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"The most eagerly awaited piece of electronic hardware in history" turned up at my doorstep one friday morning. With a somewhat bland remark the mailman asked me to sign the release form. No loud fanfare, no drumrolls or dramatic mood music - it was just there, The PlayStation2.
With the mailman gone, the door shut and the blue cardboard box on the floor, I started turning and pulling at it, wondering how to open it and how it could be that small, the box with the "big" console.
This is what the box contains:
1 DualShock Controller
1 PlayStation2 Console
1 DemoCD
A couple of leads
Written documentation
All the pictures I had seen of the controller did not reveal the fact that there are four buttons on either side of the lead, on top of the controller. Two on each side, comfortably nestled under your index fingers, when holding on to the controller. The surface of the controller does not seem as cold as plastic often does. There's something warm and almost sticky about the matte surface. The lead is about 2 meters.
The DualShock Controller is the binding link between you and the console, and this must be the reason why a lot of work has gone into it. With two analogue joysticks, that co-star as buttons, a digital direction pad, 8 buttons and the Select & Start buttons, there are definately quite a few buttons to keep track of. As the name emplies, the controller has a vibrating function and the games which I have tested, do try to take advantage of it. The best result is in SSX, where you can feel the full force of the impact as you crash, and the worst result is in RC Revenge Pro, where the tremors seem ill timed and malplaced.
The eight buttons can be switched into analogue mode, and this means that the games can measure how hard you pressing the buttons. In Ridge Racer this means that you actually have a very realistic gas and brake pedal, while other games do not use this function to full effect. This demands quite a bit of motor skills and concentration, because if you're used to digital controllers you just slam down on the buttons. Your truly has come into close contact with the bottom of many a gorge on his SSX-snowboard because of this.
The remaining leads, the AC lead, the AV lead and the Scart converter, deserve a bit of a mention as well. The AC lead is about 180 centimeters long and the AV lead likewise. It's nice that the lead have a bit of length to them, as it offers more freedom in placing your console where you want it. It's extremely simple to hook this thing up, no leads can go in the wrong socket. Three braincells are however required where hooking up to Scart converter, where three similar plugs go into three similar connectors. They're color coded, though. Yellow wire in yellow plug, Green wire in green plug and... Well, you get the picture right?
The written documentation is only 19 pages (in my native tongue, Danish) and seems to be adequate. As I said, the console is easily hooked up, but it's the usage of it that a bit tricky. This is however also quite well documented. A product registration card is included for every single european country, which seem a bit aboundant, as I can't remember ever using a registration card, let alone one for Finland.
The console itself is kinda ugly. Well, when you see it in Sony's own press shots, it's quite a little charmer, but the charm quickly fades when you get close. It has two USB-ports on the front, two controller-ports and two memory-slots. Stick in a memory card, and you'll see that it sticks out about 2-3 centimeters which doesn't actually improve it's appearance. With two controllers connected it quickly becomes a mish-mash of leads, memory cards and unused ports - But who cares? It's what on the inside that matters, and there not a great deal of order and neatness around my telly anyway.
I was puzzled by the size as well. It seems tall and thin, when placed vertically like on Sony's press shots, but lay it flat on it's belly, and it suddenly seems rather pudgy. It's quite fat and feels heavy, like it's made from solid rock. I've seem it before, but couldn't help but be surprised by it's size. It's a bit shorter than a standard VCR and just a tad taller.
Trip Hawkins, the head honcho at 3DO, once said that the PS2 would do for gaming, what the Gutenberg Bible did for printed media. If you look at the games released with the PS2 you'll notice that Gutenbergs Bible still holds it's status, and that Trip Hawkins should have a very bad taste in his mouth. Perhaps he meant that it would break boundaries in the long run, but as of yet, it hasn't yet broken wind.
