|
The is Sony's second video game console, the successor to the PlayStation and the predecessor to the PlayStation 3. Its development was announced in March 1999, and it was first released in Japan on March 4, 2000, in North America on October 26, 2000 and in Europe on November 24, 2000. The PS2 is part of the sixth generation era, and has become the fastest selling gaming console in history, with over 105 million units shipped worldwide by March 31, 2006. Upon its release, the PS2 set the mark of being the fastest selling console at launch, breaking the record held previously by the Sega Dreamcast. As of September 2006, the PS2 still outsells its competition, the Xbox, Xbox 360, and GameCube, in North America and Japan. ••
History
Games The PlayStation brand's strength has led to strong third-party support for the system. Although the launch titles for the PS2 were unimpressive in 2000, the Christmas season of 2001 saw the release of several best-selling and critically acclaimed games. Those PS2 titles helped the PS2 maintain and extend its lead in the video game console market, despite increased competition from the launches of the Microsoft Xbox and Nintendo GameCube. In several cases, Sony made exclusivity deals with publishers in order to pre-empt its competitors. Critically acclaimed games on the machine include the Grand Theft Auto series and the ever-popular Final Fantasy (Square Enix) series, the latest three Metal Gear Solid titles, Devil May Cry and Devil May Cry 3, the SSX series, latest three Ace Combat titles, the Square Enix/Disney collaboration Kingdom Hearts, and first-party Sony Computer Entertainment brands such as the Gran Turismo, SOCOM, Sly Cooper, Ratchet & Clank, Ape Escape and Jak and Daxter series, ICO, Shadow of the Colossus, God of War and the Everquest spin-offs Champions of Norrath and Champions: Return to Arms, the Dragon Ball Z: Budokai series (which has five games on the PS2), and of course the Tony Hawk series. The PS2 has also been the home to many music games such as the latest Dance Dance Revolution games, and the guitar controller-based game Guitar Hero. By the end of September 2006, there were 8,181 PS2 titles released worldwide (4,554 in Asia, 1,319 in North America, and 2,308 in Europe),• accounting for cumulative production shipments of 1.127 billion units.• Hardware compatibility The PS2 hardware can read both compact discs and DVDs. It is backwards compatible with older PlayStation (PS1) games, allows for DVD Video playback, and will play PS2 games off cheap CD-ROM discs or higher-capacity DVD-ROM discs. The ability to play DVD movies was an added incentive for consumers to be able to justify purchasing the PS2 (The MSRP was $300 in October 2000). The PS2 also supports PS1 memory cards (for PS1 game saves only) and controllers as well. The PS2's Dual Shock 2 controller is essentially an upgraded PS1 Dual Shock; analog face, shoulder and D-pad buttons replaced the digital buttons of the original. When it was released, the PS2 had many advanced features that were not present in other contemporary video game consoles, including DVD-playback functionality, USB support, and IEEE 1394 expansion ports. It was not until late 2001 that the Microsoft Xbox became the second console to include USB support (USB Revision 1.1 aka, Full-Speed USB, with a proprietary Microsoft Xbox shaped socket) and DVD playback capabilities. Note: Compatibility with USB devices is dependent on the software supporting said USB device. For example, the PS2 BIOS will not boot an ISO image from a USB flash drive, or operate a USB printer, as the machine's operating system does not include this functionality. By contrast, Gran Turismo 4 is programmed to save screenshots to a USB mass storage device, or print images to certain USB printers. Software compatibility Support for original PlayStation games was also an important selling point for the PS2, letting owners of an older system upgrade to the PlayStation 2 and keep their old software, and giving new users access to older games until a larger library was developed for the new system. As an added bonus, the PS2 had the ability to enhance PlayStation games by speeding up disc read time and/or adding texture smoothing to improve graphics. While the texture smoothing was universally effective (albeit with odd effects where transparent textures are used — white borders would be seen around certain 2D pictures used to create objects called 'sprites'), faster disk reading could cause some games to fail to load or play correctly. A handful of PlayStation titles (notably ) fail to run on the PS2 at all (Special Missions fails to recognise Metal Gear Solid at the disk swap screen, for example). This problem appears to have been rectified in the slimline versions of the PS2, where most of the previously unplayable PS one games can now be played. It is a common misconception that disk swapping in a game (for example, for multi-disk games or expansion packs) is not possible on the PS2 without modifying the console. The anomalous failure of the above title at its disk swap screen may have given birth to this rumor. Software for all PlayStation consoles contains one of four region codes: for Japan and Asia: NTSC/J, North America: NTSC-U/C, Europe and Oceania: PAL, and China: NTSC/C. Online play With the purchase of a separate unit called the Network Adaptor (which is built into the Slimline model), some PS2 games support online multiplayer. Instead of having a unified, subscription-based online service like Xbox Live, online multiplayer on the PS2 is split between publishers and run on third-party servers. However, this comes at a price as any connection can connect to the Internet with a PS2, resulting in lag whenever slow connections are present. Most recent PS2 online games have been developed to exclusively only support broadband Internet access. Xbox Live