Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with ps2

Stupid Keyboard Question

misanthropicsarah — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 10:49:19 -0800

Got a new computer and it only has USB hookups, no ps2 hookups for a keyboard or mouse. No problem, I already had a USB mouse and it came with a USB keyboard (whatever generic one Dell ships). But I really liked my old keyboard which had a ps2 connector. So, I got a couple of ps2/usb adaptors figuring that would solve my problem. It didn't. The computer didn't recognize the keyboard when it was plugged in. Why? Since I'd bought two adaptors (buy one get one free) I tried both figuring one might be dead, but neither worked.

At this point I had just unplugged the USB keyboard and plugged in the ps2-with-adaptor keyboard, so thinking that might be the issue, I turned the machine off then turned it back on with the ps2-with-adaptor keyboard plugged in. As the machine was booting an error message came up about a keyboard error (no keyboard recognized?).

I gave up and plugged the USB keyboard back in and have been using that and sulking. Do I need to buy some kind of fancier ps2/usb adaptor? Install a driver or something (the keyboard I want to use is the 5 years ago version of whatever Dell was shipping, but I really like it!)? Resign myself to this ridiculous keyboard?

I realize that this is a stupid question, but this keyboard has been bothering me for a couple of weeks and I have not gotten used to it as I thought I would. Forgive me my absurdness.

Painted into a corner, I fear

flabdablet — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 21:30:54 -0800

Did I just brick this computer? This hand-me-down K7T266 based PC had previously been diagnosed with a faulty PS/2 keyboard port, and the owner had been advised that this was not worth fixing and that he should just use a USB keyboard, which he was doing. Windows XP Home ran just fine this way. However, there was no obvious way to get to the BIOS settings as the BIOS didn't recognize the USB keyboard, and thus no obvious way to boot from CD.

No problem, says me cheerfully; we'll just reset the CMOS settings, which should make it enable legacy USB keyboard support from powerup, and let us get to the BIOS settings screen using your USB keyboard. So I do the usual jumper dance.

Bad move. On startup, it now announces that that the CMOS settings are wrong (fair enough) and prompts to press F1 to enter Setup or F2 to load defaults and continue - but it still won't accept USB keyboard input, so it just sits there. It never gets as far as trying to boot, either from disk or anything else.

We tried plugging in a PS/2 keyboard but that does, indeed, not work. We also tried plugging the USB keyboard into one of the mobo USB ports after I noticed that it was attached to a PCI add-on card; no change. The owner says that he seems to recall being told that the mobo USB ports were faulty as well, which is why the add-on card was installed. Sigh.

So it seems my helpfully helpful help has cost him the use of his old computer. Anybody got any good ideas for getting it going again, or have I just obligated myself to find, supply and fit a replacement K7T266 mobo?

PS2 game recommendation needed for a PS2 virgin

n3rt — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 07:03:44 -0800

I've just purchased a Playstation2 [yes *2*, I'm relapsing into gaming at this age and never owned one] and I'm looking for some recommendations of any genre for mindless, quick, fun that doesn't involve long spells of extended gaming.

Video game "playing cars" is fun!

BaxterG4 — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 10:08:16 -0800

My son and I love playing in the cars on Lego Batman: The Video Game (Wii). What other "vehicle toy" games are there? It's a lot of fun to have your characters jump into the cars on Lego Batman and just drive around, running amok, especially 2 players. Smashing into things, people, and each other. Trying to tip over or bounce as high as we can, etc! Just "play", not racing or trying to get anywhere, though that could potentially be fun too as long as fairly low on the competitive/difficulty ladder. Easy controls (at least for the basics) a must.

Split-screen/"second-person" perspective a la Mario Kart isn't necessarily a dealbreaker but definitely isn't preferred. That sort of game is fun, but "play" really needs a shared context where both players can be about equally seen in a single view. Likewise, not having a timer/other "arbitrary" interruptions is a plus. It's really cool and funny when you on occasion run into something that blows up, so destruction/EXCITEment would be good.

Have a Wii, so Wii or GameCube (including VC or WiiWare) would be preferred; might be talked into a PS2 since I already "need" one and it's always nice to have an excuse.

PS2 Won't Play PS2 Games

Otis — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 17:07:05 -0800

Do you have a "slim" PlayStation 2 gaming system? Do all your PS2 games work with the system? What PS2 games are known to be incompatible with the slim PS2 system? I have confirmed with Activision Value that the PlayStation 2 game Ty the Tasmanian Tiger 3: Night of the Quinkan is not compatible with the slim PS2 system. I have contacted Sony and they blame the software, and the software publisher blames the hardware. I find it unacceptable that I have purchased a PS2 game system that doesn't play PS2 games. My questions are:

1) Are there other PS2 games that are incompatible with the PS2?