There simply isn't a game that makes me stop dead in my tracks and yell "Yeeehaw" before returning to the game like a man possessed. It has some good games and som bad ones too. But the games that are available for the PS2 at the moment are part of a slow evolution, rather than the massive revolution we had come to expect. I'll give the programmers another 6-12 months to familiarize themselves with the machine, and maybe then the revolution can begin. And come that time, maybe a PS2 could be affordable as well.
The PS2 is about £400 (in Denmark), if you can actually get one before xmas. That's quite a lot of money, but it's not enough. To save you game you need a memory card, £35. If you wan't to beat up your friends in Fifa 2001, you need an extra controller, £25. How about a game? They're selling at £45-£55 a pop. If you want you console to stand vertically, you need a measly little plastic stand, £13. Or a bit of duct tape and a pair of thin bamboo sticks. Your console is now at least £500, if you can settle for just one game.
The DVD player is an entirely different deal. If you don't want to spend all you money on the best games, the PS2 offers DVD-playback as well. In Japan, where the console's been available for quite some time, Sony has experienced problems selling the games, perhaps because of the missing revolution. An important reason is that people are buying DVD-movies instead. They're cheaper, for many people still a new technology, and often more exciting than the games. This is a mayor problem for Sony as they do not earn money selling the console, but rather the games.
As a DVD player the console is a bit noisy. You can, dependant on whether the console is upright or flat on it's back, experience slight noises as if the cd touches something that doesn't spinn at the same velocity. Furthermore the console has a constant hum to it, not easily outdone by the volumecontrol on your telly. You'd probably expect this from a £20 VCR from RadioShack, but not from a pricy Console/DVD-player. I'll stick to my DVP-S7000 and My Dreamcast.
The bottom line is that the PlayStation2 is one of the most powerfull console on the market and the DVD-function makes it just a tad better. The games however, leave a lot to be desired. There is still a lot of work to be done, but the question is: Can they do it before the launch of Microsoft's X-Box. The next year should prove very exiting.
With the mailman gone, the door shut and the blue cardboard box on the floor, I started turning and pulling at it, wondering how to open it and how it could be that small, the box with the "big" console.
This is what the box contains:
1 DualShock Controller
1 PlayStation2 Console
1 DemoCD
A couple of leads
Written documentation
All the pictures I had seen of the controller did not reveal the fact that there are four buttons on either side of the lead, on top of the controller. Two on each side, comfortably nestled under your index fingers, when holding on to the controller. The surface of the controller does not seem as cold as plastic often does. There's something warm and almost sticky about the matte surface. The lead is about 2 meters.
The DualShock Controller is the binding link between you and the console, and this must be the reason why a lot of work has gone into it. With two analogue joysticks, that co-star as buttons, a digital direction pad, 8 buttons and the Select & Start buttons, there are definately quite a few buttons to keep track of. As the name emplies, the controller has a vibrating function and the games which I have tested, do try to take advantage of it. The best result is in SSX, where you can feel the full force of the impact as you crash, and the worst result is in RC Revenge Pro, where the tremors seem ill timed and malplaced.
The eight buttons can be switched into analogue mode, and this means that the games can measure how hard you pressing the buttons. In Ridge Racer this means that you actually have a very realistic gas and brake pedal, while other games do not use this function to full effect. This demands quite a bit of motor skills and concentration, because if you're used to digital controllers you just slam down on the buttons. Your truly has come into close contact with the bottom of many a gorge on his SSX-snowboard because of this.
The remaining leads, the AC lead, the AV lead and the Scart converter, deserve a bit of a mention as well. The AC lead is about 180 centimeters long and the AV lead likewise. It's nice that the lead have a bit of length to them, as it offers more freedom in placing your console where you want it. It's extremely simple to hook this thing up, no leads can go in the wrong socket. Three braincells are however required where hooking up to Scart converter, where three similar plugs go into three similar connectors. They're color coded, though. Yellow wire in yellow plug, Green wire in green plug and... Well, you get the picture right?
The written documentation is only 19 pages (in my native tongue, Danish) and seems to be adequate. As I said, the console is easily hooked up, but it's the usage of it that a bit tricky. This is however also quite well documented. A product registration card is included for every single european country, which seem a bit aboundant, as I can't remember ever using a registration card, let alone one for Finland.
