PS2 DVD Guide Part 2 Special @ Gaming Target

Written by John Scalzo on July 03, 2001

Special: The discs strike back!

When we last left our heroes, I was probing the joys of DVD playback on your PS2. But for every joy there is a flip side. First there will be anger, then hate, then there will be suffering. Yet, you can stop this suffering by knowing how to get the absolute best performance out of your PS2.

First and foremost, Sony has gone to great lengths to hide one of the PS2's most useful features, DVD Diagnostics. It's still very good, and I wouldn't have purchased my PS2 without it, but it's not perfect. Sony knew this, so they included the DVD Diagnostics to correct the player's settings whenever a disc gave your PS2 the hiccups. It's quick, painless, and solves 99% of DVD related problems. It's just finding and turning on DVD Diagnostics is a lengthy and confusing process.

To run diagnostics:
1. Turn on PS2 without a disc in the machine
2. Press Triangle
3. Highlight Console and press Triangle
4. Turn diagnostics on
5. Insert DVD and let the PS2 work it's magic
6. Continue hitting Circle until you get back to the main menu
7. Go into the Browser
8. Play movie

Sometimes the discs will skip, the sound will not be in sync with the picture, and at times the movie will totally freeze. But the DVD Diagnostics should fix all these problems. And as a quick heads up, there are a few discs out there that are just born troublemakers for your PS2.

The problem children:

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

The Emperor's New Groove

Gladiator

The Mummy: Ultimate Edition

Stir of Echoes

Now these aren't the only DVD's that give the PS2 the hiccups, but they are the most well known. And sometimes they work completely fine with no trouble at all. But if you want to be absolutely sure, you should run DVD Diagnostics before you run any disc, just to make sure the PS2 is going to play nice with your new movie.

In addition to knowing about the DVD Diagnostics, there are two other small accessories that should have a place of honor next to your PS2. The first is a DVD lens cleaner. It looks like a regular disc, but if you flip it over, you'll see there's little brushes on the bottom. These brushes will clean the lens that shoots the laser at the discs in your PS2. Using a lens cleaner about once a week will make sure the laser hits the disc better which will give you a better picture and sound. And even possibly make some discs stop skipping. You can pick up a DVD lens cleaner disc from any electronics store for about $10. The other nice little toy to have is a disc scratch remover. For $20 you get your little spray bottle. You spray some of the stuff on the disc, put it in the spinner and spin your scratches away. Scratch removers only work on small scratches, but seeing as how the PS2 is very sensitive to scratches, you might want one of these too.

One thing PS2 owners can look forward to is the release of a DVD driver update. Sony is planning to release their Official DVD Remote in September and it will come with a disc that will give the PS2 DVD player more options and supposedly the update will stop the skipping problems of a lot of movies. Besides a better playback ability, the driver disc will also give your PS2 the ability to display the time remaining on the movie, you'll now have three rewind and fast forward speeds, slow motion play, and improved versions of the features already in the PS2 DVD player. And according to the grape vine, you won't have to wait for September for the driver update. Rumor has it Sony is putting the driver updates on Gran Turismo 3, so you'll only have to wait a few more days. Just remember this is just a rumor and may or may not be true.

Must Haves: The Second Wave
After my rather short must have list last time I was questioned, told I was flat wrong, and threatened to be killed for not including a few other titles. So here I go again with another round of movies every self-respecting DVD owner must see.

Dogma: Special Edition - Kevin Smith's controversial comedy about life, death, religion, and fart jokes finally gets the DVD treatment it deserves. Two discs chock full of good stuff including two commentaries, the Kevin Smith standard 100 minutes of deleted scenes, and a little old lady telling you if you keep watching this movie, you're going to hell. We wouldn't want to disappoint Satan, now would we?

Fight Club - Four commentaries, two behind the scenes documentaries, deleted scenes, outtakes, not to mention a movie that will completely and totally mess with your mind! If there's one movie that needs to be seen over and over again on DVD, it's the adventures of Tyler Durden in Fight Club.

Gladiator - Besides being a great movie about a General's rise from slave to gladiator in a quest for revenge against the Emperor for killing his family this disc has a lot of other good stuff. It features deleted scenes, commentary from Ridley Scott, four behind the scenes documentaries, and a production diary written by one of the actors. If that all weren't enough, Gladiator has quite possibly the best picture and sound quality of any DVD. So if you want something to show off to your friends, this is the one.

Independence Day - Everyone's favorite alien invaders are on DVD and it couldn't be better. This disc features two versions of the movie (theatrical cut and a director's cut), two commentaries, trailers, and the totally goofy original ending. Independence Day also has probably the second best picture and sound of any DVD out there. Plus, who doesn't love watching the White House blow up over and over and over again.

Seven: Platinum Series - John Doe is right up there with Norman Bates, Hannibal Lecter and all the other great murderers of movie history. No one is creepier, or more evil than John Doe, and in fact I'd like to see a no holds barred cage match to decide who is the evilest of them all. But anyway, what we do get is Seven, and counting Fight Club that's now two for David Fincher. The man knows how to make a freaky movie and a great DVD. Seven features, three commentaries, deleted scenes, alternate endings, and the notebook, a look inside those pages and pages of notebooks John Doe writes in. You're not scared are you? But if you want to be, go with Seven.

So there it is, a few more must haves, and ways to keep that PS2 humming along so these must haves play nice and good in your player. Because isn't it better when everybody plays nice together?