If You Get To Play PS2 Online Today, Consider Yourself Lucky

Posted Wednesday, August 28, 2002 at 8:57 AM Central

by Tim Briscoe

Sony brought their PlayStation 2 game console into the future yesterday by releasing a new Network Adapter to enable online game play. Sony indicates an initial shipment of 400,000 adapters to retailers across North America at a suggested retail price of $39.99.

That's fine and good, but compare that number to their estimated number of PS2 consoles in homes -- 11 million. Needless to say, there won't be enough supply to go around. Of course, that assumes online gaming is going to be a hit. And that's NOT a very big assumption for the multi-billion dollar game industry.

A quick look at Ebay, which often serves as a good estimate of consumer demand, shows several PS2 Network Adapters up for bidding. The first auction, ending in approximately 13 hours at press time, is already up to $76.00. Many other listings have employed Ebay's "Buy It Now" feature and have prices in the $100-$150 range.

And if your dying to play your PS2 online, the outlook for getting one of these 56K dial-up modem/ethernet Network Adapters at a reasonable price continues to be bleak. Sony estimates only an additional 100,000 units to be available through the end of March 2003.

Sony's biggest competitor for console gaming online is Microsoft's Xbox. Fortunate for Xbox owners, an additional network adapter is not required. The Xbox hardware already has an ethernet port to connect to a high speed Internet connection. But this is also a detraction, depending on your point of view, that is.

Unlike PS2, you won't be able to play your Xbox online with a dial-up modem. Their network, dubbed Xbox Live, is only for broadband connections like Cable or DSL. For those with a fast connection, this is a bonus since you won't have to deal with people on slow dial-up connections. The other unfortunate side of Xbox online play is you'll have to wait until November AND purchase a $50 headset communicator and game disc set to play for a year. Select consumers will begin beta testing the Xbox network in September.

Online gaming with consoles like PS2 and Xbox is sure to be a grand slam, but it may be a rough ride getting there.