PlayStation 2 Expansion Bay

The PlayStation 2 Expansion Bay is a 3.5" drive bay introduced with the model 30000 and 50000 PlayStation 2 (replacing the PCMCIA slot used in the models 10000, 15000, and 18000, and no longer present as of the model 70000) designed for the network adaptor and internal hard disk drive (HDD). These peripherals enhance the capabilities of the PS2 to allow online play and other features and were shown at E³ 2001.

Network adaptor

The network adaptor was released on July 19, 2001 in Japan (together with the Hard disk drive) , in August 2002 in North America and in June 2003 in Europe. It features a modem and an Ethernet jack for dial-up or broadband Internet connections. The European version does not have the modem connector. A start-up disc is included with the Network Adaptor and installs a file on the memory card for connection settings which are accessible by all but one Network Adaptor compatible game. "Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3" was released in November 2001 and supported the Network Adaptor hardware, but not the software as it was not finalised until much later.

The Slim-line range of the PS2 has an Ethernet jack built-in, eliminating the need for this accessory.

Hard disk drive

The hard disk drive (HDD) was released on July 19, 2001 in Japan (together with the Network Adaptor) and on March 23, 2004 in North America. It requires the Network Adaptor to connect to the PlayStation 2 and to receive power. The HDD has a 40 GB capacity that can be used by games to reduce load time by putting data on the hard drive temporarily, or back up memory card data. Due to MagicGate copyright protection, programs that are bootable directly from the HDD (ex. PlayStation Broadband Navigator, PlayOnline Viewer, Pop'n Music Puzzle-dama Online) are keyed to the system when that system installs them. The HDD can be transferred to another PlayStation 2 system and files on the HDD can be accessed, but those specific programs cannot be booted without being reinstalled. Contrary to popular belief, a complete reformat of the HDD is not necessary upon transfer of the HDD between consoles, or else it would not be useful to have the HDD be preformatted and have preinstalled software, as is the case with the North American HDD unit. A HDD Utility Disc is included to allow maintenance of the HDD and in North America, Final Fantasy XI is also included. Currently, only eight North American games support the HDD.

Unofficial software called HD Loader allows the user to copy entire games to the HDD and running them without the discs. While some argue that this improves performance and protects the potentially fragile discs, especially from young children, others claim that this only encourages piracy as rented games can be copied and kept forever (see rental piracy).

As of December 2004, it is widely believed that Sony is no longer interested in supporting the hard drive. The new slimline model of PlayStation 2, which replaced the older, larger model in November 2004, is not capable of using the hard drive and while Sony has stated they are investigating alternatives, it is thought that none will be forthcoming due to the relatively late date in the product's life cycle. The absence of support for the HDD in the PS2 also means that "Final Fantasy XI" can only be played on older PlayStation 2s. Sony's public response at the time of the introduction of the PS2 (in mid-2004) was that "the more hardcore [HDD-interested] gamers...already have their PlayStation 2 units," according to a company statement. Also, some projects (like [http://www.hdcombo.com/ HDCOMBO] ) allows the use of an external hard disk drive on slimline PS2 models.

North American Releases with HDD Support

*"Final Fantasy XI" is the only North American game truly dependent on the HDD as it requires various patches and upgrades from Square Enix.
*"" supports additional maps, downloadable via the in game "Socom Store" used to be $5.99 until the third pack was released late March 2008, now all three are free.
*"" supports additional maps, however the files must be copied from a magazine demo disc to the hard drive and cannot be downloaded.
*"" (Both File #1 and File #2) installs 1 GB to the HDD for reduced loading times.
*"ESPN NFL 2K5" and "ESPN NBA 2K5" use the HDD to improve replays. (If the HDD is not installed, static screen shots are shown as replays. With the HDD, full cutscene-like replays can be displayed.). ESPN NHL 2K5 has the ability to save files directly to the hard drive.
*"RPG Maker 3" installs 3 GB to the HDD to decrease load time.
*2K Sports's "NBA 2K6" and "Major League Baseball 2K6" also use the HDD to display recorded replays from game action. Without it, stills are shown in "NBA 2K6" (during halftime and the end of the game) and no end-of-inning replays are shown in "Major League Baseball 2K6".
*"Metal Saga" installs to the HDD to decrease load time and uses the HDD to save/load game instead of Memory Card
*"Street Fighter Alpha Anthology", like its Japanese counterpart, can install 2 GB to the HDD to reduce loading time.

