Playstation is a product of Sony Computer Entertainment, first there was Playstation, then Playstation 2 - currently the latest playstation console - and I would say the PS-2 is slightly better and much more popular than it’s microsoft counterpart - the XBOX.
The current scene is that the latest xbox console - the xbox360 was released in December ’ 05, and the next playstation the PS-3, would be out probably in April ’ 06, both of these new consoles will be amazingly expensive ~($400 / Rs.18000), but due to the impending release of the new consoles, xbox/PS-2 prices have gone down comfortably and also the games for xbox/PS-2 have become much cheaper now.
Also, the latest version of PS-2 is the ’’slim’’ version ( the PS2-’’slim’’), I guess it’s no different from PS-2, just that it looks very sleek...and I also think the ’’slim’’ is the only version available now. And if you’re one for colours, well the PS-2 comes in ’Black’ (for mere mortals) and ’Silver’ (a bit more expensive, just for the colour!) , there’s also ’Aqua’ which was given a special release in India. So if you’re looking for a PS-2, you would be looking for ’’a PS-2 slim in charcoal black’’ or ’’a PS-2 slim in silver’’.
I find PS-2 games very engrossing and I would say the best package right now would be to go for a PS-2 console and some good games depending on your taste, you would also get a lot of ’pre-owned’ games for PS-2 right now, this is not a bad deal if you can check the game before you buy, because you’re essentially getting a CD/DVD, so there’s really nothing that changes with use (of course, that’s if the ’pre-owned’ DVD has not been used for playing ’frisbee’ in the park!)
Now...the important stuff....Sony Entertainment (and most other companies) use ’Geographical’ marketing, their prices for products are suited to particular geographies (the reason why the PS2 is much more expensive in India). For the PS-2, Sony has 3 technical geographies - ’Japan’, ’US’ and ’Europe’, they make the PS-2 so that the software for PS-2 cannot be used interchangeably (because the same game might be much more cheaper in US than Europe). Also Japan and US are the ’NTSC’ versions of the PS-2 and the Europe version is the ’PAL’ version. I was able to find, from the Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) website, that India is a ’PAL’ territory. https://scee.com/about/territory.jhtml
So it is important that you keep in mind that your PS-2 should work on Indian TVs (I think all Indian TVs support ’NTSC’ now) and also PS-2 games that you buy later on should be compatible with it.
There is a way to bypass all this crap - https://modchip.com , or google for ’PS2 mod chip’, which am sure would be very popular and easily available ín the US, however I think getting your PS-2 ’’chipped’’ voids the warranty! Also, it would be a nice idea to check what format PS-2 games are available in India (the games available in Europe have ’PAL’ written on the cover) .
So now...your PS-2 specs would be something like ’’PS-2 slim in charcoal black - ’chipped’ to play ’import’ games’’
In addition, PS-2 ’off-the-shelf’ comes with just one controller and no memory card (this is very important!), you need a memory card (8 MB is standard and should be enough), to save your progress in a game. On the back cover of the games you buy for your PS-2 - where the game specs are written, you can also see the minimum space the game needs to make one save (~100KB is standard), of course games like ’GTA-San Andreas’ need around 500KB per save :-)
In conclusion, You can also use the PS-2 to watch DVDs (PS2 DVD player is not ’universal’ and would be coded to the region from where you buy it), A PS-2 bought in Europe can only play DVDs that are marked ’ALL regions’ or ’Region 2 - Europe’, of course I think the modchip takes care of this as well, or google for ’ps2 dvd all regions’. And keep in mind that, for playing DVDs, it is not necassary to buy the DVD remote-control, you can use the regular PS-2 controller to play your DVD.
When you buy the memory card and extra controller (for multi-player games like racing and football), and maybe the DVD remote control, try to get them in one pack, as the total cost would be much more if you buy them separately.
Well...I guess that’s about it, welcome to serious gaming and may the force be with you. :-)