the launch titles is available before you make your final choice, because if you can play the current games, you'll be getting this system for the PS2 games. If you think you are going to want one, reserve it now, because come fall 2000, those little black boxes are going to be scarce.

As I scroll thru the vast quantities of reviews I can think of but one thing "How can people be honestly reviewing a system that hasn't been released in America yet?". One bit of info alot of the other reviewers are not mentioning is the fact that they are playing on a imported Japanese version. Some basic facts before taking any review based here in America. 1) Yes the American version will be backward compatable with "American" games. If you try to play an American game on a Japanese PS2 you will have very little success, it's the same as trying to play imported games on an American PSX 9 times out of ten it won't work. 2)The Japanese system had problems with it's DVD drivers, a problem that SONY assures us is fixed. People who claim poor quality remember, once again, you are trying to run region 1 DVD's on a system that is normally not equipped to do so. Once again SONY assures us this is fixed and the DVD's I saw running at the E3 were running fine.

3)Availability, this is a problem no matter what you want when you release something during the Xmas season. Last year it was GB Colors, the year before that it was Zelda for the N64 (as a matter of fact Nintendo is always running into this problem, keep that in mind if your going to wait for the GameCube or whatever they end up changing the name to. It's a sad fact of life that you can't always meet the demand. This can be a good thing if you think about it, this will allow you time to make an informed decision if the PS2 is the right system for you. The system is great, for what it is offering you really can't go wrong. But check out the games before you buy, even try some, there are alot of retailers that allow you to.

Even though some people have said that the PS2 will come with/without a memory card or with/without a multi-tap here is the equipment.

In the box= (1) PS2 System (1) Dual Shock 2 Analog Controller (1) PS2 8MB Memory Card

In the store= Horizontal PS2 System Holder= $16 Vertical PS2 System Holder= $12 PS2 Memory Card= $30

all of the prices are from Playstation Monthly Magazine all of the equipment can probably be bought at a discount here at Amazon.com

I have a J-Spec PS2. It's a neat looking box, much sharper than the original gray console. It can be set vertical or horizontal, provided you have the right accessories. (optional) So far I have two games, Street Fighter EX3 and Eternal Ring. Eternal Ring makes me dizzy, so I don't play it. SFEX3 has much sharper graphics than the PS games, but there seems to be a problem with the coding and the characters slow to a standstill and it will also freeze, a la PC. So far the only movie I've seen are the openers, and to be honest, the movies for FFVIII were more impressive. PS games improved in graphics and speed without any improvements to the console itself; let's hope the same happens with PS2. The DVD playback feature is nice, but you need a Dolby Digial receiver with an optical AC-3 if you want the full 5.1 sound. although using the PS controller as a remote is kind of cumbersome, the video quality is far better than any VHS. Of course, its DVD. And it sure beats playing back on your tiny little 17 inch PC monitor. The fact that all the PS games playback flawlessly is terrific. Does anybody want a J-Spec PS? I hoped for some improvements, i.e faster loading of data, etc. but unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be the case. If you already have a PS and a DVD player, you can wait for better games to hit the PS2 before getting one. If you don't have either, this is a real good deal.

I got to demo the PS 2 a few weeks ago and I'm impressed by the system's capability. It's a step up over anything I saw on N64 and is much better than Dreamcast which I considered a subpar system. Perhaps what really hurt Dreamcast was the fact that no great games were ever really made for it. My brother pre-ordered Dreamcast, and after the initial enjoyment wore off, he was very disappointed, especially by the amount of games made for it. But Sony has hordes lined up for PS2 and the system looks smooth, the DVD player looks solid, so I don't think you should hesitate to get this system as soon as production ramps up.

Ted

If your going to buy a Dreamcast this fall,don't. Look at Sony's increidible Playstation 2. Sure the price is steap but look at what you are getting:a DVD player,a Music CD player,and a new playstation that also plays old playstaion 1 games. You are crazy not to buy this system! Look at Metal Gear Solid 2.Those are the best graphics I have ever seen in a video game. Sonys got lots of luck ahead of them.Get ready for the bigest system launch in the history of america whether you like it or not!