[Legion]

WTF

[Peppermonkey]

Hehe, it's gone, never to be seen again.

[zurich]

Not gonna happen outside of Japan.

Its too bad, cause I'm quite envious of SCE's BB Navigator setup.

[Peppermonkey]

I could've sworn FFXI required the PS2 HD.

[zurich]

It does, which is why I doubt FFXI will come to the PS2 in NA.. Square hasn't comfirmed WHICH platform it's coming to (either PC or PS2).

[Peppermonkey]

[whatif]what if square releases it for the Xbox supporting Xbox Live.[/whatif]

[Legion]

Originally Posted by Peppermonkey

[whatif]what if square releases it for the Xbox supporting Xbox Live.[/whatif]

doubtful. Sony has to much of a hand in Square.

[PC-Engine]

Originally Posted by Legion

doubtful. Sony has to much of a hand in Square.

Umm you mean all 5% of it?

[zurich]

Not gonna happen. Final Fantasy XI === PlayOnline. To put it on XBL would go against the whole point of the service.

[Johnny Awesome]

What a fiasco. How is Everquest going to work without the hard drive?

[archie4oz]

Umm you mean all 5% of it?

Indeed, these constant musings of Sony 'controlling' Square are quite laughable...

As for the HDD, I myself have been rather curious as to what the hell is up with SCEA and SCEE with that regard. I do understand that those regions are far less friendly to accessories and peripherals without some sort of major application insentive so I can only concluded two possibilities:

a.) No HDD for those regions. While certainly possible, it seems rather odd for such a major component that needs more support to gain more widespread use. I personally love the damn thing and it's already gaining more and more use with Japanese titles (it's been available for more than a year and a half).

b.) With regards to SCEA specifically, they're waiting to release it in conjunction with specific title support. That would lead me to speculate it hinging on the PS2 versions of Everquest and StarWars Galaxies (both being hosted by SOE).

[Dural]

Originally Posted by zurich

Not gonna happen. Final Fantasy XI === PlayOnline. To put it on XBL would go against the whole point of the service.

Wasn't Square shopping it around to see if anyone else would put up the servers for it in NA?

[TTP]

Why should Sony release the HDD without a dedicated killer app?

Just wait for the killer up to come to US/Europe and you'll see HDDs popping into stores.


More interesting tho, is guessing about the distribution model SCEE/SCEA will adopt. IIRC, the HDD is sold through ISPs in Japan. You can buy it or just rent it.

[zurich]

Ehh, one can look at the 32x or a similarly priced console add-on to see how much of a dud these things are over here. Also, you have to realize that SCEA/SCEE doesn't *NEED* the HD... PS2s are already flying off the shelves at an alarming rate. Moreover, releasing the HD here would just make MS grin ear to ear since the Xbox has one built in (ie: why buy a PS2 + network adaptor + HD + memory card when the Xbox has all of the above?).

edit: also, bringing the HD over here would segment publishers SKUs... the install base of the PS2 is what makes it so attractive, and starting back at square one with a theoretical install base of 100k or so isn't very wise.

It'd just be bad business. SCEA had their chance with the online plan to go the route of SCE/BB-navigator, but choose to opt for the lowest common denominator instead (ie: 56k). The HD would just go against their theme of pushing installed base/accessability over everything else.

It is coming to NA with FF11. Why the fuck do they need to launch now when there are zero HDD killer app?

I do hope they do a FF11 + NA + HDD for 109 bundle, or at least a NA + HDD 79 bundle..

56K modem + ethernet card + 40gb HD dont cost that much nowadays. But knowing Sony, i wont be surprise if they try to rip off those sheepish consumers again...

[JF_Aidan_Pryde]

How does the connectivity work?

I mean the PS2 has one expansion bay, how does a HDD and ethernet all fit?

[TTP]

You just put the HDD inside the bay and "close" it with the Network Adaptor.

[Ozymandis]

Originally Posted by archie4oz

b.) With regards to SCEA specifically, they're waiting to release it in conjunction with specific title support. That would lead me to speculate it hinging on the PS2 versions of Everquest and StarWars Galaxies (both being hosted by SOE).

