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"Sony Listens"

I'm not always a big fan of Sonys, they never usually seem to care about their european customers. Now however, I might have to eat my words. Sony have now said they are going to update their DVD player in the PS2 so that the faults in the Japanese original can be rectified. This means that the DVD player, although not being as fully featured as a standalone DVD player, it should be able to handle movies with a clear and crisp picture and not have any problems with memory cards or other bugs messing up the setup of the player.
This, I believe, is a step forward for the company. Hey, I might even consider getting a PS2 now (from SR of course)

I totally and utterly agree with you... I WANT MGS2 NOW!!! Unfortunately we wont see it until late 2001, but at leat it is now definately a PS2 exclusive! I wouldnt be up that early in the morning, Im up so late, nothing would probably get me up!

Ah, right. Well, I was at Game at 7am on 7th September, and was 10th in the queue. Providing they sent the forms off that day, I should be okay for release day.

I'd convinced myself that I wasn't too fussed about getting one on release day, as long as I got one before Xmas. Then I saw the MGS2 video on PSM2 and now I want one yesterday! (Yes, I know MGS2 isn't out for ages yet, but the video demonstrates the power, and now I don't want to wait!)

I pre-ordered mine from Woolworths at 9am on 7th September, and I havent got my confirmation letter from Sony either, I had to write to Sony customer services to be able to find out the status of my pre-order. They wont give you accurate answers though. They did say that if you pre-ordered on September 7th and the form was sent of that day, you will be likely to get on either on or very soon after release day-the time you pre-order, as Sony said, only guarantees you a Playstation 2, not when you get it. They did say be optimistic, and dont worry if you dont recieve the letter, the likelyhood is that the order has been recieved and processed, and they will contact you, in their words, when a PS2 is available for collection.

When and where did you pre-order yours, and when did you receive your confirmation letter from Sony?

I reserved mine at my local Game store on 7th September, and have not had my letter yet - I'm still hoping to get one on release day.

Nobody has used the official UK machine yet! I will though on Nov 24th cause Sony told me thats when I get mine- Ill give it a playtest and write my comments on here so well know once and for all what Sony have done to improve it.

No, sorry - I wasn't implying that *you* were writing it off - but several people on here are, and they haven't even used the official UK machine yet.

Babylonian, Ive pre-ordered a PS2, I wouldnt want to write it off! Can I expand on one of your points, yes the "no 60Hz" restriction has been removed, but no developers are willing to make a European conversion run at 60 Hz, which is really frustrating. You are right, the UK PS2's will be completely different to the Jap/US versions, as they say the best things come to those who wait!

There have been many tweaks and changes made to the PS2's that we will be receiving upon UK release, some minor, some fairly major.

The DVD capabilty has indeed moved onto the hardware, but we will also have a large cavity in the back where and internal HD/modem unit will fit. In Japan, these will be in an external unit. Also, Sony have also removed the "no 60Hz" rule/restriction, which should mean that games can run at exactly the same frame rates as the Jap/US versions. This, of course, is in the hands of the developers.

All of which is why I get frustrated with people sl@gging off things like the DVD capability. No-one has yet seen or used an offical UK machine, and are basing the complaints and reports of 'shortcomings' on imports. Remember that some standalone DVD players couldn't even run The Matrix originally, but with the help of an upgrade disc, they could - many things can be fixed quite simply.

Obviously the UK machines won't push any more polys around the screen, but there have been enough changes made to the machine that we will effectively be getting "PS2 - version 2".

All I'm saying is - give the damn thing a chance; it hasn't even been released yet!

Since the PS2 came out in japan, Sony have been trying to rectify the problems that occured with the DVD player i.e. the fact that it corrupted memory cards because it used them to run DVDs, which affected the quality of DVD movies that was played on Japanese PS2's. To correct this, Sony have integrated the software to run the DVD's into the PS2, so that compatibility problems are minimal and will give you a crisp picture. Thats been the case for a while now, and it was announced soon after the launch in Japan.

I'm not always a big fan of Sonys, they never usually seem to care about their european customers. Now however, I might have to eat my words. Sony have now said they are going to update their DVD player in the PS2 so that the faults in the Japanese original can be rectified. This means that the DVD player, although not being as fully featured as a standalone DVD player, it should be able to handle movies with a clear and crisp picture and not have any problems with memory cards or other bugs messing up the setup of the player.
This, I believe, is a step forward for the company. Hey, I might even consider getting a PS2 now (from SR of course)