RE: PSX 2 dvd's

["Idahosa I. Edokpayi" <stealth_ninja@geocities.com>]

Hmm, the thing is that developing PSX 2 stuff is so pricey... :( I want it
so bad...... ARGGGGHHH back to the good old *cheap* pc. No use coding for a
pricey machine that doesn't work right *yet* I feel as if the thing has been
rushed and that Sony will need some time to fix it. I alos think a lot of
developers are going to be embarassed at their inability to squeeze maximum
performance out of it. I have been told PSX 2 coding is very tricky.

Idahosa Edokpayi

-----Original Message-----
From: gameprogrammer-owner@gameprogrammer.com
[mailto:gameprogrammer-owner@gameprogrammer.com]On Behalf Of
laguna@fortress.ourmag.com
Sent: Sunday, April 02, 2000 4:50 PM
To: gameprogrammer@gameprogrammer.com
Subject: Re: PSX 2 dvd's


Hi Idahosa,

Hmm.. it can play the US dvd's, but not all DVD's work all the time. Some
won't work at all. :| But I'm sure that that will be fixed with a driver
upgrade. :)

I'm using the v1.0 J-PSX2 driver utility cd, so the region one playback
will work... (stick normal psx controller in first socket, hold the
directional up, turn on psx2, pop in Region 1 dvd. It should play or
attempt to play).

The only game I've played on it is Ridge Racer 5.. which I have to admit
is very.. immersive. But the problem is that it doesn't handle saving to
the cartridge correctly... ie, it will corrupt the dvd drivers and will
require a "reorganization" from the utility disk which won't erase
anything, but will fix the problem.

I've seen the drum beat game at the store where I bought it, and that
looks pretty cool, but they aren't really making full use of the
capabilities of the PSX2 yet. I'm waiting for the Squaresoft titles to
come out. ^_-

The generation one games will run on it. I've only tested the Japanese
Generation one games.. Final Fantasy 8 and Kodelka. Both run on the
machine just fine. Though if you do a soft reset, I've noticed that FF8
and the PSX2 freaks out a bit.

I was able to turn the menu systems from Japanese to english so it will
work fine. The utility disk is also a 90 page digital manual. :) So that's
pretty cool. But it's completely in Japanese.

I dunno, would be great if I could hook up something to it to do some
hacking, but that's gonna be later. ^_^;;

As for the price and the place I got it from, they are shipping in about
15 jPSX2's every week or two and I was first in the list of pre-orders. :)
I paid about $899 for it though. That's for one main unit, one controller,
and one game. Very pricey... and definitely not worth it if you don't have
access to imports. ^_^;;

I think the hardware definitely kicks ass.. but without a game to tap it's
power, it will be a bit disappointing.

Btw, the 8meg card with the magic gate. It is were your DVD software
drivers are stored, so I think it's only a matter of time before someone
figures out how to write up a DVD-region anywhere player software for it.
;)

I'm just waiting for someone to write up a driver to let it run Linux via
the card and use the usb or pcmcia card slot to hook up a 10/100 nic. >:)

The thing has two usb ports, one firewire, one pcmcia(in back), two
controller ports and two memory card ports.

It's as cool as it looks on the websites. :) Can't wait to see what get's
changed in the US version though. ^_^;

Hope that answers your question about the PSX2.

I'm wondering where I can pickup a dev kit.. or how I can get stuff to
boot from the mem card...

Oh well. :)

Now I really wish I had accepted that PSX2 game dev offer instead of my
current network job offer. :p Oh well. ^_^

Btw, as for the intro's on RR5, all of it is real-time render and not
streamed from the disc, which is cool. But as I said before, without
software to take advantage of the hardware, it will currently perform
pretty much around the quality of a dreamcast.

The machine also has an internal clock and PSX-1 game enhancements like CD
speed read changes and texture smoothing. All menu's in the PSX2 are 3d
transparent cubes with refraction going on, so there's quite a bit of eye
candy.


So short answer to your questions: Yes, I have experienced some problems.
$899 is what I paid for mine. And yes, it does kick ass. Just need the
right software.

Heading out the door now to get some lunch. -_- Too bad I can't cook. :p

Wing.

On Sun, 2 Apr 2000, Idahosa I. Edokpayi wrote:

> By the way Laguna, have you experienced any of the DVD problems I have
heard
> about? How much did you pay for your PSX 2, and most importantly off all
> does it kick ***?
>
> Idahosa Edokpayi


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programming games. This list is especially tolerant of beginners.
We were all beginners once

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