02.04.05
Playstation Two Online
So I wrote up, what I think might be the only page explaining how to get a PlayStation 2 online via a wireless connection thru an iBook. It really seems odd that more people haven’t tried this. It was a bit difficult to get going, mostly because you can’t tell when the PS2 is going to activate the Ethernet port.
From the article: “The biggest problem I’ve run into is getting that little red dot to change to green. Unless the green dot shows up, your connection to the online servers will not get through the Dynamic Network Authentication System (DNAS) screen. A couple of solutions that I’ve found so far are: A) flailing around, setting and unsetting all sorts of settings until finally something happens or B) getting everything ready to go, telling the Playstation to go ahead and login, and then while the DNAS screen is up, switching the iBook from the “Playstation2” location (In the Network system preference) to some other location and then back to the “Playstation2″ location.”
That’s the only real tricky part. The rest of it pretty straight forward network configuration.
The online play for Ratchet and Clank has been really quite fun. It’s interesting to see the subtle and not-so-subtle ways that the players can communicate with each other, even without the microphone.
For instance, there’s a particular screen where you signal your readiness to play a match. The interesting thing is that while some of the people are waiting, if they are getting impatient, they will flash the green ready light. Ending the flashing with the light being on means you want to get the game going and are frustrated about the lack of game play or inattentive players. Ending the flashing with the light off seems to signify the desire to have the teams change, usually to be more balanced, such as having a better spread of mic’ed players or higher ranking players vs. lower ranked players.
I’ve got a built-in limit of time that I can play the game. After about an hour of play I get a bit queazy in the stomach. Otherwise I might find myself playing for hours on end…