PlayStation 2 Expansion Bay
The PlayStation 2 Expansion Bay is a 3.5" drive bay designed for the network adaptor and internal hard disk drive (HDD). These peripherals enhance the capabilities of the PlayStation 2 to allow online play and other features and were shown at E3 2001.
Network Adaptor
The Network Adaptor was released in August 2002 in North America and features a modem and an Ethernet jack for dial-up or broadband internet connections. A startup 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 finalized until much later.
Hard Disk Drive
The Hard Disk Drive (HDD) was released on March 23, 2004 in North America. It requires the Network Adaptor only to connect to the PlayStation 2 and to receive power. The HDD is a 40 GB hard drive that can be used to reduce load times by installation to the HDD or to back up memory card data. Once an HDD is installed into a PlayStation 2 system, due to MagicGate copyright protection, it cannot be moved to another PlayStation 2 system without reformatting the hard drive. A HDD Utility disc is included to allow maintainence of the HDD and in North America, Final Fantasy XI is also included. Currently, only four games support the HDD.
- Final Fantasy XI is the only game dependent on the HDD as it requires various patches and upgrades from Square Enix.
- SOCOM II will offer new downloadable content such as new levels or weapons.
- NFL 2K5 uses the HDD for making replays of an entire game.
Linux Kit
The Linux Kit for PlayStation 2 was released in 2002 and included the PlayStation 2 Linux software, keyboard, mouse, VGA adapter (which requires a monitor), Network Adaptor (Ethernet only) and a 40 GB hard disk drive. An 8 MB memory card dedicated to Linux is required to run Linux. The Linux Kit turns the PlayStation 2 into a full fledged computer system, but does not allow for use of the DVD-ROM drive. Although the HDD included with the Linux Kit is not compatible with PlayStation 2 games, reformatting the HDD with the utility disc provided with the retail HDD enables use with PlayStation 2 games. Also, since the Network Adaptor included with the kit only features ethernet, a driver download is available to enable modem support.
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