Is a redesign of the PS2 a possibility?
 

Sony's redesigned the Playstation into the PS1, making it a semi-portable system, and a lot more attractive than it's ancestor.

There's talk of a redesigned, smaller Xbox in the works.

Nintendo redesigned both the NES and SNES at the end of thier lifecycles.

Will the PS2 get a redesign and possible a fix of some of the many hardware glitches that have plagued it from it's launch? Although, I've had zero problems from my PS2, I've heard and read too many stories about various PS2 hardware problems. Would Sony take this opportunity to redesign the PS2 to fix some of these things and perhaps give the machine a facelift?

Please discuss this topic - Don't bash any one company. :)

I'd say chances are good that Sony will eventually turn out a new model PS2. Traditionally this has been done to breathe a bit of new life into a system towards the end of its lifecycle and this is probably what Sony will do once we get closer to the PS3's introduction.

BTW, I don't know that the PS2 has had a higher defect rate than other consoles. Maybe the reason you've heard about so many people having problems with them is because there's 50 million of them out there?

I hope so, the current design of PS2 is atrocious, all my friends think the Xbox looks terrible, but IMO, the PS2 is the worst system design I have ever seen.... it is so irregularly shaped, and looked terrible either standing upright or lying down.

It looks like crap, but at least it is light :D

A redesign will come, but you have to take into consideration that the PS2 is selling better than the PSX at the same amount of time from release. This is going to extend the amount of time before they have to do a redesign.

Sony already hammered out some of the hardware issues concerning the PS2. Not as bad as the PS1, but still bad indeed. Anyways, they probably won't redesign the PS2 because of the hardware involved with producing the system.

They havent hammered out the most common of all problems, the disc read error. When I used to do PS2 repairs, the large majority of systems sent to me had the disc read errors. For the most part, all other problems I got were either caused by the user for opening the PS2, bad mod chip installs, or blown power supplies. If there is anything Sony should fix is that piece of crap laser assembly they use.

Actually, if I remember correctly, they are already at work on a smaller board for the PS2, so a redesign is very likely. They are probably just holding off because of great sales.

I had the disc read error, and it took all of 5 minutes to crack that baby open, clean the laser, and put it back together. I haven't had any problems with it since.

http://www.gamesasylum.com/showartic...articleID=1345

Sony have announced that they will launch a new version of the PlayStation 2 in Japan on 15th May. The new model will support recordable DVD formats (RW, +R and +RW, but not RAM), and feature upgraded DVD playback software and progressive scan compatibility. The unit will be 30% quieter than previous models.

However, it's not all good news, as the i-link socket - which enabled consoles to be linked together for multiplayer gaming - has been dropped.

An upgraded DVD remote control will launch at the same time, introducing such features as opening and closing the disc tray and turning the power off.

Meh. The new remote will probably work with old PS2, just like the original remote - it'll just come with new drivers.

Hmm... that would explain why they lowered the price of the remote to 15 bucks...

But I've read in other places that the newly designed PS2 comes with a built-in IR port. So I doubt the new remote (or at least the new on/off, tray opening features) will work with the old PS2. I don't know if demand for the new features will be sufficient in the US for them to bring it out here, though (unless hardware costs are significantly cheaper).

Whoa! I feel like I was looking into the future. :)

I'd like a new PS2 design. And my big gripe with the remote is that it can't turn the machine off. Of course, it probably won't get released here until the PS3 or likewise is rolling out. And as far as the link cable, couldn't you just use a USB hub? And they ought to have the NA built in.