2) Shouldn't the game buying public be informed about this so they don't spend money on games they can't play?

3) Do consumers have any recourse against Sony for selling a PS2 game system that is incompatible with the games designed for the system?

console or PS2 controller for someone with carpal tunnel?

cjmchampton — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 19:15:21 -0800

My girlfriend -- an avid fan of console games -- was recently diagnosed with carpal tunnel and can't use a PS2 controller for more than a few minute without experiencing debilitating pain in her right arm. Does anyone know of an alternative controller that might free up her right hand? Has anyone used a DDR pad for non-dance related games, for instance? Or, have you tried the access controller? I'm worried it might just start aggravating her other arm, though... How about other consoles that have such an option? Controllers that essentially work the same way as a standard controller, but are smaller/larger/more ergonomic don't seem to help.

Will UK PlayStation2 games work in the US?

elfgirl — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 12:29:04 -0800

Does anyone know if PS2 games from the UK will work on a US console, or do they release region-specific games like they do DVDs? My kids love the Singstar game and I noticed today that there are quite a few Singstar disks that have been released in the UK but not here. I'd love to get a couple, but I suspect that because of regional licensing issues, they may not play here.

Hive brain? Any experience?

Does the PS3 outperform the PS2, playing PS2 games? A lot?

grobstein — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 20:31:47 -0800

Does the PS3 outperform the PS2, playing PS2 games? A lot? So I fouled up and got the PS3 model that doesn't play PS2 games. This turns out to have been bad. I'd like to play PS2 games. I'm trying to decide between 1) selling my current PS3 and upgrading to the better version, or 2) buying a new PS2.

Option 2) is cheaper.

What I want to know is, does the higher-end PS3 do a better job on PS2 games than a new PS2 would?

Are there major graphical improvements?

Can the PS3 sometimes play PS2 games in HD (um on reflection this seems pretty improbable. . . )?

Primal urges (not like that)

DoctorFedora — Sat, 17 May 2008 19:38:34 -0800

Video games similar to Primal? My girlfriend is trying to track down another game that she can get as enthusiastic about as Primal. She cites the story, characters, fights, and soundtrack as all coming together into a perfect package of sorts, and mentions that even God of War didn't quite do it for her.

Any recommendations? Non-PS3/360 ideally (I have a Wii and a PS2 though).

Wii game recommendation?

aquafiend — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 08:26:30 -0800

What is the perfect wii (or maybe ps2) game to play with my lady? We need a game to play together. Controller-handoff is fine (and actually preferred) - two player mode is not important. An adventure game with at least some story, some puzzles, and some run-and-jump action would probably be ideal. Wii is preferred but PS2 is an option as well.

We played (and she loved) Mario Galaxy.

We also played (and she loved) Okami. I thought the obvious next step would be to play Zelda, but she hated it: "too complicated", "not pretty enough", "boring story", "why can't I jump". This description broke my brain.

Any ideas?

Use Mac / PC Guitar Hero controller on PS2?

obiwanwasabi — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 02:29:56 -0800

Is there any way to use to guitar controller for the Mac / PC version of Guitar Hero III on a PS2? There seem to be plenty of PS2 -> USB adapters out there - anything that goes the other way?

Late to the PS3 game...

raygan — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 09:49:55 -0800

I've decided to buy a PS3, and I'm looking for one that will play my old PS2 games. Can the 60gb version with the PS2 compatibility hardware still be found anywhere, or is the 80gb version with the software emulation my best option? And where can I buy either online? I prefer new, because I want a manufacturer's warantee if possible. I don't want to pay above sticker price. Am I coming too late to the party, or is there some way I can get my hands on a 60gb PS3?
Also, in people's real experience, how much difference is there between the PS2 hardware compatibility in the older models and the software emulation in the newer (80gb) models?

Old Console Wireless

ChrisR — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 10:31:58 -0800

What are the best options for wireless original xbox controllers? Ditto for PS2? You can imagine how staggeringly difficult this is to find via google. I have a 360, and its controller is great; I'd like something similar for my Xbox.

I've tried one aftermarket wireless controller, whose name I can't recall, but it was a lemon. It literally didn't work at all at any distance. I'd rather not repeat the experience. So, I'd like a quality wireless controller for these two consoles.

