Can you feel the love? I can't, really. I've had my Playstation 2 since Thanksgiving and I only own one game. Of all the titles that are currently out, I've found SSX to be the only justifiable purchase for the console (read my review for more insight on it). I tried Orphen. Sucked. I tried Midnight Club. I'll play Midtown Madness on the PC, thanks. This is utter trash. What happened, Sony? Don't tell me about DOA2: Hardcore. It's decent, but I'd still rather play the Dreamcast version.

In the box you get the console, RCA-standard a/v plugs (Vid, Left Audio, Right Audio), AC power cord and documentation. There's also a mail in card you can send to Sony to receive a demo disc with PS2 games. I sent it in November and I have not received anything. Hmm...

GRAPHICS POWER
I think we've reached a point where I could compare to the Playstation 2 to the Dreamcast and tell you not to compare the two. One can obviously render further distances on the screen (PS2) while the other has better graphic smoothing/filtering (DC).

The graphics for PS2 are indeed very sharp. Sometimes too sharp to the point that things start to have this 'flicker'. You'd think that when they designed this machine they'd have included anti-aliasing to smooth out jagged edges on graphics (Dreamcast already has this, which is why Sega fanatics are constantly defending the great look of DC games over PS2 titles). Developers now solve this through software, within their games (take SSX for example, which has very smooth looking graphics, but an inconsistent frame rate).

An industry programmer told me that while the Playstation 2 has a graphics chip that is very fast, there's a pipe (speaking figuratively of course) that creates a bottleneck in performance. Thus, the PS2 has this powerful graphics processor that's starving because it's not being fed enough information. It's no wonder that developers hate this machine. Even Hideo Kojima (creator of the Metal Gear series) mentioned in an interview his headache over development for the console.

I've bought more first generation Playstation titles than PS2 games. I'm waiting for Persona 2 to arrive in the mail and my friend let me borrow Silent Hill. The latest RPG and racing offerings on the PS2 are below average.

THE DUAL SHOCK 2 CONTROLLER
Out of the box, you get one controller. Chances are you won't notice a difference between the original Dual Shock and Dual Shock 2. Contrary to physical differences, the new Dual Shock 2 does have pressure sensitive buttons. You just have to be VERY, VERY calm with your thumb. Ridge Racer V actually has this feature, but since I was racing at breakneck speed I sometimes forgot that I could ease on the gas by reducing pressure on the X button. While it certainly is a plus, it hasn't revolutionized my game playing experiences. The Dreamcast's controller may be uncomfortable, but at least its analog triggers were more realistic in terms of use with racing games and the like. Making me adjust my thumb's pressure down to the millimeter is just not natural.

DVD PLAYBACK
I've played more DVDs off of my PS2 than I've played games.

The PS2 runs silently at times and louder at others when running DVDs. I think this depends on whether or not you are playing dual layered or single layered DVDs. Depending on where the console is (relative to where you sit), this noise can be overlooked or be an annoyance (especially if the PS2's cooling fan dominates over a movie's more silent scenes).

I am not sure if this happens with standalone DVD players, but when the PS2 switches from one layer to the next on a DVD, there is a brief pause. I've noticed this with recent DVD releases such as "The Bridge on the River Kwai" and "Pitch Black".

The PS2's DVD menus are decent. There are the standard chapter skips and scan-forward/scan-backward icons (ONLY at 2x, no faster) in addition to audio track select, angle select, audio setup, DVD title menu and other options (including a Parental lockout for preventing playback of certain DVDs depending on their rating). Some of the general functions can be accessed via buttons on the controller, while others demand that you move a cursor through a menu.

The back of the console features an optical out with Dolby 5.1 surround and DTS support for you home theater buffs.

8MB MEMORY CARDS (Sorry, NOT Included)
Unfortunately the console does not ship with one memory card. Yeah, rake out another 35 dollars. Good lord. I was mildly surprised that you can't save PSOne game saves onto the newer 8MB memory cards. Surprised because I don't think it's impossible to do (you could save over ten times as many games if my calculations are correct - let me know if I'm wrong), and not surprised because this is just Sony's way of controlling the market by making you, the disadvantaged consumer, to buy the 512KB Memory Cards (PSOne standard).

OVERALL
For those of you who don't have the PS2 yet, think about why you want the console. If you want your existing Playstation library to continue on and you don't have a DVD player, then the PS2 might be for you. This March, games like Capcom's "Onimusha" and Konami's "Zone of Enders" may make the PS2 library look a little nicer. And there's always Metal Gear Solid 2, due out late this year. Still, I haven't been happy with the selection. And it's been almost five months since launch. There's obviously something wrong here...

As of this writing, Sega's officially dropped the price of the Dreamcast to $100 in addition to a "Smash Pack" bundle featuring over ten classics (including Phantasy Star II, Streets of Rage II) for about $120. Utter madness. While Sega will stop producing Dreamcast in March (with titles slated until March of 2002), you might want to look into Sega for their current offerings and now-cheap sticker price for the console.


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