PStwo

[A Black Falcon]

http://www.gamespot.com/news/2004/09/25/...08839.html

RUMOR #1: The new, 1.1-inch wide PlayStation 2 doesn't have a hard-disk drive bay.

Source: Just look at the thing.

The official story: see below.

What we heard: When the slim-downed unit was revealed, keen-eyed observers asked, "where's the hard-disc drive bay?" We posed the question to Sony, which confirmed new unit would not have an HDD bay. However, Sony assured gamers that the lack of an HDD bay "was NOT a sign of Sony Computer Entertainment’s change in philosophy regarding the hard disc drive" and that the company is looking into "other memory options." So where does that leave PS2 players of Final Fantasy XI, which requires the HDD? According to Sony, there's no problem, because "consumers who want and use the hard disc drive are typically the more ‘hard core’ gamers, and with more than 27 Million PlayStation 2 units already sold in North America, we feel that a majority of those HDD interested consumers already have their PlayStation 2 units." However, a statement by FFXI producer Hiromichi Tanaka to a British game site didn't sound nearly as upbeat. "We're still preparing, and looking into perhaps even changing platforms, because once the PlayStation 2 is phased out, [the FFXI] population will have to move somewhere," he said.

Bogus or not bogus?: Not Bogus.

RUMOR #2: The new PS2 is top-loading.

Source: A photo that initially surfaced on Swedish game site Game Reactor before being pulled.

The official story: SCEA reps said they had not yet seen an actual example of the new PlayStation 2, so they could not confirm or deny anything about its physical characteristics.

What we heard: When the new PS2's slender design was revealed, minimalists everywhere drooled over the prospect of sliding the unit into a tight slot in their multimedia centers. However, it looks like that won't be possible. As first evidenced from the photo from Game Reactor (pictured), the unit will be top-loading, meaning it will need at least an inch of space above it for the disc-compartment door to open. Though SCEA reps said they were unable to confirm the feature, GameSpot operatives at the Tokyo Game Show saw it for themselves, closing the case.

Bogus or not bogus?: Not bogus.

The other image.

[Dark Jaguar]

PS1 got the PSOne, PS2 gets the PSTwo.

Ya know, in Japan, the PS2 doesn't have an HD bay either. They just plug in the disk and lay it on top of the system. They very well could adapt the US version to do the same thing, couldn't they?

[Great Rumbler]

If my PS2 deteriorates anymore I may just have to get one of these.

[OB1]

It's not actually called the PStwo like the PSone is though. That's just the nick-name message board people have given it.

And yeah my POS PS2 works only half the time I use it so I might have to get one of these. And since I'll need a network adapter for Rise of the Kusai (Mark of Kri 2, bitches!).

It's weird that it can be put on its side even though it's a top-loader. Kind of defeats the purpose.

[Great Rumbler]

That kind of sucks that it's top-load. Now I won't be able to put my SNES on top of it.

[OB1]

It also makes it more durable though.

[Great Rumbler]

I guess. But that still doesn't change the fact that it is inconvenient for stacking things on top of it. *member of the Society for Putting Things On Top of Other Things*

[OB1]

That ruins stuff though...

[Great Rumbler]

No it doesn't.

[OB1]

No I mean having a sliding loader.

[Great Rumbler]

It still inconvenieces me.

[Dark Jaguar]

Top loading isn't all that bad GR. Sure, front loading is a nicer design. It's also safer since it prevents all manner of stuff like dust, debris, and the occasional little kid's fingernail, from touching that little lense, but it's not all that bad. You just need to take a little more care of it. At the very least, the tray based loaders have that danger of someone snapping it off, but only idiots would ever have that happen to them. Anyway, that won't happen to the top loader... well it could I guess...

[A Black Falcon]

Trays are probably better, but definitely take more wear... though PC CDRoms do fine, consoles probably take more abuse so it could be more of a problem. Though they're probably doing it because I bet it's a bit cheaper to make it top-loading... maybe. Or space saving (footprint-wise)? I don't know.