Rock Band (PS2) practice mode

Prospero — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 10:03:18 -0800

Does the practice mode of the PS2 version of Rock Band offer the options to play through songs at a slower-than-normal speed, and to select difficult sections of songs to practice repeatedly? I already know that the PS2 version has fewer features than the PS3/360 versions, but a robust practice mode is the feature I care about most.

Fun 2-player split-screen cooperative games for the PS2?

chowflap — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 13:21:25 -0800

Fun 2-player (split-screen, not online) cooperative games for the PS2, for me and my fella? I've seen previous AskMe questions that were similar, but the answers didn't really fit our needs. We love FPSers, especially if there's some sneaking around and problem solving involved. We have played Turok: Evolution (in shoot-each-other mode) and Star Wars Battlefront II (cooperatively, which we have finished), and we enjoyed both. What now? We just bought (used) Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow because the box said it was for 1-4 players; unfortunately, it turns out they meant online play, which I'm not interested in doing right now. Shooting/fighting each other is fun, but can get a little wearying when one of us is getting beat down by the other all of the time...

Other games we've liked, singularly: Katamari Damacy, Halo 3 (at a friend's house), Citizen Kabuto, Oblivion, Deus Ex, various Zeldas, Marios and Metroids. Played Lego Star Wars but found it kind of unchallenging after a short while.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Rock Band Controllers. Oh what a waste of a question.

yerfatma — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 11:57:39 -0800

My copy of Rock Band is arriving soon. Is it possible to make one of my existing PS2 Guitar Hero guitars work with it? Last generation I used a converter like this to get my PS2 controllers onto my X-Box for backup controllers and they worked fine. None of the converters I see say anything about 360 compatibility, but the connectors are the same across generations, just some button layout changes. Wikipedia says the package comes with a USB hub-- would a PS2 to USB converter box (like the ones for using the guitars in Windows) do the trick?

I'll accept being lame and having laid out too much money for these games, but I'd like to skip having a 4th guitar lying around.

PS2 plays some DVDs and not others?

carsonb — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 08:02:17 -0800

Why does my roommate's PS2 play some DVDs and not some others? Is there anything I can do about it? I've seen plenty of previous threads where the PS2 DVD drive 'wears out', etc. From what I gather, however, that means that the player won't play any DVDs—whereas our PS2 is picky. For instance, it will play the Planet Terror Bonus Materials disc (disc 2) but not the actual movie disc (disc 1). Same goes for my Death Proof DVDs. There are various other discs that I've tried in it, and results so far seem random. It'll play burned DVDs but not a brand-new Criterion disc. This disc 1/2 delineation is the first seemingly predictable response from the damn machine. Is the drive just going out? If it is short for this world is there anything I can do about it to prolong the magic? What else could it be?

For completeness' sake, I haven't tried playing an actual PS2 game on this rig though by all accounts (roommate's) it works fine as a game console. It has taken and played all music CDs I've introduced. It ate the PB&J I fed it yesterday with no complaint. (Boysenberry, yum!) I'm frustrated, and want to spend my Sunday watching bloody gore and car chases. Help!

Stereotypical Girl Gamer

Laura in Canada — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 07:59:11 -0800

My apologies in advance for furthering the stereotype. I'm a girl, I like video games, but I lean towards puzzles games & sims... & my skills suck. My boyfriend is a video game collector & fairly avid player, as it is, his interest in types of games & his skill level are a fair bit different than my own. We recently got a PS3 & I'd like to expand the library by adding a few new games for myself (I'm looking for older stuff preferably: PS2 or even PS1 games). I like to play, but often have trouble finding games... so here I am turning to the MetaFilter Suggestion Engine. The problem, to me, seems to be that the catalogue of games for Playstation is enormous & much more "hardcore-gamer" oriented than the Nintendo systems. I've looked at Metacritic, but it's overwhelming & hard to pinpoint games I might like.

Games that have held my interest in the past:

Nintendo DS:

Phoenix Wright
Mario Kart
Super Princess Peach
Puzzle Quest
Mario & Luigi:Partners in Time (although got too hard in the last stages)

Gamecube/ Wii:

Pikmin 2
Elebits
Trauma Center
Lego Star Wars

I'm also a fan of The Sims (1 & 2) on the PC & enjoy Loco Roco on the PSP. Last example, we bought Kingdom Hearts (PS2) yesterday & I enjoyed that as well, it's different than other games I've played & I think it will end up being too hard for me in the long run, but I like the gameplay.

P.S. I did find other similar threads & have Katmari Damacy on my list to add to our library, I'm just hoping for more suggestions to fit my interests.