exclusively requires a broadband Internet connection. All newer online PS2 games (since 2003) are protected by the Dynamic Network Authentication System (DNAS). The purpose of this system is to prevent piracy and online cheating. DNAS will prevent games from being played online if they are determined to be pirated copies, or if they have been modified. Recently, however, there are methods of getting around this protection by modifying some files on the pirated game. Home development Sony released a version of GNU/Linux for the PS2 in a package that also includes a keyboard, mouse, Ethernet adapter and hard disk drive. Currently, Sony's online store states that the Linux kit is no longer for sale in North America. However as of September 2006, the European version was still available, but it is now only sold as just the Linux software on a DVD and with a monitor cable. The kit boots by installing a proprietary interface, the Run-time environment which is on a region-coded DVD, so the European and USA kits each only work with a PS2 from that region. In Europe and Australia, the PlayStation 2 comes with a free Yabasic interpreter on the bundled demo disc. This allows simple programs to be created for the PlayStation 2 by the end-user. This was included in a failed attempt to circumvent a UK tax by defining the console as a "computer" if it contained certain software. A port of the NetBSD project is also available for the PS2. It is also possible to listen to MP3 music and watch DivX movies with homebrew programs running in consoles that have a modchip installed or with network software like GameShark's Media Player. Hardware revisions The PlayStation 2 has undergone many revisions, some only of internal construction and others with substantial external changes. These are colloquially known amongst PlayStation 2 hardware hackers as V0, V1, V2, etc., up to V16 (as of 2006). Original case design
Slim case design
PSX Sony has also made a consumer device, (only in Japan) called the PSX, that can be used as a digital video recorder or to burn DVDs in addition to playing PlayStation 2 games. The device was poorly received, with some major features absent from the first revisions of the hardware, and has thus far experienced very weak sales in Japan, despite major price drops. The machine's future continues to be uncertain, with North American and European launches considered to be distant if at all. Accessories Main articles: DualShock, PlayStation 2 HDD, EyeToy, PlayStation 2 Headset The PS2's DualShock2 controller is largely identical to the PlayStation's, with the same basic functionality; however, it includes analog pressure sensitivity on the face and shoulder buttons, is lighter and includes two more levels of vibration. The L2 and R2 buttons are also signifiantly larger. The fact that the design didn't change pleased some consumers who were already used to the DualShock controller. Optional hardware include DualShock or DualShock2 controllers, a PlayStation 2 DVD remote control, an internal/external hard disk for PlayStation 2, a Network adapter, PlayStation or PlayStation 2 memory cards, light guns (Guncon), and various cables and interconnects: Multitap for PlayStation or PlayStation 2, Y-Pb-Pr, S-Video, RGB, SCART, VGA (for progressive scan games and PS2 Linux only) and composite video cables, RF modulator, USB camera ("EyeToy"), dual microphones (sold with and used exclusively for SingStar games), USB keyboard, mouse and a headset. Unlike the original PlayStation, which required that the use of an official Sony PlayStation mouse to play mouse-compatible games, the few PlayStation 2 games with mouse support work with standard PC-compatible USB mice. Early versions of the PlayStation 2 could be networked via an iLink port, though this had little game support and was dropped. One of the reasons for this lack of support was the fact that the 4-pin iLink 1394 port cannot supply electricity to attached devices(6-pin IEEE 1394 does), unlike the USB port. The original Playstation 2 multitap cannot be plugged into into the newer slim models (as the multitap connects to the memory card slot as well as the controller slot and the memory card slot on the slimline is less deep). New slim-design multitaps exist for these models, however third-party adapters exist to permit original multitaps to be used. Disc Read Error Owners of early PS2 models purchased from launch until spring 2002 commonly reported faulty optical drives in their consoles. The earliest drives suffered from a constantly misaligning laser lens but later defects were the result of a shift in voltage to the laser itself. The first problem was relatively easy to remedy, but it required opening the machine's casing and tweaking a cog that controlled the lens' distance from the discs it was supposed to read, thus voiding the warranty. This usually didn't matter, as in most cases the warranty already had expired by the time such problems began to appear. The second fix involved the use of an oscillator. As time went on, more and more drives began breaking down and a class action lawsuit was filed against Sony. They had the option of either paying the requested fines in damages, or offering free repair and replacements at their discretion. Sony chose the latter and, until February 2005, they honored their agreement. In the UK owners suffering from this flaw must pay Sony £50 (as of spring 2005) to get their machines repaired. A second lawsuit is being filed against Sony for all of the above, plus claims that defective hardware is damaging media discs. The first hearings were set to commence in April and May, 2005. As of August 9, 2006, Sony is offering exchanges of factory-refurbished consoles for broken out-of-warranty consoles for a charge of US $45. Technical specifications
Price history See also | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|
| |