PlayStation 2 hard drive Japanese date, software support confirmed

[07.04.01] » Jade Cocoon II, Final Fantasy X to make use of unit.

   Sony Computer Entertainment yesterday officially announced a release date and price for the PlayStation 2 hard drive. The peripheral will ship on July 17th in Japan in two different versions. SCPH-10210 is a 19,000 yen ($152 US) external version for older PS2 consoles. SCPH-10260 will retail for 18,000 yen ($144 US) and is an internal unit designed only for the new SCPH-30000 and SCPH-35000GT models. Both hard drive models will have a storage capcity of 40 gigabytes.

   Eight released and upcoming games have been confirmed as supporting the unit. The titles are Artdink's train sim A-Train 2001 (already released), Gust's anime RPG Atelier Lilie (also already released), Final Fantasy X, Train Kit for A-Train 2001, Jade Cocoon II, Capcom vs. SNK 2, Beatmania II DX 5th Style, and the Guitar Freaks / Drummania combination GitaDora. All but the A-Train titles will simply use the hard drive to speed loading; A-Train 2001's support for the peripheral includes data exchange with the Train Kit and the ability to take snapshots.

   The PlayStation 2 hard drive was announced for a North American release at E3, but no date for its release has been set yet. There's also been no word yet on whether the English releases of FF X and Jade Cocoon II will still include support for the peripheral.