Roberto Sedycias asked:


The Playstation 2, or the PS2, is a video game console that is successor of the Playstation and predecessor of the Playstation 3. It was developed and designed by Sony. Playstation 2 was released in Japan, a year after the announcement of its development in March 1999.

Till date, Playstation 2 is the best-selling video game console. Sale of the Playstation 2 touched a whopping 120 million mark in 2007. Just after 5 years and 9 months of its launch, Playstation 2 sales reached 100 million units, making it the fastest selling video game console.

Initially, when the console was launched in 2000, impressive game titles weren`t made available with it. But in December 2001, a host of best-selling and critically acclaimed game titles were launched for Playstation 2, which helped Playstation 2 in maintaining a lead in the video game console market. In most of the cases, the makers of Playstation 2 made exclusivity deals with the publishers of the game titles to stay ahead in console market.

Playstation 2 has 3 designs: Original case design, slim case design and PSX.

Playstation 2 is backward compatible with Playstation when it comes to hardware compatibility. It can read CDs as well as DVDs. DVD video playback is another feature of Playstation 2. DVD movie playing feature was another attraction and a cost-justifying feature for a buyer to purchase Playstation 2. It also supports Playstation memory cards, meant for saving Playstation games only. Playstation 2 also supports the Playstation controllers. But the problem that one faces with these controllers is that they are not supportive of all the functions, like the analog buttons, of the Playstation 2. The memory cards, also, work only with Playstation 1 games. At the rear of the console, support is provided for internal Playstation 2 HDD (Hard Disc Drive).

An upgraded version of the Playstation DualShock controller is the Playstation 2`s DualShock 2 controller. Digital buttons of the original controller are replaced by analog face, shoulder and D-pad buttons. The D-pad, the right buttons, the back buttons (R1, R2, L1, L2), the analog joystick buttons (R3, L3s) and the middle buttons (Start, Select, Analog) are the various input buttons.

Similar to its predecessor, force feedback feature is provided with DualShock 2 controller. Force feedback is more commonly known as the `vibration` function. Consider a game wherein the player moves in a car on a road. Now, this force feedback feature gives a `feel` of how an actual road would have given, making the game as close to reality as possible.

Playstation 2 was introduced with one of the most advanced features. These features were not available with other contemporary gaming consoles, which helped Playstation 2 in gaining more popularity. DVD playback feature, USB support and IEEE 1394 expansion ports were some of these features.

Software support was another advantage that worked in the favor of Playstation 2. Old systems could be upgraded to Playstation 2 without changing the old softwares. This enabled the new users to access older games till a new and larger library was developed for Playstation 2. Speeding up disc read time, adding texture smoothing to enhance graphics, or a combination of both, were the added features provided with Playstation 2 to enhance Playstation games. At times, problems like failure in loading were faced with faster disc reading. But texture smoothing proved out to be an effective feature at all times.

Playstation games can also be played online with multiple players. A network adapter is required for this. This is a built-in component in the slimline model, but with other models the consumer has to purchase it. These special features make playstation 2 a great hit among the kids and the grown ups alike.

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johnxuster asked:


Sony makes lithium ion batteries for an array of electronics devices, including camcorders, portable DVD players and video game consoles. Contrary to a blog of Consumer Reports, which first reported the potential recall, though, only notebook batteries are currently covered, according to the CPSC and Sony, which would jointly conduct the recall.

“Sony has provided a wealth of technical data to the CPSC involving this tech, and it is omnipresent in a host of portable electronic devices, but as far as we know, from Sony’s perspective, there is no initiative planned at this time that goes beyond what has already been communicated with respect to notebook computers,” said Sony spokesman Rick Clancy, referring to Sony’s official statement released on Thursday concerning a global replacement program for notebook battery packs.

The CPSC is trying to contact Consumer Reports for a correction about a recall extension to other electronics devices, Vallese said.

“I think that the real way to look at it is that Sony is working with the CPSC to identify the widest scope of batteries that it may recall. Any recall that the agency will make will be limited to batteries that power notebook computers. We have no anticipation at this time beyond that,” Vallese said.

“Sony and the CPSC are currently working together to identify what will be in the recall, the time frame of what was manufactured and sold. We will be trying to issue that as soon as possible,” she said.

Richard Shim, a senior analyst with IDC, said: “The big issue is that while there is a small financial impact (to Sony as a company) compared to the perception impact, you have a number of significant brands that the consumer knows very well who were also involved in the recalls. They have basically pointed the problem at Sony by saying they have a poorly manufactured component.

“From a manufacturer standpoint, this gives them a lot of leverage going forward. Sony is going to have to rebuild not just with consumers, but with manufacturers. And the fact of the matter is that a lot of these manufacturers” buy batteries from multiple manufacturers, Shim said.

Previous notebook battery recalls were issued by Dell and Apple Computer in August for specific laptop models containing Sony batteries, after it was discovered that some batteries were overheating or exploding, causing fires even when the machines were turned off. At the time, Sony said the issue was confined to Dell and Apple computers, and the problem was attributed to a potential short circuit caused by tiny shards of metal left over in the battery cells from the manufacturing process.

On Friday, Toshiba announced that it, too, would be recalling 830,000 laptop computer batteries, while Dell increased the amount of laptop battery recalls from 4.1 million to 4.2 million. Lenovo announced a recall of 526,000 laptop batteries on Thursday, after a Lenovo ThinkPad T43 caught fire at the Los Angeles International Airport.

Separately on Monday, Sony and Hewlett-Packard issued a joint statement that said a study of the issue found that “because of HP’s PC system configuration, HP notebooks using Sony battery cells are not prone to overheating issues that have recently been observed.”

The issue has specifically affected travel, as some airlines have issued restrictions on the use of Dell and Apple laptops on planes. While the laptops may be brought on board, owners must first remove the battery and then use them only with an external power supply.

This may be creating negative feelings among consumers, said Shim, as most airlines do not offer electrical outlets in coach class, making notebooks essentially unusable on planes. Sony needs to have high take-back rates — the number of bad batteries returned for good ones — so the airlines can lift the current bans, Shim said.

“If you can’t use your notebook on the planes, that puts a pretty big cramp in (your) day,” Shim said. The airlines “have to do what they are doing from a liability standpoint. You don’t want to see that evening headline that a plane caught fire because someone’s laptop battery overheated. That’s a lose-lose for everybody,” he said.

Vallese said consumers should keep the situation in perspective. According to the Portable Rechargeable Battery Association, an estimated 2 billion lithium ion cells will be manufactured in 2006. Of those, Vallese said, the actual number of incidents of fire in relation to batteries is few.

“We want consumers to respond because the risk is real, but the risk is low, and that needs to be understood,” Vallese said.

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