PlayStation 2

[Ralf's Girl]

Has anyone bought one yet?

[marcus]

it doesnt get released here in Australia until the end of next week..and the cost i believe is going to be pretty high because of our worthless dollar..im waiting for it come out and i know someone who is getting one and i will check his out before I buy one.

[Minardi fan]

Yes, I was one of the crazy idiots who was at Electronics Boutique at midnight on launch day to pick up my Playstation 2.

It's very nice, I have to say.

The fan which cools it is very quiet, much more so than the loud Dreamcast one. The new analogue controllers are a vast improvement over the PSOne version, and those little lights on the front are just lovely.

It's just a pity the launch game line up was so poor - I had to resort to the weird fireworks puzzle game Fantavision, which is actually excellent fun.

The machine also improves PSOne games, some more noticeably than others. For instance, Driver is much smoother, and F1 '97 runs a bit faster.

The most improved game though is Theme Park World - the game is actually rendered playable thanks to it being much faster and having all those horrible pixels removed.

The DVD playback is brilliant - I went and bought Gladiator and watched that. Ignore people who say the quality isn't good enough - it's wonderful.

The sceptics can stop wittering on now - PS2 is excellent.

The one thing which is a disappointment though is the rubbish line up of games which came out with it.

Any more questions???

[marcus]

Yes

Did you pass your exams?

[Ralf's Girl]

M-Fan, judging by your rapturous raving, I'm going to hazard a guess that...you like your PlayStation 2???

One of my friends was strange enough to visit the Electronics Boutique in Burnley at midnight on Thursday. He spent all of Friday fielding questions about it!

[Minardi fan]

Exams? Exams? Either you are referring to my general state of mind, or something I am oblivious to. I did however pass my teaching practice .

I just want a new game for my PS2! I've got to level 6 of Fantavision so far, and there's only 8 in the easy mode (16 on hard). There's 4 F1 games lurking about though, but what I REALLY want is Theme Park World which is released on the 15th December and looks amazing.

[Minardi fan]

I almost forgot!

I popped Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation in to the PS2 last night and was truly stunned. The smoothing capability of the PS2 means that this game honestly looks like a proper next-gen version.

Lovely.

[Sparky]

I bought a 'Free-ads' paper this week, thinking I might sieze upon some fool who bought a Sony PS2, and realised he needed cash for Christmas.

All I found was a bunch of opportunistic B*****ds who figured a new get-rich-quick scheme.

How does £1500 for an unopened PS2 complete with a 'free' 'Ridge-Racer 5' game sound?

I mean, Fifteen hundred Quid!!!

Unfortunately, I can imagine some poor brow-beaten parents actually caving in to 'lil Jimmy's demands for the Christmas present.

Tell me this isn't acceptable. I understand supply and demand, but this is crazy.

[DC]

£1500 is A joke! I ordered mine off of Shoppersuniverse.com and i got an e-mail back telling me that my credit crad had been declined! i phoned my credit card company and they told me no effort had been made to get the payment! i sent them an e-mail and i toatally harassed them! now im getting it in january with a 20% discount! that means my PS2 with tekken tag is only going to cost £250!!! thats a good deal! im also on a priority list so im guarenteed a PS2 in the first batch in! im deligheted!

[Minardi fan]

I got the demo of Tekken Tag today and in all honesty you would think that it was a PSOne game. It's a pathetic attempt Namco...

[pablo]

I got one the day they came out. Stood in line at Wal-Mart for Nine freakin hours to get it.

So far, I have been fairly unimpressed. The games haven't been up to the hype yet, but the DVD player does a nice job.
As far as games go though the Dreamcast is the better choice (for now).

I think the PS2 is much louder than the DC. I think Minardi Fan is a Sony Fan, I have both machines sitting side by side (actually my DC sits atop the PS2, it makes a nice Dreamcast holder, hehehe) and the PS2 is very loud. Not that the DC is "quiet" but the PS2 is definitely more noisy.

I agree with Minardi Fan about the "little lights" on front, they are "swell" I guess. but if you have money to spend on a system because it has some cute lights, then man I must be doing the wrong thing.

[Minardi fan]

I'm probably going to get a DC after Christmas anyway, to play Shenmue and Ecco.

I reckon the PS2's fan is much quieter than the DC's, but the PS2's disk drive is noisier.

And if you want the PS2's first excellent game, I have three words for you - THEME. PARK. WORLD.

Review soon...

[pablo]

When you get your Dreamcast, get Test Drive LeMans for it at the same time. If you are a sportscar fan at all (which I assume you are) then you will really dig that game