In a fit of impulsiveness, I purchased the PS2 Network kit a week ago. I really wanted to get an X-Box, but the store was out and I wanted to splurge NOW rather than drive to another store…

One line impression: Good, Bad, Fair, Excellent, Excellent!

Good: Easy to install, no tools required, my 4 year old son could do it (If I wasn’t so grabby, “No, its mine!”)

Bad: The dodgy software included to configure the card. It didn’t actually crash, but it made it very hard in some places to verify that all settings were correct and working.

Fair: The web-ish Playstation Central ‘application’. Very slow (Not sure if it was a slow server or just dodgy software rending slowly), and many rendering errors that made it impossible to read or select some menus. A refresh of the page sorted it out most times. It took over 30 mins to register on the site though. :plain:

Excellent: The free game Hardware: Online Arena. It’s free. To my untrained, inexperienced online gaming sensibilites it is pure magic. I’m not very good at it, but I enjoy it very much.

Excellent: I also purchased the latest in the Time Crisis series – Crisis Zone. No, it’s not a network game. I have always enjoyed the Time Crisis series in the arcades and always wanted it at home. Now I do. And I love it. Guns in reality = bad stuff. Guns in PS2 game = good destruction fun. Particularly theraputic are the areas where you get to blast many computers and equipment into small crunchy parts.

Coming Soon: More network games for me, a headset, and a wireless USB keyboard.