This just shipped out (in America) and I was was wondering if anyone has it? I' m more interested in the HD itself then I am in FFXI. The HD will obviously be used for downloadable content (SOCOM II will be the first game to take advantage) but will it be used in other ways like the X Box HD? It has the potential to give games faster load times and make PS2 games better as a whole but I' m not hearing anything about this. I' m wondering if Sony waited to long to release the HD and if it will catch on. What do you guys think?

Don' t want it, don' t need it.

I guess that' s about where it ends for me.

Well, the HD will not be used much by developers for the PS2 due to the fact that not everyone will have them. Infact, more or less hardcore gamers will be the ones getting the HD so the majority of people won' t have the HD. Basically if not everyone has it, it makes the developers less inclined to use it because it means less people will buy their games simply due to incompatibility. This is why add ons have always been a bad idea. It splits develpement. The Xbox was successful with the HD because everyone has it and developers don' t have to make exceptions for people that don' t(because there aren' t any that don' t). For those that do get the HD for their PS2, they probably will enjoy having it.

True, making games that require the HD would definetly be a bad idea. I' m saying they should make games take advantage of it but not have to require it (kind of like the N64 Expansion pack). They could use it for custom soundtracks, faster load times, etc. Those would just be nice extras and not requirements.

By the way, can the HD be used to save game files? It would be nice not having to buy another memory card.

If it didn' t allow you to save your games on the HD it would truely be a dissapointment. I' m almost positive that it allows you to save your games on it. 99.9% sure.

Agreed, if not, there is no point in having it without saving games. I may get it, but I already have the Linux game development set that included a 200GB HD, but it doesn' t save games.

How' d you get that?

It came out a while back. I got my through a link on gamedev.net, it was also featured in EGM. Unless your into game developement it' s useless. The only thing the HD saves is Homebrew games. It comes with the HD, a keyboard, mouse, the needed software, broadband only network adapter, and a monitor.

So with Linux do you already have to know how to develope games or does it teach you? I' m pretty interested in this. If one was to make a game would it be playable on PS2 and would there be anyway to make it available to the public (you said it had a 200GB HD and broadband internet connection so that would be cool if you could make it available for download)?

Theres not a large community for it. But you need to know how to program. You can learn for free oline though. You can play the games on PS2 that you create, but as for letting a friend, they need the set too.

The Intro to Final Fantasy XI is pretty Cool, I downloaded it back in October, 240MB, it was big, but worth it, I' m not into Final Fantasy, never really played them games, Loved Shenmue though...you get a Monitor with the Development kit, I thought it was just a VGA adapter, can you play PS2 Games on the monitor, how do they look?

Here' s a nice little article IGN did on the HDD:
http://ps2.ign.com/articles/500/500522p1.aspx

It basically just says what it' s capable of and what we can look forward to in the future.

sorry, my mistake. The monitor I bought came as a package deal. but yes, they look great on the monitor.