As far as I know, the Playstation2 version of Everquest DOES NOT require the hard drive.

I hope we get it. I've waited too damn long for Final Fantasy XI as it is. Why Square doesn't just release it here as a PC game, I dunno... originally I thought it was supposed to come here early 2003...

[archie4oz]

Why should Sony release the HDD without a dedicated killer app?

Just wait for the killer up to come to US/Europe and you'll see HDDs popping into stores.

I only mentioned it because it was released in Japan in that fashion (well arguably it did have one application that supported it, but it wasn't a 'dedicated killer app' for it).

More interesting tho, is guessing about the distribution model SCEE/SCEA will adopt. IIRC, the HDD is sold through ISPs in Japan. You can buy it or just rent it.

Well you can still order it direct from Sony, the ISP deal was mainly to simplify the whole process for those going from nothing or switching from dial-up to broadband (it was kind've handy for those on the FTTH waiting list as could get you bumped up the queue!)...

Ehh, one can look at the 32x or a similarly priced console add-on to see how much of a dud these things are over here.

32x (and SegaCD) flopped for more reasons than just being an add-on. There have been add-ons that have failed, and those that have succeeded, obviously one would look to those that succeeded as a model to follow and not wallow in other's failure.

Moreover, releasing the HD here would just make MS grin ear to ear since the Xbox has one built in (ie: why buy a PS2 + network adaptor + HD + memory card when the Xbox has all of the above?).

Only if it totally fails to sell at all... Otherwise it's one more marketing advantage the Xbox would have had that it lost. Besides I don't think too many average consumers would choose Xbox because it has an HD, rather than getting one because of some of it's games...

also, bringing the HD over here would segment publishers SKUs... the install base of the PS2 is what makes it so attractive, and starting back at square one with a theoretical install base of 100k or so isn't very wise.

The only way it would segment is if you develop a title that requires explicit support of the HDD (one way being that you're requiring data to be streamed from both the HDD and DVD drive simultaneousl), but in most cases it'll be something that you can optionally support (e.g. detect for the HDD and enable additional features for it).

It'd just be bad business. SCEA had their chance with the online plan to go the route of SCE/BB-navigator, but choose to opt for the lowest common denominator instead (ie: 56k).

Actually the Japanese network adaptors also come with 56k too, although it makes more sense in the US as online gamers are more condensed in Japan. BB-Navigator in it's current incarnation is also more suited for the Japanese market (e.g. CD record and NetMD checkout makes more sense there due the *vastly* higher popularity of MD in Japan), so I'd imagine that it would possibly be reworked for the locale anyway.

You just put the HDD inside the bay and "close" it with the Network Adaptor.

Hehe, you can also use 'other HDDs' as well... I've used 80 and 120GB HDDs with the Linux kit (you do need to fashion your rails though), and even used the official HDD utility disc to partition half for games and half for Linux...

Also one other nifty thing, since it's an end-user installable device you can essentially take and put it in your buddies machine if you want (which I don't recommend). And if you're PS2 craps out on you (which seems to more common with the current generation of consoles), you can simply transfer your HDD to the new machine without losing any of your data (assuming the hardware failure hasn't HDD related in the first place).

As far as I know, the Playstation2 version of Everquest DOES NOT require the hard drive.

I get the same impression, although they still might offer optional features for it.

[ban25]

The hard disk and ethernet adapter are both available in North America as part of the Linux kit. From what I understand, an additional utility CD is required to format the hard disk for use with games that use it, and that is not included with the Linux kit.

[archie4oz]

The 'additional' utility disc is the util disc that comes with the gaming HDD...

[TTP]

Hehe, you can also use 'other HDDs' as well... I've used 80 and 120GB HDDs with the Linux kit

Really? Wow, that's pretty cool. So you can just buy a PC HDD and pop it into the Expansion Bay? Is it that easy?

I have the external japanese PS2 HDD + CD with drivers.
I also have a modded PAL PS2 with the Network Adaptor.
So I can try it.