Sony Sony Sony... these guys have some history with Nintendo. Back in the day when the Super Nintendo was the dominant video game console, Nintendo thought "We know! Let's make a CD add-on drive for our amazing Super Nintendo!" The executives of Nintendo all agreed since their rival at the time, Sega, had a CD add-on device for their Mega Drive. Nintendo drafted in Sony, a massive and well respected worldwide electronics manufacturer, to design the CD device for the Super Nintendo. However, when Sony was 98% complete with the device, Nintendo changed their minds and pulled the plug on the project altogether deciding that the Super Nintendo Optical Cartridge Drive was a more 'original and better' add-on. Sony was left with a CD device that would go to waste, but not being the ones to waste good technology they decided to add their own little touches to compensate for the missing Super Nintendo. Thus the Sony Playstation was born! (Nintendo's Optical Cartridge Drive was only released in Japan and it was a huge flop, not unlike an impotent goldfish. That's what happens if it lives on it's own...)

The Playstation was a 32bit console and was met with critical acclaim, with many software companies leaving Nintendo and developing games for the Playstation. One of the developers was Squaresoft (now called Square Enix), the legendary creators of the Final Fantasy series. Oooo were Nintendo angry with that... The Playstation added the element of 3D gaming to the masses and the other's were there to follow suit, but Sony's wonder console was the only one to survive for over 4 years and still have software developers backing it up.

However it was approaching its prime so a successor had to be chosen to take over. Therefore here we have it, the sequel to the father of Sony gaming, the Sony Playstation 2. This console is more advanced than its predecessor in everyway, be it processor speed or graphical capabilities. It even boasted backward compatibility with it's predecessor's games as well.

At first glance this console looks like a really stylish radiator, only at closer inspection did I see how 'un-radiator-like' it really was. It's totally black, with a rib effect running across the front of the machine. It can be mounted flat down or standing up, either way is up to you. There are two controller ports and two memory ports positioned at the front of the console, and at the opposite end we find the power and eject buttons. Beneath the controller ports are 2 USB ports and an i.Link port for future expansion. The console's logo is located on top of the console and it is typography at it's best, a very nice logo neatly positioned in the centre. Although the power and eject buttons have a very nice neon blue and green light, it can't hide the fact that this console is a rather ugly piece of console designing. Sony must of been drunk or something when they were developing it's casing and based it on their air conditioning machine or something.

Ok ignore the ugliness for now, it's the personality that counts so I pried open the bonnet to this beast and checked out what's beating within it's blackened walls.

Processor: 128bit 300MHz
The heart of the Playstation 2, thus no processor = no console. This processor was co-developed with Toshiba and is linked to the 3D graphics of the console. It uses something called the 'Emotion Engine' which make graphical effects more realistic thanks to it's advanced physics calculations i.e. bouncing sparks from a firework, facial expressions are more lifelike. Not the fastest processor of the next generation consoles but does compete very well in practise.

RAM: 32MB
The RAM allows games to load up and be played. The Playstation 2 has 32MB of RAM, and although it sounds like it is hardly enough, it can run it's version of the exact same games available on the PC (which requires 512MB of RAM) very smoothly. However the RAM type is RDRAM, a very fast type of RAM which is expensive to manufacture. So, expensive RAM inside a rather cheapish console package, Sony must be doing something right.

Video: Graphics Synthesiser
As mentioned before the Processor and the graphics are linked. The graphics synthesiser only renders the screens required for the game to be displayed on our TV sets then sends the signal to the said device. It has 4MB of video RAM for this task (Sony really are skimpy with memory aren't they?)

Audio: 48 channel Dolby Surround
The Playstation 2's audio capabilities are no way lamer than the other next generation consoles out there. Sure it only supports 48 channels (VS the XBOX's 256 and the Gamecube's 64), but it can still reproduce extremely high quality sound. It supports Dolby Surround Sound at least, and even Dolby Digital 5.1 with software intervention.

DVD Drive: 2x - 5x
The infamous DVD drive for the Playstation 2, capable of reading DVD and CD discs. Although the quoted speed is the same as the XBOX, it is actually slower in accessing discs. The lens for this device is well known to Playstation 2 owners around the world for it scratching up discs, becoming faulty after a few months and being costly to replace. Sony have addressed the problem already, but come on it shouldn't happen to a fella!

Input/Output processor: Playstation CPU
Yes, you read that right. The processor used to see what buttons we are pressing on the control pad is the processor for the Playstation 1 console. Seeing as it used to cost over £100, I was surprised to find it here with all these expensive components. Thanks to this chip, the playing of Playstation 1 games is possible! Gasp! Who would of thought?

