Sony Official PS2 DVD Remote Control with built in IR receiver

...course, along with two AAA Sony batteries which are required to power the DVD remote, they will last you quite a while as in about 3 years I have only changed them once! You also get an Infra-red Receiver Unit which you use on an old model PlayStation 2, this plugs into the control port and allows the DVD remote to function. You also get a driver update CD to update your PlayStations DVD firmware but when I did this nothing seemed to have changed! ...
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Looks
The Sony PlayStation 2 Official DVD remote is quite a good looking remote, it is in keeping with the Original PlayStation 2 design and has two black ridges down either sides. On the top of the remote control you have a small rounded section where the Infra Red signal comes from. Below that you have in blue lettering the PlayStation logo and the PS2 sign. Below that you get your buttons, which are black, made from rubber and have ... more

The Official PlayStation 2 DVD remote is Sony's official answer to all those cheap tacky third party DVD remotes. With this device you will be able to access all the functions you would expect from a DVD player at the touch of a button.

Included in the box
In the box you will get PS2 DVD Remote of course, along with two AAA Sony batteries which are required to power the DVD remote, they will last you quite a while as in about 3 years I have only changed them once! You also get an Infra-red Receiver Unit which you use on an old model PlayStation 2, this plugs into the control port and allows the DVD remote to function. You also get a driver update CD to update your PlayStations DVD firmware but when I did this nothing seemed to have changed! You also get a very substantial Instruction manual explaining all the various functions of the DVD remote, unless you have never used a DVD player it is probably best to use this as a door stop or maybe burn it to heat your home on a cold day!

Looks
The Sony PlayStation 2 Official DVD remote is quite a good looking remote, it is in keeping with the Original PlayStation 2 design and has two black ridges down either sides. On the top of the remote control you have a small rounded section where the Infra Red signal comes from. Below that you have in blue lettering the PlayStation logo and the PS2 sign. Below that you get your buttons, which are black, made from rubber and have white text above them to indicate their various functions. At the bottom of the remote you get a Sony Logo and a sign saying DVD/PlayStation. On the back of the remote you have another Sony logo and at the bottom some arrows which indicate there is a panel which when removed has space to put in the required AAA batteries. The Infra Red receiver is a shiny black plastic similar to the top of the DVD remote and has a connector to plug into the control port on your PlayStation 2.

Layout & Features
The top row of buttons has the Audio and Shuffle buttons, these are used for changing the movies audio tracks and if you are playing a CD it will shuffle the songs. The second row contains the Angle and Program buttons which are used for programming points into the DVD and changing the viewing angle. The next row has the Subtitle and Repeat buttons, here you can change the subtitles and if you are listening to a music CD you can repeat the current track or CD. Next row contains the Slow forward and backward buttons when pressed your movie will go slow mo forwards on backwards. The next row has the scan buttons allowing you to fast forward or rewind a film depending on the button you pressed. You may have been wondering why only two buttons a row, this is not the case and it has a number pad next to many of the previously mentioned buttons which is rarely used.

The next row contains the play, pause and stop buttons, these are bigger than the other buttons as they are the most commonly use buttons and the functions are what you would expect. The next row contains the display, title, DVD menu and return buttons, these will bring you to the display menu, title menu, DVD menu or return you to your previous menu. Below the buttons you have the standard D-pad and navigating buttons used to choose things in DVD menus, along with an enter button to select whatever you have chosen. You also have the PlayStation controller buttons X, O, Triangle and Square which you can use to navigate the menu on your PS2 to access DVD movies.

The remote is also wireless, why this is worthy of a mention is because the standard PlayStation 2 Controller isn't so if you use that to control your DVD playback you are limited to the range of the cord. With the DVD remote you can sit anywhere comfortably while controlling your DVD. Another neat feature is if you have a newer Slim PlayStation 2 you will not need to use the Infra Red receiver as there is one built in. As well as that you will also be able to access a feature called Remote Gameplay, this allows you to use your DVD remote as a game controller. It is basically useless as you don't have any analogue sticks and you can only press one button at a time or nothing will happen so for anything but the most basic of games, perhaps a quiz game, you will not want to use this feature.

Price & Conclusion
The Official PlayStation 2 DVD remote carries a RRP of £19.99 but as it is old and out of date you will be able to find it significantly discounted at both videogame stores such as Game and GameStation and online retailers like amazon.co.uk and play.com. Realistically I'd expect to pay no more than £5 which seems reasonable. If you are still using your PlayStation 2 to play DVD movies pick one of these up, it could also be useful if you want to retire your PlayStation 2 and instead use it as a dedicated DVD player in a bedroom or spare room. If you plan to do any sort of movie watching on your PlayStation 2 you will have a very pleasant experience with the Official DVD Remote. It's just a pity that the Remote Gameplay function is so poor! 4/5 

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