Does anyone now how much any fo the following are gonna cost?: Network Adapter, Hardrive or any other add ons for the PS2.

Network Adapter is $39.95
Hard Drive is still an indefinate answer...Most likely between $40 to $70 though. There are no other add-ons announced yet, except for the already released Linux kit. I believe there is a thread in the FFXI forum related to this if you need more info...so, this thread should be closed soon.

This thread fits better in the General Gaming forum, so I'll just move it there.

okay, thanx. :)

I might get it if FFIX has no extra charge per month and because PS2 allows you to use your existing ISP

It has been anounced that FFXI will have a monthly charge, however Sony will not charge anything, but you'll still have to pay for an ISP. So, basically, if you have internet (anyone reading this most likely does), then the only thing you have to pay is for FFXI and the monthly charge (and the modem adapter if you don't have it by then). You won't have to pay Sony any monthly charges though, even for online games made by them.

I believe that Analog Users (Meaning Dial up) must buy the Hard Drive along with the Game and Modem. I believe it's to save the data on the HD for quicker access for the slow people since the Broadband Users won't have to worry about saving the info as much as the Analogs.

Is $39.95 Canadian or american? And does anyone now when it comes out? :confused:

39.95 American, I think it comes out this month...I don't remember the exact day though... And no, the modem in no way directly requires a hard drive, because the hard drive will only come out when a company designs a game that requires it... Broadband and Dialup will be segregated however to counteract for the lag problem. And dialup users will not be able to have as many players in a game session at a time. However, some companies may or maynot decide to mix the different connections... Unlike Microsoft, Sony isn't putting any control on the online portion of their system, it's up to the game developers to program and maintain their own servers (if they use them). Most online games however will work via peer-to-peer. Kinda the way Gnotella technology works, in which each PS2 is a server/client.

I apologize for the double post, but since the Network adapter is now out, I would like to fully clearfy everything for those who do not know yet.

First of all, no hard drive has been released, it is not required for a dialup user. When the hard drive is released, you will have to put it in the expansion bay, but the network adapter will be required to use the hard drive (since it acts as a secondary adapter for the hard drive). Next, so far with the online games I have tried, things seem to be running somewhat smooth, however most of the game networks are not fully bug free, so sometimes you will find a 'check to make sure your adaptor is properly installed' (shame on you EA for making me disassemble the connection based on your false error message) or a 'connection dropped' message because of this. So far, the working game networks work as so. If you are dialup, you are connected to the 'dialup' server, in which you can chat and start games with other people, but the downside to dialup is that it is usually a much lower amount of players allowed per game. I think some games will allow up to 4 though. Once you set up your group of players, your systems sync up with each other in a direct link between only those systems (free from the game server) and you play againsed each other that way. Lag is only sometimes an issue, about half the games I played had a couple pauses during the whole game, the other half was flawless.

Unfortunately I don't have broadband so I cannot test that capability. Keep in mind you will need a memory card with about 135k free on it. I suggest you buy a sharkboard (or any plug-and-play usb keyboard should work) so that you may chat and type in regestration information much faster (no money, just screen names and passwords). Appearantly most game companies as I said will be offering their servers for free, except for companies running servers that will take heavy stress (like Squaresoft for Final Fantasy XI) due to the overwhelming amout of players and style in which the game is played.

Virtually any Internet Service will work with the Network Adapter, if you have a router and a broadband service, just add your PS2 to your home network and configure it for your service (or use the automatic setup). If you have dialup service with a special client (ex. AOL), just select your service in the adapter setup and enter your user information. If you have a dialup service with nothing but the standard PPP dialup networking, then just select other and enter the information in (you can copy it right off of your computer).

I would like to conclude this by saying that it is worth buying the network adapter even if you decide not to pay for FFXI because there are many other fun games out there that will surely be online capable. Happy gaming with friends and strangers!