Sorry if this has been addressed, my search didn't turn up anything.

I'm entering the world of HD soon, mainly to take advantage of digital cable and 360 games. But I still play my PS2. Is it all right to play it with the packed in composite cables, or should I order component cables? ... and does that question make sense

What kind of HDTV? From experience on a fixed pixel display I can tell you that the PS2 looks pretty bad. The Jaggies are very pronounced. It looked much better on my CRT based rear projection.

It might look a bit better with component, especially the color, but the jaggies could annoy you.

Thankfully Sony updated the PS3 and it finally does a great job of upscaling and smoothing out PS2 games on my HDTV.

Obviously though the PS3 is not worth the cost just to upscale PS2 games.

I've never actually had a PS2, but I can tell you that component would definitely be better. For one thing, it would get rid of chroma (color) noise inherent to composite connections, and the image would be clearer overall. Of course, that means the jagged edges would be more noticeable, but the cleaner look would outweigh that.

Also, you would be able to use progressive scan for the handful of games that support it. It wouldn't be as big of a deal as for the Xbox, for which most games were progressive, or the GameCube, which had a good number of progressive scan games (including most of the big ones), but it would still help.

Another question, is it advised to get the official component cables from Sony, or am I fine getting them off ebay?

Same question for the Wii, as I realize I'll also be hooking that up

component.
i have a brand new samsung lcd, 42in and i can't even use the ps2 or gamecube anymore.

Just get whichever cables. No need for the brand name stuff.

If you've got the PS3 hooked up via whatever connection it uses (HDMI?), does it automatically enter into progressive mode for those PS2 games that support it, or do you still need to manually select it every time you boot the system?

More than likely you must manually select it in the games Video Options menu.

Thus far all PS2 games I've played on the PS3 with progressive support have automatically been in progressive.

Get the component cables. You'll still see some jaggies, but overall, the graphics will look much better. You can get Madcatz's Universal HD Component AV Cable at Gamestop (Circuit City might also have it) for around $14.99. It supports the PS2/PS3, Xbox and Xbox 360.


BTW, you have to manually enable the progressive feature on any game that supports it.

I believe the PS3 converts anything 480i to 480p when using HDMI.

Order component (don't be fooled and buy a super expensive one. Heck I got a cheap used on at gamestop for $6 and it works great!). . As soon as I plugged it in the game I was playing (FFXII) looked SO MUCH better man. No doubt get a nice component and your PS2 games will impress you on your HDTV. .