I'm going to buy a PS2 next month and just had a few quick questions. First thing I should say is that I'll be using it for about 90% games, and 10% dvds/cds

1)What actually comes in the ps2 box (basic system, no game deal or anything)?

2)I'm assuming it comes with your basic audio/video hookups, thru composite connections (red, white and yellow). I heard somewheres that you can hook it up thru component cables for video, and optical for sound, is this tru? If it is, can it just be any old component and optical or is thier special ones just for the ps2 that you get?

3)If the answer to 3 is Yes, does the component cables make a difference for the games, or just for the dvd playback. And how good do the games sound in surround sound (5.1)?

4) Does it only play region 1 dvds or is it region free or is thier a hack?

5)Does it play cd-rs?

6)Does it matter if its laying down or standing up vertical, is thier any advantages or disadvantages to each, or is it just a limited space issue?


7) Can you play psx games on there, only certain ones or do they all work, I would like to get some games and play on the ps2.

8) Are you able to go online with it yet, if not, does anyone know what the speed of the connection will be


Well, that's all I can think of for now

Thanks in advance

1. Playstation 2, power cord, composite cable, 1 controller

2. I'm pretty sure you can buy a component cable, positive there's s-video and know for sure that you need an optical cable to get 5.1 sound. Not surei f it's a standard optical cable or a special one though.

3. Haven't used component cables or played any games with 5.1 sound, so I can't comment.

4. Region 1 out of the box, but I think you can get a mod chip installed to make it region free.

5. Again, I'm pretty sure, but not postive that it plays CD-Rs.

6. Some have said it scratches discs when set vertically, others say thats a bunch of crap and it works fine. Personally, I say the drive was made to play horizontally, and I'd rather have gravity helping keep the disc in place rather than trying to knock it out of alignment, so I keep mine horizontal. Plus I think it looks silly vertical.

7. As far as I know all PS1 games work on it. You have to have a PS1 mem card to save though. A PS2 mem card won't save PS1 games and vice versa.

8. The online network launches in a month or two. You'll have to buy the modem/broadband adapter for $39.99 to use it.

Wow, thanks Josh, that was a quick and informative response.

Thank ya

what josh said.

oh yeah, about 5.1, it depends on the game. most reviews i've read, for example, have said the 5.1 on medal of honor: frontline is really nice.

not sure if this is still a problem but i do know some psx games aren't compatible with the ps2 for whatever reason but they're rare. i remember there was a list somewhere on the net.

i agree with josh about the vertical thing, never made sense to me. i play mine horizontal.

I played Virtua Fighter with the optical hooked up and soundwise it does make a difference even though it is not a surround sound game. The audio is 48khz PCM and it did sound more robust than the audio through the regular a/v cables.

Oh yes, and don't forget that even though the PS2 can be converted to be region free, it will only output NTSC, so no good trying to play PAL discs on it.

Just to clarify a couple points josh wasn't sure on: you can get a component video cable for the PS2, and you can use any old optical cable for the digital audio.

Also, it doesn't work with cd-rs.

In game 5.1 sound is pretty cool but there's not all that many games that use it. EA sports games use DTS sound and a few others (like MGS2 and FFX) use DD for the cutscenes.

Component cables are going to make Tekken 4 and S.O.C.O.M. look amazing. Digital audio through the optical cable is excellent. If by CDRs you mean a copied game, then no, you need the mod chip to do that. If by CDRs you mean music, then yes, it will work fine. There are a few PSX games that don't work on the PS2. Online, it will be as fast as your connection.

Of forgot to add the difference between component and s-video.

It depends on your TV. If you have a progressive scan HDTV, then component will make a huge difference over S-video and composite.

If you have big TV, say 36" and up, you will still see a good improvement, with the difference being more noticeable the bigger your set is.

If you have a smaller TV component will be much better than composite, but pretty much the same as S-video. Especially true the smaller you get.

I have a 27" Wega, and use the component input for the DVD simply because I needed all the inputs on my TV for something. I can't tell a difference with the DVD player now, from when it was hooked up via S-video.