The PS2 and HD

The Playstation is definitely a move up from the GameCube. The newer GameCubes don't even have support for their component video cords! What are we going to do with them? Beats me, but at least you have the Playstation!

The Playstation 2 debuted on October 26, 2000 and most agree ushered in the era of 128-bit gaming. In the year 2000, consumer use of HD programming was still in it's infancy and thus was not on the lips of every new born babe, especially those playing video games. For this reason, (and mainly one other), the first incarnation of the Playstation looked very different than the present one. The first Playstation did not have an Ethernet input for one and was much bigger than the current "slim" PS2.

The Cords and Surround Sound :
For connecting the PS2 to your home theater, you have your composite cords, (just like every other system), and you can also get component cords, which we always like to hear. Plus, on the back of the PS2 is an optical port which we love to see. If you don't already know, the PS2 plays DVDs right out the box, that is to say you don't need to buy anything else except the actual system to watch DVDs. And with most DVDs and video games being recorded in some sort of surround sound format, that optical port is really going to make your speakers come alive! Keep in mind though that while a lot of PS2 games advertise as being in this surround sound format or that, quite often the surround sound isn't present in the game, but instead in pre-rendered cut scenes.

The Screen Resolutions :
So we talked about audio, what about the video? Well, there are a lot of games on the PS2 that are you can play in widescreen mode, always a good thing. And there are a bunch of games you can play in 480p which is good. But again, 480p is not a true HD resolution. The only game that really seems to be in an HD resolution on the PS2 is Gran Turismo 4. And even THAT has gotten complaints that it's not true HD. What's the deal?

Well, while the Playstation 2 is a great system, it just doesn't have enough to deal with HD games. They take up a lot of power and unfortunately PS2 just doesn't have enough to deal with them well. In Gran Turismo 4, you get that 1080i resolution when you're playing the actual game, not just going through the menus in the game. With that being said, the whole race isn't in HD, just parts of it. It seems that the developers kinda got around the PS2's graphical constraints by only rendering the backgrounds in the super resolution. But hey, it's better than nothing.

So in conclusion, the PS2 does surround sound, widescreen and even has at least ONE game that kinda does HD resolution. (Which is better than nothing right?) Next up is the heavy hitter of this group, Microsoft's XBox. Could there is some light at the end of the tunnel?

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