The console itself is kinda ugly. Well, when you see it in Sony's own press shots, it's quite a little charmer, but the charm quickly fades when you get close. It has two USB-ports on the front, two controller-ports and two memory-slots. Stick in a memory card, and you'll see that it sticks out about 2-3 centimeters which doesn't actually improve it's appearance. With two controllers connected it quickly becomes a mish-mash of leads, memory cards and unused ports - But who cares? It's what on the inside that matters, and there not a great deal of order and neatness around my telly anyway.
I was puzzled by the size as well. It seems tall and thin, when placed vertically like on Sony's press shots, but lay it flat on it's belly, and it suddenly seems rather pudgy. It's quite fat and feels heavy, like it's made from solid rock. I've seem it before, but couldn't help but be surprised by it's size. It's a bit shorter than a standard VCR and just a tad taller.
Trip Hawkins, the head honcho at 3DO, once said that the PS2 would do for gaming, what the Gutenberg Bible did for printed media. If you look at the games released with the PS2 you'll notice that Gutenbergs Bible still holds it's status, and that Trip Hawkins should have a very bad taste in his mouth. Perhaps he meant that it would break boundaries in the long run, but as of yet, it hasn't yet broken wind.
There simply isn't a game that makes me stop dead in my tracks and yell "Yeeehaw" before returning to the game like a man possessed. It has some good games and som bad ones too. But the games that are available for the PS2 at the moment are part of a slow evolution, rather than the massive revolution we had come to expect. I'll give the programmers another 6-12 months to familiarize themselves with the machine, and maybe then the revolution can begin. And come that time, maybe a PS2 could be affordable as well.
The PS2 is about £400 (in Denmark), if you can actually get one before xmas. That's quite a lot of money, but it's not enough. To save you game you need a memory card, £35. If you wan't to beat up your friends in Fifa 2001, you need an extra controller, £25. How about a game? They're selling at £45-£55 a pop. If you want you console to stand vertically, you need a measly little plastic stand, £13. Or a bit of duct tape and a pair of thin bamboo sticks. Your console is now at least £500, if you can settle for just one game.
The DVD player is an entirely different deal. If you don't want to spend all you money on the best games, the PS2 offers DVD-playback as well. In Japan, where the console's been available for quite some time, Sony has experienced problems selling the games, perhaps because of the missing revolution. An important reason is that people are buying DVD-movies instead. They're cheaper, for many people still a new technology, and often more exciting than the games. This is a mayor problem for Sony as they do not earn money selling the console, but rather the games.
As a DVD player the console is a bit noisy. You can, dependant on whether the console is upright or flat on it's back, experience slight noises as if the cd touches something that doesn't spinn at the same velocity. Furthermore the console has a constant hum to it, not easily outdone by the volumecontrol on your telly. You'd probably expect this from a £20 VCR from RadioShack, but not from a pricy Console/DVD-player. I'll stick to my DVP-S7000 and My Dreamcast.
The bottom line is that the PlayStation2 is one of the most powerfull console on the market and the DVD-function makes it just a tad better. The games however, leave a lot to be desired. There is still a lot of work to be done, but the question is: Can they do it before the launch of Microsoft's X-Box. The next year should prove very exiting.
> The games are too expensive...
They're cheaper than N64 games, cheaper than original PS1 games were, and not much more expensive than current PS1 games.
> The quality games are too far apart...
Jeez, it's a new system - give it a chance. There are some quality games out now, IMHO.
> The DVD function is a laugh...
Actually, it's very good - apart from the RGB issue.
> And I am generally dissapointed...
Well, that's personal opinion for you - it differs wildly.
They're cheaper than N64 games, cheaper than original PS1 games were, and not much more expensive than current PS1 games.
> The quality games are too far apart...
Jeez, it's a new system - give it a chance. There are some quality games out now, IMHO.
