Some console news today as GristyMcFisty lets us know
that a new revision of Sony's PlayStation 2 console is scheduled to arrive this week in the United Kingdom. According
to the article, the new revision, SCPH-50000, mainly offers improved DVD
playback:
better DVD playback quality, including surround sound decoding, which
means that users will no longer have to buy a separate remote control in
order to fully use the console's DVD functions.
The new hardware
will also allow the PS2 to compete more effectively with the Xbox as a DVD
player, since despite the need for an additional accessory to enable DVD
playback on Microsoft's console, it is generally considered to offer
higher quality playback.
However, these improvements to the
console's DVD abilities come at the expense of the under-utilised Firewire
(IEE 1394) port on the front of the machine, which has been removed from
this revision of the hardware. To our knowledge, Gran Turismo 3 was the
only game ever to support using this port for linked multiplayer, and with
the console's online service now up and running, Sony apparently doesn't
see the need for Firewire any more.
The standard version of the
SCPH-50000 will be accompanied by a "satin silver" model of the hardware,
which is £10 more expensive than the black version but does come bundled
with two silver joypads.
Source: The Register
