PlayStation 2 hard drive unveiled

[06.08.00] » Perhaps the most stylish hard drive you may ever own.

    While its presence was confirmed at this past E3, no one had yet seen any signs of the PlayStation 2's hard drive - that is, until today. These first pictures of the unit show an exact match in design to the PS2 itself, even making use of the system's famed vertical stands. While the announcement was only for a "large capacity" and the release date was only clarified to be "this coming winter," Sony announced that both CATV and DSL networking will be supported alongside the basic Ethernet. The Japanese version of the drive will connect through the system's PCMCIA slot, which has been replaced in the US model with an "expansion slot" that was clearly designed to house this very unit.

    Sony is referring to the drive as the "HDD" (Hard Disk Drive) and touting many of the features that have been talked about since word first arrived of Nintendo's 64DD: additional levels, extra tracks, and downloading sports information. An interesting note was that the days of disc swapping may be gone, not simply because of the size of DVD-ROMs, but "since all the data can be pre-loaded on the HDD." Non-gaming applications were heavily mentioned as well, including "e-Distribution" of various kinds of digital content, along with connectivity with digital cameras and storage of digital video. Will these advancements "radically change the way we enjoy interactive content"? With the HDD, Sony is betting on it.

HDD - Hard Disk Drive Unit