Watch my Brain Explode! :)

First off I understand that the voice of a few people do not represent an entire forum so if you are scratching your head thinking "WTF" as well then this is not directed towards you.

Okay, I thought that I could hold this in but I have to know what you guys think.  There is a thread in the main forum that has people all pumped about the HD/Linux package.  What am I missing here?

Paraphrasing: "Yeah, a keyboard, a mouse, a monitor and linux!!"

"Now I can hook my PS2 up to my Monitor and surf the web!"

What?  A keyboard?  Linux?  What is going on?  This is PC talk expect with a PS2.  Everyone seemed to agree a few months ago that we wanted game machines, not convergence devices.  Assuming that the majority of you are using a PC right now, why would you want to spend $100+ to add the same functionality to you game console?

And what about the size of the HD?  This size was not chosen to enhance gaming.  You need a relatively small amount of space to run an effective cache off of so why not choose the smallest HD you can and sell it for as cheap as possible so people actually adopt it.  A 40 gig hard drive is clearly meant for something more than gaming and will inherently be more expensive.

Now maybe Sony plans to offer some deal where you can get the HD and BB for "free" if you sign up for a few years of some sort of Sony Online service.  That is all well and good but think of how fragmented the market is.  Some people just have the PS2, some have the the HD and BB and some ppl have the HD and a Dial-Up connection.  That simply cannot be good.

Even more troublesome is that someone mentioned that they will sell the BB w/o the HD?  If that is true then the HD will only be for web browsing and saying "it is larger than the Xbox\'s" since selling people modems will be hard enough and selling them two add-ons is hopeless on any useful scale.

If you can buy online functionality w/o the HD then you have 6 possible configurations... and in the first year!

So there is my little rant.  Who here wants a convergence device? I would love to hear you thoughts on how this can work out for Sony, the Developers and the Gamers.

I agree there, stinky.

I agree with your points ho3j.  I don\'t want to turn my PS2 into a PC because I already have a very nice PC.  The only parts of that Linux dev kit that I care about are the keyboard, mouse, and VGA cable.

Keyboard and mouse are for playing FPS games with the PROPER controls.  I can\'t imagine how so many people can struggle with a dualshock for that type of game, and then say it\'s actually GOOD.

VGA cable is for displaying games and DVDs on my beautiful 21 inch Viewsonic monitor without having to worry about whether my roommate wants to use the television to tape tonight\'s "Gilmore Girls" episode.  (don\'t ask)

Couldn\'t care less about the hard drive unless someone develops a game that utilizes it in a meaningful way.

Couldn\'t care less about the broadband adapter unless someone develops a REALLY compelling multiplayer game that utilizes it.  Also, I already have cable modem service for my PC, and it\'s programmed only to work with the MAC address on my PC ethernet card.  How could my cablemodem service work with another NIC/adapter of some sort?  I hope they\'re not trying to come up with some ridiculous argument for me to swith ISPs.  That would be really funny.

You can keep Linux.  I hate Microsoft as much as the next guy, but I still don\'t know anything about Linux, so it\'s no big deal to me.

Linux for PS2 is a dev kit. Not a consumer add on. It\'s being test run in Japan. It contains an over view of the emotion engine, ect. Just wanted to clear thing up.
http://ps2.ign.com/news/33873.html

Originally posted by Animal Mother
Linux for PS2 is a dev kit. Not a consumer add on. It\'s being test run in Japan. It contains an over view of the emotion engine, ect. Just wanted to clear thing up.
http://ps2.ign.com/news/33873.html

okay  But what does that mean?  Does the VGA or hard drive size still apply?

Originally posted by Animal Mother
Linux for PS2 is a dev kit. Not a consumer add on. It\'s being test run in Japan. It contains an over view of the emotion engine, ect. Just wanted to clear thing up.
http://ps2.ign.com/news/33873.html

Yeah I understood that.  I\'m basing my comments on hypothetical future add-ons offered in North America.  I think some people (especially the Linux Freekz) might see this as some kind of console revolution.  They might figure (rightly so)... if Sony created a version of Linux that runs on the PS2, they\'ve got  to release it to everyone eventually, right?  PS2 + HD + keyboard/mouse = a fully functioning PC, and all you need is an OS.  There sure ain\'t going to be a PS2 version of Windows, so the odds are good it will be Linux.  Sooner or later.

I just think it is funny and sad how some people...some of the same who calll the X-Box a PC, are excited about PS2 getting a modem/harddrive/official mouse and KB, etc.
kind of a... um i dont know... DOUBLE STANDARD!

Eric Jacob

I won\'t mind being online, especially if I don\'t have to switch from my current BB...

The HDD is useless at it\'s enormous size, unless I can 1) use it with games, or 2) use it with my computer too...

The mouse and keyboard are definitely better for FPS games.  I got very used to dualshock controls for such, but they just don\'t compete *for me* against mice.

Linux - that\'s the dev pack, we probably won\'t see/get it for a while.

VGA cable?!?!  Fine.  Hook up to a good monitor for DVD movie watching.  TV is better for games neways.

I don\'t think I would like this. I spend to much time on my computer already. The last thing someone needs to do is make my PS2 and computer the same thing.  That\'s isnane! I\'d rather add a DVD rom to computer and play computer games. See the nice thing about the PS2 is it gets me off the computer.

Originally posted by Ms. Maniacal
I don\'t think I would like this. I spend to much time on my computer already. The last thing someone needs to do is make my PS2 and computer the same thing.  That\'s isnane! I\'d rather add a DVD rom to computer and play computer games. See the nice thing about the PS2 is it gets me off the computer.

That\'s like saying smoking crack gets me off cigarettes.

Originally posted by Coredweller


That\'s like saying smoking crack gets me off cigarettes.

Oh yeah, I don\'t smoke nothing so there

i agree I don\'t like buying console add-ons and I think this will be totally flop unless it is offered in some kind of cheap package for 50bucks it won\'t sell.  And I doubt it would be that cheap seeing you have a modem and 40gig HD.  I don\'t need the same functions on my video games system that I have on computer. Those 40 gigs are gonna go to waist because most games won\'t optimize the use of the hard drive because not too many gamers will have it.  And you just don\'t need all that space.  Just like xbox dvd remote unless they sell it for around 25-40bucks it ain\'t leaving shelves. Add-ons have to be major cheap if you wanna sell them.