koobird

I know this is lazy, but does anyone know the specs for the PS2? When is it released? How are the Japanese and U.S. versions different?

The reason I ask this question on this board is because I believe the Japanese version will have DVD capability, while the U.S. version will not.

oneshot

US will have DVD DTS Ac3 and 5.1 i think it is

cloud

I will try and find the exact specs if I can. In the meantime the following are the differences.

1)Japanese has the memory card included, the US model does not.

2)The Japanese model has a PCMCIA or PC Card slot, the US model does not.

3)The Japanese model will use an external hardrive and broadband modem, the US model has a built in compartment for when they are available.

4)The Japanese model has the DVD drivers on the memory card whereas the US model has them pre-installed in ROM in the console itself.

5)The keepcases for the Japanese games have a slot for a memory card, the US game keepcases don't. (This may be both a cost and time saving feature).

Other then that they are the same, including the fact that they both have DD5.1/DTS5.1 bit stream output capability.

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MY SHORT BUT SLOWLY EXPANDING DVD LIST


MY GETTING LONGER BUT SLOWLY EXPANDING DVD LIST

"The earth does not belong to people; people belong to the earth. Everything that happens to the earth happens also to the sons and daughters of the earth." -Chief Seattle.

[This message has been edited by cloud (edited September 30, 2000).]

[This message has been edited by cloud (edited September 30, 2000).]

[Hayami]

How does the quality of the PS2 as a DVD player compare to stand-alone players in the $250-$400 range with component connection, Wega?

DaveMorales

Most reviews say that the DVD capability is on par with a 3rd generation DVD player (early 1999) and is not up to par with current Sony or Pioneer players.

Also note that the Japanese version is PAL while the US version is NTSC so be careful if considering an import....



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A free Tibet - Keep Hope alive...

cloud

quote:<HR>Originally posted by [Hayami]:
How does the quality of the PS2 as a DVD player compare to stand-alone players in the $250-$400 range with component connection, Wega?<HR>

The playback on the Japanese models is not that great. My first generation Sony DVD player does a better job. There is some confusion regarding the quality on the US model. People are assuming that the fact that the DVD drivers are pre installed on the system as opposed to coming on the memory card (which by the way is not included with the US system) means that it has hardware decoding. This not neccessarily so. I think the reason for this is so that they cannot be tampered with (although I'm sure this not necessarily going to be the case) and cannot be corrupted by saved games. However, having said that, there was a story about Sony buying up LSI chips recently. These are the same chips used in regular DVD players. IMO, it is not only too late to include these in the system but would add to the cost and increase Sony's losses on the system (it is already losing $100 per console). I think that even though Sony is marketing it as a "do everything box" their main objective is to sell it as a game system first (one that can also play games on the DVD format) and a DVD player second. So although it is quite possible the DVD playback will be very good and better then it's Japanese counterpart it is highly unlikely.

By the way the Japanese model is NTSC just like the US model will be. The only thing it is R2 NTSC so it will not play R1 NTSC (North American) DVDs without some modification. The original Japanese model had a flaw in that with a sequence of button pressing it would play R1 NTSC DVDs. This was good for those out side North America who wanted to import R1 DVDs, but Sony fixed the glitch in later production models. Plus the button pressing thing does not always work properly.

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MY SHORT BUT SLOWLY EXPANDING DVD LIST


MY GETTING LONGER BUT SLOWLY EXPANDING DVD LIST

"The earth does not belong to people; people belong to the earth. Everything that happens to the earth happens also to the sons and daughters of the earth." -Chief Seattle.

[This message has been edited by cloud (edited October 01, 2000).]

necros

i was originally planning to not get a plain DVD player, and get a PS2 to use as a game system and dvd player..

But a friend who usually knows about this kinda stuff told me he read now that PS2 will need some kind of special add on thing to be able to all the stuff a normal DVD player will do.. dunno what exactly.. but maybe you should wait till PS2 is out and you see what, if anything, you might need to also get..

I decided to get a plain dvd player (I got the cheapest sony there was, like $250) and I'm real happy I did. I have a Dreamcast for games that'll have games just as cool as PS2

cloud

quote:<HR>Originally posted by necros:
i was originally planning to not get a plain DVD player, and get a PS2 to use as a game system and dvd player..

But a friend who usually knows about this kinda stuff told me he read now that PS2 will need some kind of special add on thing to be able to all the stuff a normal DVD player will do.. dunno what exactly.. but maybe you should wait till PS2 is out and you see what, if anything, you might need to also get..