> The DVD function is a laugh...
Actually, it's very good - apart from the RGB issue.
> And I am generally dissapointed...
Well, that's personal opinion for you - it differs wildly.
SSX is a great game, the more you play it and the better you get, the more fun it is and you realise it's something special, Also wih tekken tag, The game is much mre deeper then you think, with parry's chickens' tag combos, tag strings, special tag combos, You also only realise how good TTT is when you can string combos with harder characters like Lei and Hwaorang. it's a great feeling when you string together your first combo that takes away the whole bar in TTT or knock an anoying boarder over in SSX just befor the finish line.
"The most eagerly awaited piece of electronic hardware in history" turned up at my doorstep one friday morning. With a somewhat bland remark the mailman asked me to sign the release form. No loud fanfare, no drumrolls or dramatic mood music - it was just there, The PlayStation2.
With the mailman gone, the door shut and the blue cardboard box on the floor, I started turning and pulling at it, wondering how to open it and how it could be that small, the box with the "big" console.
This is what the box contains:
1 DualShock Controller
1 PlayStation2 Console
1 DemoCD
A couple of leads
Written documentation
All the pictures I had seen of the controller did not reveal the fact that there are four buttons on either side of the lead, on top of the controller. Two on each side, comfortably nestled under your index fingers, when holding on to the controller. The surface of the controller does not seem as cold as plastic often does. There's something warm and almost sticky about the matte surface. The lead is about 2 meters.
The DualShock Controller is the binding link between you and the console, and this must be the reason why a lot of work has gone into it. With two analogue joysticks, that co-star as buttons, a digital direction pad, 8 buttons and the Select & Start buttons, there are definately quite a few buttons to keep track of. As the name emplies, the controller has a vibrating function and the games which I have tested, do try to take advantage of it. The best result is in SSX, where you can feel the full force of the impact as you crash, and the worst result is in RC Revenge Pro, where the tremors seem ill timed and malplaced.
The eight buttons can be switched into analogue mode, and this means that the games can measure how hard you pressing the buttons. In Ridge Racer this means that you actually have a very realistic gas and brake pedal, while other games do not use this function to full effect. This demands quite a bit of motor skills and concentration, because if you're used to digital controllers you just slam down on the buttons. Your truly has come into close contact with the bottom of many a gorge on his SSX-snowboard because of this.
The remaining leads, the AC lead, the AV lead and the Scart converter, deserve a bit of a mention as well. The AC lead is about 180 centimeters long and the AV lead likewise. It's nice that the lead have a bit of length to them, as it offers more freedom in placing your console where you want it. It's extremely simple to hook this thing up, no leads can go in the wrong socket. Three braincells are however required where hooking up to Scart converter, where three similar plugs go into three similar connectors. They're color coded, though. Yellow wire in yellow plug, Green wire in green plug and... Well, you get the picture right?
The written documentation is only 19 pages (in my native tongue, Danish) and seems to be adequate. As I said, the console is easily hooked up, but it's the usage of it that a bit tricky. This is however also quite well documented. A product registration card is included for every single european country, which seem a bit aboundant, as I can't remember ever using a registration card, let alone one for Finland.
The console itself is kinda ugly. Well, when you see it in Sony's own press shots, it's quite a little charmer, but the charm quickly fades when you get close. It has two USB-ports on the front, two controller-ports and two memory-slots. Stick in a memory card, and you'll see that it sticks out about 2-3 centimeters which doesn't actually improve it's appearance. With two controllers connected it quickly becomes a mish-mash of leads, memory cards and unused ports - But who cares? It's what on the inside that matters, and there not a great deal of order and neatness around my telly anyway.
I was puzzled by the size as well. It seems tall and thin, when placed vertically like on Sony's press shots, but lay it flat on it's belly, and it suddenly seems rather pudgy. It's quite fat and feels heavy, like it's made from solid rock. I've seem it before, but couldn't help but be surprised by it's size. It's a bit shorter than a standard VCR and just a tad taller.
