So there it is. Five years of hype, $300 million and a superchip later - the first PlayStation2 (PS2) has arrived in the Republic. Finally. It is held under lock and key in the headquarters of Sony Entertainment, and only a few privileged members of the press have had access to it, let alone played it .
Ensconced in a black, shiny, plastic box with a metallic blue, logo, PS2 is the practical realisation of what Sony has called "Emotion Synthesis", a concept that, when originally mooted, foresaw the development of a computer games console which could simulate not merely just how live images look, but also how the characters and objects in a game think, act and behave.
PS2 is an ambitious project and one which has been dogged by earthquakes and design and distribution problems. However, when it is unveiled in the Republic - and the rest of Europe - on November 24th, it will be found that PS2, despite its elevated retail price (£379.99) and the fact that many games being designed for it will not be ready until next March, has succeeded where many detractors swore it would fail.
The very earliest mention of PS2, in any form, appeared in the April 1995 issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM) in the US. EGM printed information about Sony's long-term hardware plans, which included a successor to the PlayStation that would act as "a real link between the typical gamer platforms and a true interface with the information superhighway". In 2000, that link has become a reality.
For Sony, however, this is not a game. Last year alone, games contributed more than $6 billion to Sony's sales and $730 million in operating profits. Since the release of the original Playstation in 1995, 75 million consoles have been sold.
With more than 500,000 registered owners, Ireland is PlayStation's most successful European territory and ranks second only to Japan on a unitssold-per-capita basis.
There has been a good deal of negative reaction to PS2. However, as a "gamer", I have to say that PS2 really . . . well, let me say it - PS2 kicks ass. The 128-bit processor is a big step up from the original PlayStation's 32 bits. In real terms, that means the new units can play CDs and DVDs, and accommodate add-ons for broadband Internet, digital cameras and digital music players.
No modem is included with PS2. When you buy it you don't get a memory card as Japanese gamers did when it was launched there in March. A brief glance at the bulletin boards around the Web shows that these two problems alone make it unpopular amongst die-hard fanatics. However, PS2's case deserves a hearing.
So what do you get? Well, a system that can connect to a variety of other systems products such as VCRs, set-top boxes, digital cameras, printers, keyboards and mice.
PS2 is also the first video games console to offer "backwards compatibility" with PlayStation software. Unlike Premiership football team strips, where last season's is soon replaced, PS2 allows gamers to use original Playstation games. In many cases, it also enhances the graphics.
So let me take you into the PS2 experience. Sit down. Take your old PlayStation console, kiss it gently, caress it, mother it, sing sweet songs of endearment - and throw it (quickly) out the window. You are now sitting with your PS2. Get into the experience.
Pick up the controller, analogue if you don't mind, so that, other than the "start" and "select" buttons, the harder you press them, the more emphatic the on-screen response (256 levels of pressure are recognised).
The different types of game will make you handle the pad in varying ways. If you play Resident Evil, for example, you are more likely to hit the buttons with as much strength as if you were panicking. Hit the buttons softly and the game will recognise that you are not scared enough and will up the thrill of the game until . . . well, you'll find out.
How so? It's like this: the console contains 10.5 million transistors, runs at 300MHz and includes 128-bit multi-media extensions and an on-chip MPEG2 video decoder.
PS2 also allows for even more complex digital enhancement and processing of sound effects and music. This enables it to encode and process advanced 3-D digital sound techniques such as AC-3 and DTS, surpassing conventional video and music CDs.
In practical terms, this means that hair and clothing can be moved by a digital wind, calculated and processed in real time. This is accompanied by dynamic simulation of other real-world physical attributes such as gravity, friction and mass, plus accurate simulation of different materials such as water, wood and metal.
ALL IS not well, though. The paradise that might have been Sony's has to compete with Sega's Dreamcast, which, introduced last year, is outselling Nintendo 64. Sega has a key advantage over the competition: its Sega Net makes it the only console that currently allows for online gaming. In the US, Sega also dropped the price of Dreamcast, from $300 to $149, well below PS2's $299. Whether it does the same in Europe remains to be seen.
There's also newcomer Microsoft, which says its much-anticipated X-Box will be available next autumn. More than 160 US developers have already signed up to produce X-Box games, and Microsoft has shipped 1,500 development kits in the past three months. Not only is Microsoft going to make developer acquisitions, but it will also get many of the most anticipated PS2 games. Download time is always the multi-million-dollar question and, by next year, PS2 will depend on it. Ireland is still waiting for Europe's super-fast, broadband Internet as present download speeds make multiplayer gaming very difficult. The new modem, once this has become available, should theoretically revolutionise multi-player gaming forever, but only if broadband becomes a reality, and that . . .well, that's a specifically Irish problem.
In addition, there are only two controller ports, so you'll have to add extra cash in an industry where four-controller ports are standard. Also, you will only be able to play DVD movies (and games) that are for sale in your own country. You will not be able to use import discs, due to the region encryption device.
There is also the fact that when PS2 was launched in Japan, it came with an 8MB memory card (operating over 250 times faster than the current cards) and one of the "dual shock" two-control pads, while the US and European machines have a modified DVD system and a memory card at extra cost.
At a more grassroots level, distribution has proved to be a nightmare. Originally there were supposed to be one million PS2s shipped on US launch day. In fact, only 500,00 reached retailers, with around a 100,000 a week shipped after that.
Sony admits that there are problems involved in PS2. But it's not backing down on its claim that PS2 is the last word in gaming. "Look, we know there's problems," said Alison Duffy, marketing manager of Sony Computer Entertainment. "But PS2 is not just about now, its about the future. The price is high, but it will come down once its launched. PS2 is not just about a launch in November. We believe this is technology for the future."
And so there I sit, back in the boardroom, just PS2 and me. The two of us. I wonder about the future of this relationship and I think . . . nothing between us except the breadth of a boardroom table. Do I like you ? Damn ri ght I do. You really kick ass . . .
At the risk of becoming a complete pariah, the graphics are notably better than anything that I've seen yet. Dreamcast works, but gaming has to go beyond - way beyond - gaming, and PS2 does that.
Graphics, sound, intelligence, functionality are all now dropwords in the lexicon of gaming, and PS2 has elevated them to new levels.
MotoGp, the third new title for PS2, genuinely does recreate the excitement of racing a 500cc motorbike at Donington, crashing through the barrier, through the gravel and back on to the straight again. PS2 has done that for the first time ever.
However, unless you've ordered your PS2, forget about it for Christmas. Helen O'Rourke, deputy manager of the Electronic Boutique in Dublin, says it's already filled its pre-order booking forms. If lucky, you might pick up a console in the first week in December when the second order comes in, but, she says, you'll be lucky to get one before the new year.
Whether anyone likes it or not, PS2 is here to stay. Admittedly, it depends on broadband and the resultant download time, but as more homes get broadband, those bigger pipes will allow gamers to insert themselves as characters into their favourite television shows.
PS2 has been designed to recognise the potential of broadband networks, to offer the consumer a vast selection of content and the convenience of download capability. In future, with PS2, software titles will be a fusion of disc-based content and network entertainment - with additional data accessed over the network and stored on the HDD.
drowe@irish-times.ie