technophile

By Michael I. Corbett
Technophile

Months before the release of the Sega Dreamcast last September, Sony was trying to steal Sega's thunder by hyping the incredible power of their proprietary 'Emotion' processor which would be the heart of their next system. The specs on the PlayStation 2 seemed to dwarf that of the Dreamcast. Expectations by everyone in the industry where immediately raised. Could Sony live up to its own hype?

A few short months after Sega released their impressive console, Sony released the PS2 in Japan. To the dismay of many gamers around the world, Sony seemed to falter with their new system. Many anticipated launch titles were absent at launch and those that did make it were less than inspiring. In addition, most titles did not even feature anti-aliasing, something that has become a standard in next-generation gaming platforms, including the 'less powerful' Sega Dreamcast. Suffice to say I was no longer very interested in spending the $300+ for such an over-hyped piece of hardware.

However, since the lackluster launch of the system in Japan, many developers spent their time figuring out the finer workings of the 'Emotion' processor. For instance Namco, known around the world for their incredible arcade games and even better home console ports, implemented anti-aliasing in their port of Tekken Tag Tournament, something they had not figured out before the Japanese release. Other developers also figured out more efficient ways of handling texture compression, CPU utilization and the inevitable RAM limitations. Games that featured 'jaggies' in Japan where shaping up to be sharp, beautiful games for the North American release.

Unfortunately, just when developers were catching their stride on game development, Sony was facing another huge problem: massive hardware shortages at launch. Contrary to other competitors, who have claimed hardware shortages on their launch dates, Sony's claim was true. The 'Emotion' processor was apparently difficult to produce quickly due to its complex manufacturing process. This put pressure on retailers who had already been accepting thousands of reservations. Now they might not have enough to meet the demand.

On the day of the launch, if you were not one of the hardcore PlayStation fans who reserved the system months in advance, you were probably out of luck purchasing one at launch. Many retail outlets even went so far as to tell consumers that they must buy at least one game with their purchase. I was not one of those lucky people. I had to wait a couple of weeks before I found one at local retailer.

So was it worth the wait? Well, yes and no. I will now evaluate the system…

First of all the system came packaged in a small blue box with PS2 printed in blue on the front. Nothing special here. In fact, it's rather boring. Upon opening it, I found the 'new' Dual Shock controller 2 (black) in a plastic bag, the usual inserts and manuals wrapped in cellophane, the RCA cables and the power cable. No demo disc to be found here. Oh, wait, there is a coupon to mail in for that. That seemed a bit cheap. (I did find a post card inside to redeem for one in the mail. After getting through the first layer of packaging, what caught my eye was how small the unit was. All of the pictures I had seen of the system gave me the impression that it was the size of a VCR. The unit is black with the PS2 name printed in blue on the top. Very sharp, and now the box makes sense.

Upon inspecting it, I found two controller ports on the left side with two memory card slots above those. Below the controller ports are two USB ports and one i.LINK (IEEE1394) connector. The right hand side of the machine, or top if you mount it vertically, has a reset button and an eject button. The power switch is located on the back along with an AV multi-out connector, an optical digital out connector, a 3.5" hard drive slot and an expansion unit (for network interface). It's actually quite impressive to look at. Sony designed their console to rest horizontally or vertically. They even crafted the little PS2 logo on the front to swivel so that it stays horizontal no matter how you set it up. I love details like this.

Next came the hook up. RCA cables are packaged in as I have previously mentioned, but if you have a new television set, you may want to check and see if you have an S-Video connector. If you do, I suggest you buy the additionally S-Video cable on your purchase. This is necessary for getting the best possible picture. Also, if you have a surround-sound receiver with an optical input, purchase the cable to connect it to the PS2 for superior sound quality. At any rate, the S-Video cable or RCA jacks simply plug into the PS2 by a single proprietary port on the back and then the other end to the back of the television or VCR. Next, plug in the power cable to the machine and then into the wall and it's done. It's that simple.

