First Look: Sony's PlayStation 2

Revving Up PlayStation 2: We're Game

Once we fired up the games, our hardware quibbles quieted. Yep, both Ridge Racer V and Street Fighter EX3 look that good. (We picked them because they'll likely ship in the United States, too.)

A single-player race on Ridge Racer V yields better overall results, with a wealth of details on the car and in the background (the two-player version drops too much detail). In Street Fighter EX3, the characters move realistically, and the multilevel backgrounds look impressive.

PC World's Sega Dreamcast aficionados note that neither title looks much better than top games available for that console. Fair enough.

But I doubt this is the best the PlayStation 2 can do, since these are just the launch games designers cranked out to hit the stores in time. With more time and experience, developers will push the machine harder.

Actual game play is unexceptional. Aside from the pressure-sensitive buttons that bring new meaning to "pedal to the metal" in Ridge Racer V, it's not much different from previous racing games. And Street Fighter EX3 resembles earlier fighting games.

That's the funny thing about both games: They look better than the old versions, but they offer essentially the same play. If Sony and game developers can harness the PlayStation 2's power to create more interesting, thought-provoking games, then they'll really be on to something.

I also ran the DVD-Video player, viewing the Japanese copy of Armageddon. It looks good, although picking DVD selections via the controller feels a bit odd. I have the same problem with listening to an audio CD, but the music sounds fine, aside from being piped through lousy TV speakers.

So this puppy plays great-looking games, DVDs, and music. But is it worth the $360 Sony charges in Japan? Not to me. I like games, but not that much, and I already have DVD and CD players.

Drop the price, and it gets more interesting. Some predict Sony will launch at $299 in the United States. That makes it a maybe, for me; it will be more inviting if any new games strike my fancy. Still others expect the price to drop to $199 (same as the Dreamcast) in a relatively short time, probably after the holidays. If that happens, it's a no-brainer.

But serious game players will scoff at my hesitation. Hard-core console gamers I talked with will gladly pay the $360 to get their hands on the machine. Some might pay even more to get one sooner. (Sorry, ours isn't for sale.)

Memory Problems

With all the talk of Sony's attention to details, it's a bit amusing that the company apparently missed at least one. The company recently acknowledged a problem with the PlayStation 2 memory cards: Apparently, if you save information from Ridge Racer V onto the included memory card, you might wipe out the DVD-Video drivers. Sony has not said how it will correct the problem.

Down the road, Sony faces a different problem: the Microsoft X-Box. Bill Gates last week announced his plans to ship a game console that he claims will outperform any existing system.

Bold statement, Bill, because I think we've seen only a glimmer of what the PlayStation 2 can do.