Having trouble with the game Ico on a PS2.

crios — Sun, 09 Sep 2007 19:41:43 -0800

I purchased Ico a couple of weeks ago and finally got around to really playing it, the problem is that the game freezes (on a black screen) while loading at the same point every time I play it. The game plays for a while and then when moving from one room to another freezes while loading. The disk (a purple disk) looks to be in pretty good condition (no major scratches). Any idea why it's freezing up? My PS2 is about 6 years old but I have no problems with any other games. Do you think that the game is a bootleg (I've never seen a purple disk)? Is this a know issue with Ico? I tried searching but didn't get any results.

Baseball game for the DS?

drezdn — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 07:40:59 -0800

Baseball game suggestions for the Gameboy DS, Advance or the PS2? Lately, I've been playing RBI Baseball 3 far too often on my computer. So, I'm looking to get a baseball game that will play on either my DS or PS2 (I'd prefer it to work on my DS).

I'm looking for the following features
-It doesn't have to have MLB teams, but if it does, it needs to have all of them.
-I'm looking for more RBI Baseball style hitting (or at least a level that allows RBI style hitting), so I don't have to perfectly aim my bat, so much as hit a button at the right time
-A season mode
-The ability to make trades would be great
-The more stats, the better, especially if they update with each game

One thing that would be awesome, but I'm not getting my hopes up, would be if you could edit players... ie. Create your own team like you can with the RBI Baseball ROM editor. Classic baseball teams would be cool too.

Dreamcast ad making fun of Sony?

becoming — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 12:10:29 -0800

Where can I find the Sega Dreamcast ad that poked fun at the PlayStation 2 supply issues? I remember seeing, a few years ago linked off of a slashdot user's website, a print advertisement for the Sega Dreamcast. It read something to the effect of

"Sony -

We are very sorry to hear about your recent supply issues and we wish you the very best.

- Sega"

and had a big picture (the top half of the ad) of a kid sticking out his tongue. It's probably been six years since I've seen this and I'd really like to see it again, as well as show some of my friends.

Help Me Make My Son's Birthday Rock

misha — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 13:32:37 -0800

PS3 Filter: is "Bully" for PS2 compatible with PS3? Can't find via compatibility list, hoping someone here can educate me. Also, which is the best headset to use with PS3 for online play, in terms of low-cost and ease of use? Specifically, for playing "Resistance: Fall of Man" with clan members online.

Help me get my game on (and my son's).

jbickers — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 19:02:53 -0800

What's the best console system for a soon-to-be-five-year-old boy (and his dad)? I'm about to take the plunge and buy a videogame console - my boy is about to turn 5, and he has a real interest in them. And I'm an old-school Atari/Intellivision gamer, so I'd kinda like to rekindle that old flame myself.

My first instinct is to get a Gamecube, because of the family friendly games and reasonable price. But I'm wondering if there's a better choice, based on the quantity and quality of games available.

In a nutshell: Much of modern console gaming drives me crazy, because it's based on numbing repetition. Beat level, beat boss, beat level, beat mega boss, repeat. Get killed once, start the whole mess over.

Are there console games today that eschew this formula (or any other prevailing formula - FPS, death-by-statistics RPG) for good old-fashioned creativity, of the kind the Atari generation knew? I'm drawn to the Katamari games for this very reason (which, of course, would mean a Gamecube wouldn't be the right choice).

Sorry for rambling. Hopefully some older video gamers can empathize and point me in the right direction.

annoying PS2 slimline noise

peep — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 11:25:57 -0800

Our PS2 died, so we bought a new Slimline PS2. The noise it makes is driving me insane. Or am I already crazy? My husband says he doesn't hear what I'm hearing. The noise, which I believe is the disk being read, sounds to me like a moderately high-pitched beeping/screeching of various lengths. It sounds a bit like a fork scraping a plate, and it kills my ears and brain. If he's playing late at night in the living room, I can hear it from the bedroom.

He thinks I'm a little crazy that it bothers me so much. Has anyone else noticed this? I can't find anything online except that the slim version is supposed to be QUIETER than the original.

Am I blue?

sourwookie — Mon, 30 Oct 2006 07:33:45 -0800

My PS2 is not working as a DVD player. Never has. I get audio, but the image alternates from a few seconds of program to a few seconds of brilliant blue screen. Games work perfectly. FWIW, the PS2 is hooked up to a VHS machine (my TV is elderly) which then feeds into the Co-ax on my TV. VHS works perfectly also.