Now for the boot up. First thing I noticed were the cool blue and green LEDs on the reset and eject buttons on the front of the machine. Those look sweet. The first time the machine is turned on a few setup options need to be set, such as the correct time zone and the correct region and language settings. The menus have a black background with surprisingly clear text. Unlike the Dreamcast with it cartoony icons, Sony opted for the more refined look and that works for me. Behind and beside the menus are repeating animations of light spheres and a variation of geometric shapes swirling around. Though it sounds distracting, I found it to be a welcome addition to what could be a boring menu selection process. All the while you navigate, ambient seashore sounds play in the background. Very relaxing; I like that. All the menus are laid out clearly and logically. In addition to the regional setting, there are also menus to access video, sound audio CD, DVD and PS1 options. In all, a very elegant interface. But how is it for gaming you ask? Read on.

The first game I purchased was Tekken Tag Tournament from Namco. Being a big fan of the Arcade game of the same name, I thought this would be a fitting introduction to the system. All I can say is that if you like this game in the arcade, you'll love the home conversion even more. The polygon count on the fighters has been beefed up. The level of detail in the models and environments is unsurpassed in any game I've seen on console and PC. Everything is, as you'd expect from a Namco, near perfection. This game justified my purchase of the system.

Next, I rented SSX from EA Sports. To be perfectly honest, I was not expecting much from this game. It didn't get a whole lot of coverage from the press and I've played other snowboarding games in the past and was never really too impressed. This game, however, is incredible. Rather than trying to create a snowboarding simulation, EA took the fun and crazy route and it works. If you've ever played a Tony Hawk game on another system, you'll feel right at home with this one. The ski slopes featured in the game are incredible, with over-the-top jumps, obstacles to dodge and sheer drop-offs that'll make your stomach sink. This game is fast and furious. The sense of speed is amazing. At times the contestants are gliding down a hill in excess of 100MPH and you can feel it. The sound effects are also top notch. All the sound effects are dead-on -- from the sound the board makes blazing through the powder to the sharp grinds as the board sails over an icy stretch of ground. The music is fun and fast. I didn't tire of it like I so easily did with the recognizable bands in Tony Hawk Pro Skater. Other nuances include the music lightening when you go airborne over a jump that just directs all your senses to the dangerous situation at hand to the sound of the crowd, who are visible unlike Tony Hawk Pro Skater, cheering you on. This game is pure fun, a must-buy title.

Now let's look at the DVD performance. For some of our younger audience, this will be the selling point to get their parents to buy one of these. Luckily for us, Sony didn't have just games in mind when making this machine. Not only does it play old PlayStation 1 games and audio CD's, it also doubles for a great DVD player. The DVD capabilities are a great justification for the purchase cost of this piece of hardware, at least that's what I keep telling myself. When the system launched in Japan, the system came bundled with an 8MB-memory card. The reason for this was that the DVD software was stored on this disk which meant that whenever you wanted to watch a DVD, you'd have to load in that memory card and load the DVD software. Fortunately, Sony was kind enough to build that into the North American version so we wouldn't have to worry about that. Upon the insertion of a DVD movie, the PlayStation recognizes it for what it is and boots it right up.

I've tried only two DVD thus far but have been very happy with the results. The Matrix was the first one I tried. This DVD has had its share of compatibility problems with a lot of players so I thought this one would be a good test. I'm happy to report that it played without a hitch. My only complaint is controlling the DVD with the system controller. It's a little cumbersome with a slight learning curve. After an hour I was accustomed to it but I will definitely purchase a third-party remote control that I'll review at a later time.

The next DVD I tried was the new Terminator 2 release. This one looked especially good compared to my viewings of it on my PC DVD drive. After going through the THX video check on the DVD (to make sure the settings on the TV where tuned correctly) the picture was just perfect. Black areas shown were actually black and not washed-out, while the color remained vibrant.

Regardless of the disappointing Japanese launch, software development problems and hardware shortages, this system has a lot to offer. The DVD capabilities alone make it worth the purchase. Although the games currently released are nothing that we haven't seen elsewhere, you can be sure that in the coming months developers will be rolling out some truly next generation software like we've never seen before. The best is yet to come.

related links:

www.sony.com