Trip Hawkins, the head honcho at 3DO, once said that the PS2 would do for gaming, what the Gutenberg Bible did for printed media. If you look at the games released with the PS2 you'll notice that Gutenbergs Bible still holds it's status, and that Trip Hawkins should have a very bad taste in his mouth. Perhaps he meant that it would break boundaries in the long run, but as of yet, it hasn't yet broken wind.
There simply isn't a game that makes me stop dead in my tracks and yell "Yeeehaw" before returning to the game like a man possessed. It has some good games and som bad ones too. But the games that are available for the PS2 at the moment are part of a slow evolution, rather than the massive revolution we had come to expect. I'll give the programmers another 6-12 months to familiarize themselves with the machine, and maybe then the revolution can begin. And come that time, maybe a PS2 could be affordable as well.
The PS2 is about £400 (in Denmark), if you can actually get one before xmas. That's quite a lot of money, but it's not enough. To save you game you need a memory card, £35. If you wan't to beat up your friends in Fifa 2001, you need an extra controller, £25. How about a game? They're selling at £45-£55 a pop. If you want you console to stand vertically, you need a measly little plastic stand, £13. Or a bit of duct tape and a pair of thin bamboo sticks. Your console is now at least £500, if you can settle for just one game.
The DVD player is an entirely different deal. If you don't want to spend all you money on the best games, the PS2 offers DVD-playback as well. In Japan, where the console's been available for quite some time, Sony has experienced problems selling the games, perhaps because of the missing revolution. An important reason is that people are buying DVD-movies instead. They're cheaper, for many people still a new technology, and often more exciting than the games. This is a mayor problem for Sony as they do not earn money selling the console, but rather the games.
As a DVD player the console is a bit noisy. You can, dependant on whether the console is upright or flat on it's back, experience slight noises as if the cd touches something that doesn't spinn at the same velocity. Furthermore the console has a constant hum to it, not easily outdone by the volumecontrol on your telly. You'd probably expect this from a £20 VCR from RadioShack, but not from a pricy Console/DVD-player. I'll stick to my DVP-S7000 and My Dreamcast.
The bottom line is that the PlayStation2 is one of the most powerfull console on the market and the DVD-function makes it just a tad better. The games however, leave a lot to be desired. There is still a lot of work to be done, but the question is: Can they do it before the launch of Microsoft's X-Box. The next year should prove very exiting.
With the mailman gone, the door shut and the blue cardboard box on the floor, I started turning and pulling at it, wondering how to open it and how it could be that small, the box with the "big" console.
This is what the box contains:
1 DualShock Controller
1 PlayStation2 Console
1 DemoCD
A couple of leads
Written documentation
All the pictures I had seen of the controller did not reveal the fact that there are four buttons on either side of the lead, on top of the controller. Two on each side, comfortably nestled under your index fingers, when holding on to the controller. The surface of the controller does not seem as cold as plastic often does. There's something warm and almost sticky about the matte surface. The lead is about 2 meters.
The DualShock Controller is the binding link between you and the console, and this must be the reason why a lot of work has gone into it. With two analogue joysticks, that co-star as buttons, a digital direction pad, 8 buttons and the Select & Start buttons, there are definately quite a few buttons to keep track of. As the name emplies, the controller has a vibrating function and the games which I have tested, do try to take advantage of it. The best result is in SSX, where you can feel the full force of the impact as you crash, and the worst result is in RC Revenge Pro, where the tremors seem ill timed and malplaced.
The eight buttons can be switched into analogue mode, and this means that the games can measure how hard you pressing the buttons. In Ridge Racer this means that you actually have a very realistic gas and brake pedal, while other games do not use this function to full effect. This demands quite a bit of motor skills and concentration, because if you're used to digital controllers you just slam down on the buttons. Your truly has come into close contact with the bottom of many a gorge on his SSX-snowboard because of this.