Hmm it seems Sony is more modest about it's specification than the other consoles, I mean it has the least RAM and the slowest Processor. But I am here to be objective yes? So let's get down to some gaming matie!

Setting up the Playstation 2 is an easy task; even a drunk man 15 times over the legal limit can do it. Manual? Who needs it? Just keep it in the corner as bog roll, the cables are specifically made to fit its port only so it's merely a very easy task of trial and error to get it plugged up. The easiest part is ejecting the DVD tray and placing the game into it before closing it up and grasping the control pad in anticipation of a great gaming experience!

Righty, for this gaming experience I will be playing Final Fantasy X-2 since I am a Final Fantasy fan and this game rocks! Final Fantasy X-2 is an RPG (role playing game) that revolves around 3 very nicely rendered ladies that can change their outfits, hehehe. No they're not naked while it happens, a stupid white light blocks our view, but hey this game would be given a much higher rating if so (parental rating as well as a better rating from me ;) )

The control pad sits very comfortably in my hands, the buttons are easy to reach and the 2 joysticks and not awkwardly placed (unlike a certain Gamecube). The shoulder buttons are easily accessible with both index and middle fingers. The buttons are pressure sensitive and have a nice little rumble function for that added extra oomph.

Ah, the game takes a while to load but when it's in the game it flows very smoothly. The graphics are very nice, the colours shown are very vivid and the contrast between them is excellent with no bleeding. The ladies are very nicely rendered in 3D as they run, bounce, kick and shoot their way through the game, real time 3D animation at its best. The environment has been reproduced spectacularly with the rocks looking all rocky and the waterfalls looking all wet and falling. The lighting effects that bounces off the ladies bodies is gob smackingly beautiful, well it would on any woman really! :D However the 3D graphics of most objects (including the ladies) will sometimes have jagged edges. When the object is at a diagonal tilt, it seems the graphics cannot keep the lines straight and goes into a zigzag nightmare.

The audio though is impeccable. After a rushed connection to my Surround Sound setup in my room, it gives me amazing sound reproduction. The birds flying behind my head, the wind blowing in front of my face and the ladies all gossiping on either side of me sounds fantastic. No static or hiss, just pure unadulterated audio bliss. Another quick connection of the audio to the TV reduced the experience somewhat but the clarity of the sound was still there.

This console is the only console to have DVD movie playback facilities built-in so we can watch our DVD movies straight out of the box. The DVD movie playback quality is as good as any dedicated DVD player, but the control pad used to navigate the DVD menus does take some getting used to. Nothing beats a good ole remote control.

Sony has most of the software developers under it’s wing. Oh yes, this console caters for more or less every gamer's needs. I particularly like this machine because it is home to most of the RPGs ever released for the next generation consoles, such as the famous Final Fantasy series from number 10 and upwards.

Ah so the console even with it's rather modest specification can still pull through for games and has DVD movie playback function, but there are a few problems that require a mention for your benefit. As I said before the graphics are amazing, but they really should sort out the jagged edge thing when lines are at a diagonal tilt. Legendary games such as Ridge Racer 5 and Tekken Tag have been nicknamed 'Ridged Racer' and 'Tekken Jag' because of this effect. The DVD drive can do with some speeding up as the loading times are longer than the other next generation consoles, you will notice the difference immensely with the Gamecube. Lastly after playing with the XBOX and having the opportunity to save my progress onto it's hard drive, I am rather annoyed I have to fork out more money to buy a memory card to save my progress. There is a PS2 hard drive add-on (that comes with built-in network adaptor) but that would cost more money and you can't save games onto it anyway.

Besides a few little problems and not being as nice looking as it should of been, the Playstation 2 is a great console to own. With it not only comes power but also a massive library of games, DVD movie playback, compatibility with classic Playstation 1 games, reasonably light for portability and the best control pad design based on the original Playstation 1's Dual Shock pad. Games prices are like the other consoles, they range from £10 for older games to £40 for the newest games. At it's current price of £105 for console alone (£130 for the games combo) it costs the most out of all the consoles but it is still good value for money. Final Fantasy fans that don't own this machine already better grab themselves one, you don't know what you are missing!

Bonus:
There's the Silver and Aqua editions of the Playstation 2 that's recently been released, don't know why Sony waited until now to release them though. They are much prettier than the original version.

Sony are releasing a thinner, more portable version of this console to boost sales just before they release the Playstation 3. This is typical of them since they did exactly the same thing for the Playstation 1 (the PSOne remember?)