I decided to get a plain dvd player (I got the cheapest sony there was, like $250) and I'm real happy I did. I have a Dreamcast for games that'll have games just as cool as PS2 <HR>

It does not need any kind of add on to play DVDs. It IS DVD ready out of the box. The only thing you might want to get, for convenience and better usability, is one of the remotes that are coming out for it, so you can control the DVD functions better.

And please don't make comments like the last one as comparing Dreamcast games to PS2 games is like comparing apples to oranges. They both have their pros and cons. They also both have and will have good and bad games. Also FWIW they will both have exclusive games some of which will definitely be worth playing.

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MY SHORT BUT SLOWLY EXPANDING DVD LIST


MY GETTING LONGER BUT SLOWLY EXPANDING DVD LIST

"The earth does not belong to people; people belong to the earth. Everything that happens to the earth happens also to the sons and daughters of the earth." -Chief Seattle.

[This message has been edited by cloud (edited October 01, 2000).]

[This message has been edited by cloud (edited October 01, 2000).]

djones6746

quote:<HR>Originally posted by necros:
i was originally planning to not get a plain DVD player, and get a PS2 to use as a game system and dvd player..

But a friend who usually knows about this kinda stuff told me he read now that PS2 will need some kind of special add on thing to be able to all the stuff a normal DVD player will do.. dunno what exactly.. but maybe you should wait till PS2 is out and you see what, if anything, you might need to also get..

I decided to get a plain dvd player (I got the cheapest sony there was, like $250) and I'm real happy I did. I have a Dreamcast for games that'll have games just as cool as PS2 <HR>

Good Luck seeing games like Medal Of Honor, Silent Hill, and Syphon Filter on the Dreamcast!!! This is why I enjoy all systems....As Cloud stated.....you cannot compare systems due to their differences!!! If they were all exactly the same then yes.....there is room to enjoy every system and while some may be on a financial budget, this is no reason to defend the system you decide on by bashing the other system you decided against!!! As the PS2 is released, you will see all kinds of people trying to say this system is better than that system and so on.....I have a Dreamcast but is it the system to end all systems? No!! Hell, I still have an original Atari 2600...should I get rid of this just because it does not stack up against The Dreamcast or PS2??? I do not think so...what would Pitfall Harry do without me??

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http://www.dvdtracker.com/~djones6746.asp


"You know Andy...I never thought it would come to this....Mayberry....Gateway to danger."

Barney Fife

[This message has been edited by djones6746 (edited October 02, 2000).]

[This message has been edited by djones6746 (edited October 02, 2000).]

guybrush

I guess it's a matter of choice, to me, Sony is only amicable because of Squaresoft. Their 2 controller ports is a big turn off to buy an addon for 4 player games (to me), it would seem developers don't even look at this option because they assume most people didn't buy the 4 player addon. I need RPG's so I bought and sold my Sony PSX 3 times, thinking the RPGS were done with.

Just my opinion.

djones6746

quote:<HR>Originally posted by guybrush:
I guess it's a matter of choice, to me, Sony is only amicable because of Squaresoft. Their 2 controller ports is a big turn off to buy an addon for 4 player games (to me), it would seem developers don't even look at this option because they assume most people didn't buy the 4 player addon. I need RPG's so I bought and sold my Sony PSX 3 times, thinking the RPGS were done with.

Just my opinion.<HR>

Hey Guybrush....how is life on Monkey Island?? Lechuck leaving you and the woman(Elaine) alone??

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http://www.dvdtracker.com/~djones6746.asp


"You know Andy...I never thought it would come to this....Mayberry....Gateway to danger."

Barney Fife

necros

Didn't mean to sound like I was slamming PS2 I love my Dreamcast so far.. with games like Soul Calibur, NFK2K (and 2K1 especially), and Fur Fighters for the coolest deathmatch game ever

I'll be getting a PS2 also sooner or later, but a year from now there's gonna be 4 systems to choose from.. DC, PS2, XBox and Nintendo's Gamecube.. I hope with all the different systems a lot of the best games end up on all of em, and the multiplayer ones let you play the folks with the same game on other systems (I read Quake 3 will be like that).. just no way to tell which system will come out on top just yet, but I guess I'm partial to DC since I got it first

Jar Jar Fett

The PS2 sound specs:

"Sound Chip
The SPU2 sound chip can crank out up to 48 channels of simultaneous sound. Backed by 2MB of dedicated RAM, the chip can pump out CD-quality sampling rates of 44.1 kHz at 16 bits. Higher-quality sampling of 48 kHz at up to 24 bit sound is also supported for viewing DVDs in DTS (Digital Theater Sound) quality. In addition, the SPU2 can produce Dolby Digital Sound which uses the same data rates (48 kHz at up to 24 bits)."