PS2HDL: In Loving Memory

The definition. Like, the once-Mecca of Philippine videogames.

I can still clearly remember the day when the path of my life first crossed with PS2HDL. It was a dreary Saturday morning, and my PS2 fat was on the fritz again (the lens needed a little cleaning). Resignedly, I lugged the old girl over to the pre-fire Virra Mall to get it fixed. Not trusting the nasty fellows over at WenGem (at that time, they had already become pretty notorious for swapping out old parts into units sent in for repair) and not wanting to pay the huge prices Tonton charged over at GameStuff, I happened upon a small, innocuous store on the second floor called EYO Sales. I decided to give it a shot, and while the shop staff went through the process of checking out the defective unit (in plain view pa, para walang duda) the friendly, smiling Chinese man behind the counter struck up a conversation with me. Turns out he was the proprietor of the store, and he wanted to know: was I interested in having a PS2 that ran games exclusively from the hard drive? Thankfully, I said yes, and I walked out of the store with my wallet Php 5,500.00 lighter and my PS2 loaded for bear. Yeah, Eric really did a number on my wallet that day (especially considering I was still a student then) but what I got in return was totally worth the cash I gave him, and to this day, when any of my gaming equipment breaks down, I leave my beloved, overpriced pieces of technology in the care of good old Eric Ong.

Anyway, before I discuss further, I'd like to give a short primer on PS2HDL for those who may not know what it is. HDLoader is the name of a program that plays on a PS2 that basically allows you to run games off the system's hard drive. (The PS2 Slim has no hard drive port, which makes it incompatible with HDLoader; this is why PS2 fat models have higher resale value than slims.) This is usually the recommended option for gamers whose PS2 lenses have stopped reading DVD's but can still read CD's - you burn the program to a regular compact disc. (For the less fortunate souls whose PS2 lens has totally broken, it is also possible to launch HD Loader from a memory card, although this is considerably more difficult to do, and requires that your nerd skillz be Better Than The Average Bear.)

The program requires that you have access to a PS2 compatible hard drive, like a Maxtor (I'm not sure what the upper limit was - 300GB? I'm not sure) and obviously an original Sony Network Adaptor, which is what you use to connect the PS2 fat to the hard disk. You can't play online or anything (games like SOCOM will crash), as the NA merely serves as a very expensive "cable" that allows the program to work. Basically, it's the bulky predecessor to the PSP's firmware hack - the one that allows you to play games off the memory stick. Also, note that HDLoader doesn't necessarily have to be used for piracy (although that's what a whole lot of people use it for) - you can install your legitimate games to the hard disk with no issues or glitches propping up.

I hope that clears things up. :-) Moving on, why did I love this mod so much?

Even Borat approves of PS2HDL. You can trust Borat!

Firstly, as any reader of EFR knows, I'm a pretty big gamer, and my brother plays a lot as well. This puts undue stress on the consoles and handhelds we have in the house, and I'm very paranoid with regards to wear and tear on our systems, especially disc-based ones like PlayStations. With PS2HDL, we could now leave the lovable black box on for days on end without worrying about the useless thing conking out. (Up until this day, I still consider PS3 games that install large amounts of game data or the whole game to the hard drive - like Unreal Tournament 3, Arkham Asylum and Oblivion - to be easier to play for long amounts of time because of the reduced wear on the disc drive lens.)

Countless NBA 2K5 grudges were settled using PS2HD.

Playing a heated game of NBA 2K but the parental units forcing you to break for lunch? Playing through an engrossing RPG, with a save point nowhere within the next country mile? No problem, just leave the damn thing on! PS2HDL allowed me to engage in epic gaming marathons without the nagging feeling that I was wrecking my console - I clearly remember doing a start-to-finish Resident Evil 4 run on that thing. It was glorious! Just think - using PS2HDL resulted in a console that is, for all intents and purposes, immortal. There are no moving parts to break, and when the hard drive eventually fails due to overuse (which will take quite some time) you can just chuck it and slide in a new one.

PS2HD somehow made damn-near-perfect games even better!

Another huge benefit of PS2HDL was how it greatly reduced load time. I'm a huge RPG fan, and one thing I really can't stand is incessant disc reading times because they make random (or semi-random) battles that much more annoying. (Even great games, like Persona 3, suffered from this glaring flaw. And I tested it on a brand new PS2 Slim, so don't tell me it was because I was testing it on an old lens.) Yes, PS2HDL cut into loading time by a significant amount, and it made for less waiting around and more gaming, which is inarguably a good thing.

Lastly, PS2HDL offered convenience. All the games currently on my playlist, accessible at the touch of a button! The huge hard drive sizes also left me plenty of space left over to hoard multiplayer games (you know, the ones you tend to break out only when friends come over, like Street Fighter and TimeSplitters) and timeless classics that I want to try and revisit. It also greatly improved the console's portability - if I was going on an extended road trip, or visiting a friend's house, all I would have to lug along was the PS2 itself, no disc games required.

This game had to be forced to cooperate. Thank God for patches!

Sure, PS2HDL had its own share of inconveniences - when Sony and the rest of the big shots like Square Enix caught on to the concept of PS2HD (which could allow Americans to rent games legitimately then burn the ISO for to use for an unlimited amount of time using WinHIIP) newer big games began having "mysterious conflicts" with the software, requiring patches or a total OS update in order to play off the hard drive. But it was always worth the effort in the end... I have fond memories of playing FFXII until I puked Gambits.

So where IS my PS2HDL unit? Having given Persona 4 the business, I have no use for it at the moment, so I lent it to my little cousin so he could experience the joy of having a veritable gaming buffet at his fingertips. The younger generation deserves to play those games, and enjoy them as we once did.

But someday, I'll dig up the old component cable, pick the scratched, dusty old warrior back up, and relive the joys of a generation where HD didn't mean high definition...

... it meant hard disk.