There are "programing" units that gaming companies get... these units have no "region lock out", so you can play both American and Japenese games. They also play CDr discs (while the games are still in BETA versions, so the programers can test the games.

Sony sold these units to developers for $2,000.00 each, much more than your avarage ps2 sale! They're called "debugging" units, and seem like the ultimate ps2 system for the diehard gamer...

Hell, I'd snatch one up if I could get my grubby little hands on one... what about you? (I don't know how much I'd spend on one though, maybe up to 1k)

http://gamespot.com/gamespot/stories...589625,00.html

-k
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Well, I'm not sure if Sony is gonna implement it for the PS2, but PS1 had a cheap consumer lever developer's workstation called the Net Yaroze. Basically a scaled down developer's workstation that cost around $750. These could also run CDR discs without the need of being chipped. I remember a few games that some people created on the Yaroze that actually made it onto PS1. I think Devil Dice was a game (and it got good reviews to boot) and a few others. Its anyone's guess as to if Sony will continue this, but who knows, maybe it'll happen

Keyser: Well actually they're not programming units or dev stations. They're simply called debug units for the purpose of testing their compiled work for bugs since it doesn't have the copy protection or territorial lockout to prevent them from playing their own burned discs. Reviewers get these debug stations for the purpose of previews and reviews. They also don't cost even close to $2000. They're around $700 to $800 and developers can buy them as needed. I've got a few friends who own one thanks to either being a reviewer or their company actually pulling strings for their employee. Personally if they get the chip right, might as well chip it. One thing that debug systems can't do is play DVDs if I recall. Then again that might just be the Japanese debug. There are differences between the region the debug comes from and there has been revisions over time. Last I heard the US debug had a few bells and whistles the JP debug didn't. But I've stopped following the differences on that.

mvc: Actually Sony has already done something like that except a bit different. They've released a PS2 linux kit which included a HDD, ethernet adaptor, a keyboard, a mouse, a vga cable, Linux and the same tech docs that developers get so that they could code on the PS2. The one major restriction is that you don't have access to the DVD drive. But with a 40 gig drive, you can simply store all your data on the HDD. Pretty inexpensive compared to the Yaroze. It was approximately $200 given the exchange rate at the time. I believe only 2000 units were made and sold in Japan. I wouldn't be surprised if me, and my two other friends who got it are the only people in the US to have the PS2 linux kit. There is an official Sony site with regards to releasing the linux kit in other territory. They currently have a poll to gauge the interest. Currently there are about 14,000 people on it, so hopefully Sony sees that the demand is even higher than in Japan and will eventually release it here. It really wouldn't take much since the kit was pretty much both in Japanese and English.

Here's the link for that:

http://www.ps2linux.scea.com/

And here's the details and the pics of the Japanese linux kit:

DVD-ROM containing Beta Release 1 of Linux for PS2
40 GByte Hard Disc Drive
10 BASE-T/100 BASE-TX Ethernet Interface
USB Keyboard
USB Mouse
PlayStation 2 VGA AV Connector (HD 15 plus Stereo Audio) - requires "sync on green" monitor

Included on the DVD Disc is :-

"PlayStation 2" System Manual Set
"PlayStation 2" Runtime Environment
PS2 Linux Beta Release 1 Install Kit
Linux Kernel 2.2.1
XFree86 3.3.6
gcc 2.95.2
glibc 2.2.2

Holy crap man! That's one awesome bundle!
I wish I could have got one.
I hope the US takes notice and releases it stateside.
I signed up for it. I hope other people express their interest too.

Darknight: you're one lucky bastard :P

As someone who works in the gaming industry, I can certainly verify that the test systems (they say TEST in the same font as the regular PS2) are only $900 last I saw in the catalog. The dev kits, which are a much larger system (contain a hard drive and system libraries internally) are currently $10k having previously been $20k. Xboxes started at $10k, coincidence? Anyway, the dev kits can't actually play burned production level discs, I would imagine to prevent companies from reverse engineering each other. The test kit can play both cdrs and regular games, but I believe Dark Knight is correct in that they don't do DVD (never tried).


Unfortunately the PS2 is one of the biggest pieces of turd to code for and have been giving developers a hard time. Don't get me wrong, its a very powerful system, but getting it to do what you want certainly requires some backflips and handstands. That coupled with the Metroworks compiler (the only compiler out there for PS2, although you can compile in MSVC, you must run from Metroworks) makes for major headaches.


Maybe I'll be able to snag one of those test systems once production slows but for now, no go.

BTW, I saw someone at our office playing with the HDD Linux kit, so there are at least 4 in the US