The remaining leads, the AC lead, the AV lead and the Scart converter, deserve a bit of a mention as well. The AC lead is about 180 centimeters long and the AV lead likewise. It's nice that the lead have a bit of length to them, as it offers more freedom in placing your console where you want it. It's extremely simple to hook this thing up, no leads can go in the wrong socket. Three braincells are however required where hooking up to Scart converter, where three similar plugs go into three similar connectors. They're color coded, though. Yellow wire in yellow plug, Green wire in green plug and... Well, you get the picture right?
The written documentation is only 19 pages (in my native tongue, Danish) and seems to be adequate. As I said, the console is easily hooked up, but it's the usage of it that a bit tricky. This is however also quite well documented. A product registration card is included for every single european country, which seem a bit aboundant, as I can't remember ever using a registration card, let alone one for Finland.
The console itself is kinda ugly. Well, when you see it in Sony's own press shots, it's quite a little charmer, but the charm quickly fades when you get close. It has two USB-ports on the front, two controller-ports and two memory-slots. Stick in a memory card, and you'll see that it sticks out about 2-3 centimeters which doesn't actually improve it's appearance. With two controllers connected it quickly becomes a mish-mash of leads, memory cards and unused ports - But who cares? It's what on the inside that matters, and there not a great deal of order and neatness around my telly anyway.
I was puzzled by the size as well. It seems tall and thin, when placed vertically like on Sony's press shots, but lay it flat on it's belly, and it suddenly seems rather pudgy. It's quite fat and feels heavy, like it's made from solid rock. I've seem it before, but couldn't help but be surprised by it's size. It's a bit shorter than a standard VCR and just a tad taller.
Trip Hawkins, the head honcho at 3DO, once said that the PS2 would do for gaming, what the Gutenberg Bible did for printed media. If you look at the games released with the PS2 you'll notice that Gutenbergs Bible still holds it's status, and that Trip Hawkins should have a very bad taste in his mouth. Perhaps he meant that it would break boundaries in the long run, but as of yet, it hasn't yet broken wind.
There simply isn't a game that makes me stop dead in my tracks and yell "Yeeehaw" before returning to the game like a man possessed. It has some good games and som bad ones too. But the games that are available for the PS2 at the moment are part of a slow evolution, rather than the massive revolution we had come to expect. I'll give the programmers another 6-12 months to familiarize themselves with the machine, and maybe then the revolution can begin. And come that time, maybe a PS2 could be affordable as well.
The PS2 is about £400 (in Denmark), if you can actually get one before xmas. That's quite a lot of money, but it's not enough. To save you game you need a memory card, £35. If you wan't to beat up your friends in Fifa 2001, you need an extra controller, £25. How about a game? They're selling at £45-£55 a pop. If you want you console to stand vertically, you need a measly little plastic stand, £13. Or a bit of duct tape and a pair of thin bamboo sticks. Your console is now at least £500, if you can settle for just one game.
The DVD player is an entirely different deal. If you don't want to spend all you money on the best games, the PS2 offers DVD-playback as well. In Japan, where the console's been available for quite some time, Sony has experienced problems selling the games, perhaps because of the missing revolution. An important reason is that people are buying DVD-movies instead. They're cheaper, for many people still a new technology, and often more exciting than the games. This is a mayor problem for Sony as they do not earn money selling the console, but rather the games.
As a DVD player the console is a bit noisy. You can, dependant on whether the console is upright or flat on it's back, experience slight noises as if the cd touches something that doesn't spinn at the same velocity. Furthermore the console has a constant hum to it, not easily outdone by the volumecontrol on your telly. You'd probably expect this from a £20 VCR from RadioShack, but not from a pricy Console/DVD-player. I'll stick to my DVP-S7000 and My Dreamcast.
The bottom line is that the PlayStation2 is one of the most powerfull console on the market and the DVD-function makes it just a tad better. The games however, leave a lot to be desired. There is still a lot of work to be done, but the question is: Can they do it before the launch of Microsoft's X-Box. The next year should prove very exiting.