Anyway, I'd think that not having a HDD spot would be pretty stupid... sure not many games use it, but it seems like a major feature to leave out. But then again Nintendo dropped the digital video out port from newer Gamecubes...

[OB1]

Yeah I can't believe they did that. With each new move they make they prove the public perception true that the GC really is just a toy. Ugh.

And no hdd support won't be a big problem if there's some re-writable space on the bds.

[A Black Falcon]

This is a PS2 OB1, not a PS3, so that is kind of irrelevant... as for the PS3 I doubt that this shows for sure which way the PS3 will go. But I certainly hope that if they expect to compete in the online arena they have some kind of mass storage device... it's pretty much a necessity.

[Dark Jaguar]

Nintendo ditched the higher level video support on newer Gamecubes? Are you sure? Well, it's not a surprise really I guess.... Nintendo has been ditching video modes on updated versions of their system for years now. The NES lost AV with the top loading version, as opposed to Japan's aptly named "AV Famicom" which ADDED it (Also it lost the expansion port, only in America though, but since the Disk Drive never came to America, no matter). The SNES remodel shrunk the size, but ditched S-Video support (Also lost expansion port, also doesn't matter since the "Satellavision" or whatever it was called never was released here). The N64... well the only remodel it got was that special Pikachu edition which was actually bigger... and it ditched the expansion port, both in Japan AND in the US, pretty much admitting the 64DD was a failure.

Now the GCN is ditching composite video?

Eh, oh well. The PS1 ditched half the ports it originally had in it's various remodels (The various video ports were only weird copies of the standard video out port, nothing special, and the expansion port was only used for the Game Shark, which Sony wasn't a fan of anyway). The PSOne model actually ditched the system link port. The PS2 eventually lost that iLink port (not sure what ever might have used it), and now it's loosing the hard disk bay. As I said though, in Japan the system didn't even have the bay, and the HD was external. Honestly, if they leave whatever port was used to plug in that HD on the PSTwo, and bring over the Japanese version of the hard drive, then there's no issue.

[OB1]

This is a PS2 OB1, not a PS3, so that is kind of irrelevant... as for the PS3 I doubt that this shows for sure which way the PS3 will go. But I certainly hope that if they expect to compete in the online arena they have some kind of mass storage device... it's pretty much a necessity.

Oh right, for a second there I thought you were talking about the PS3.

And could you tell DJ that it's not composite, it's component. Composite is the standard red white yellow cables. So current GC models don't support progressive scan or the superior picture quality that component offers. Basically, anyone with a nice tv is screwed.

[A Black Falcon]

Not a recent thing, DJ... it happened months ago. You just didn't notice I guess. IGN talked about it for a while...

[OB1]

Could you quote my above post?

[A Black Falcon]

Oh right, for a second there I thought you were talking about the PS3.

And could you tell DJ that it's not composite, it's component. Composite is the standard red white yellow cables. So current GC models don't support progressive scan or the superior picture quality that component offers. Basically, anyone with a nice tv is screwed.

Why would I be talking about the PS3 in a PS2 thread?

[OB1]

Eh, I mix up threads once in a great while. They're all the same.

[Private Hudson]

Sattellivision?

And wasn't the iLink port used LAN PS2's together?

[Dark Jaguar]

But LAN is ethernet based. I think it was used for system connect though. Oh well, any games that want to system link can just use the ethernet adapter.

[Private Hudson]

Yah, it originally used the iLink port (and sold iLink cables). However, once the ethernet adapter was actually released, they changed it. :)

[nickdaddyg]

pretty much PStwo is to PS2 and PSone was to PS1.

[Great Rumbler]

Yeah.

[OB1]

Except that the PSone was officially called that, while the "PStwo" is not.

[Great Rumbler]

So are they just going to call this the PS2?