Japanese Releases with HDD Support

*"Final Fantasy X" (and "Final Fantasy X International") installs a 1,664 megabyte file to the HDD to decrease load times
*"Kingdom Hearts" (and "Kingdom Hearts Final Mix") installs a 1,280 megabyte file to the HDD to decrease load times.
*"Xenosaga Episode 1" installs a 1,792 megabyte file to the HDD to decrease load times. It allows the game to be saved to and loaded from the HDD instead of a Memory Card.
*"PlayOnline Viewer" fully installs to the HDD so that it can be patched/updated, currently using 1 gigabyte. It is used to boot "Final Fantasy XI", "Front Mission Online", "Tetra Master", and "JongHowLo".
*"Tetra Master" fully installs to the HDD so that it can be patched/updated, currently using 128 megabytes. It comes with "Final Fantasy XI".
*"JongHowLo" fully installs to the HDD so that it can be patched/updated, currently using 256 megabytes. It comes with "Final Fantasy XI".
*"Final Fantasy XI" (and the "Rise of the Zilart" and "Chains of Promathia" expansions) fully installs to the HDD so that it can be patched/updated. Uses 8,192 megabytes, with both expansions installed, as of March 7th, 2005.
*"Unlimited Saga" installs a 3,072 megabyte file to the HDD to decrease load times.
*"Energy Airforce" Allows playback of music that is stored on the HDD while playing the game instead of listening to the music that is built into the game. (requires PlayStation Broadband Navigator 0.20 or higher)
*"3D Fighting School 2" allows the game to be saved to and loaded from the HDD instead of a Memory Card.
*"Dark Chronicle" (aka "Dark Cloud 2") installs a 1,536 megabyte file to the HDD to decrease load times. The Asia version also supports the HDD (most Asia versions of games have HDD support removed).
*"Capcom vs. SNK 2" installs to the HDD to decrease load times and allows the game to be saved to and loaded from the HDD instead of a Memory Card.
*"Zettai Zetsumai Toshi" (aka "Disaster Report") installs to the HDD to decrease load times and allows the game to be saved to and loaded from the HDD instead of a Memory Card.
*"Soulcalibur II" installs to the HDD to decrease load times.
*"" (and the Director's Cut) installs to the HDD to decrease load times. Installation also reduces occurrences of a game crashing glitch that is known to happen on the first batch of discs when played on model 1x000 PS2s.
*"Pop'n Taisen Puzzle-dama Online" Installation to the HDD is required to play. The game boots from PSBBN or HDD Utility Disc and does not require the disc or a registration code, making it a very unusual case of HDD support, as it has no anti-piracy protection to prevent the disc from being passed around in a group of people.
*"DJ Box" Sony Computer Entertainment's MP3 DJ mixing program requires the hard drive for MP3 storage. Also you can save your own DJ mixes that you make with the game to the hard drive.
*"Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII" requires the hard drive for online play. The game uses Square-Enix's PlayOnline service, which needs the hard drive so you can install the online interface. Square-Enix also plans to patch the game with the aid of the hard drive.
*"Romancing SaGa Minstrel's Song" installs a 5,120 megabyte file to the HDD to decrease load times.
*"Shin Sangoku Musou 3" installs a 512 megabyte file to the HDD to decrease load times.
*"Shin Sangoku Musou 3 Moushouden " installs a 1 gigabyte file to the HDD to decrease load times.
*"Street Fighter ZERO Fighter's Generation" installs a 2 gigabyte file to the HDD to decrease loading time.

Linux kit

"Main article: PS2 Linux"

The Linux Kit for PlayStation 2 was released in 2002 and included the PlayStation 2 Linux software, keyboard, mouse, VGA adapter (which requires an RGB monitor with sync-on-green), Network Adaptor (Ethernet only) and a 40 GB hard disk drive. It allows the PlayStation 2 to be used as a personal computer.

External links

* [http://www.us.playstation.com/peripherals.aspx?id=SCPH-10281 Network Adaptor official site]
* [http://playstation2-linux.com/ PlayStation 2 Linux]