PS2 HDD Question

theflicker

theflicker

CAGiversary!
I just got a PS2 fat from the $20 off sale at GS. I have a quick question that I'm hoping someone can answer.

I'm interested in grabbing a HDD and was wondering how it can be used for game saves, not copies of games mind you.

I read that some later games, or so it was believed, would allow direct saving to the hdd. Is there a list out there or some general cutoff date for that?

I also understand that for earlier games you would need a memory card to transfer saves to the hdd. Can the saves then reside on the hdd, or do you have to move them back to a memory card to access them for these games?

Thanks a lot for any help you guys can provide. I'm hopping into the PS2 scene about a decade late and most searches for this info turn up hacking sites or info on what hdd's can be swapped into the unit.
 
Well officially I'm pretty sure you have to use a memory card.

I keep all of my files on the HDD and move them to a card when I want to play the game.

Some games allow you to install to the HDD to decrease load times, but that's all I know of.
 
Wikipedia has a list of games that use the HDD. A few Japanese games, like Xenosaga, allowed you to save to the HDD rather than the memory card, and a lot of other games installed content to the HDD to decrease loading times. Very few USA releases take advantage of the HDD at all.
 
I think it's a shame that Sony abandoned the PS2 hard drive. It was ahead of its time when they introduced it, but given how long the PS2 has stayed alive and popular, I bet there are a lot of current and future users who would love HDD features. I'm one anyway.
 
So many of Sony's decisions seem to have been based on the assumption that every PS2 user would just instantly trade up to a PS3. They were right that consumers would be more ready for console hard drives in 2006 than they were in 2004... they just didn't think the PS2 would still be around. If they had envisioned the PS2 thriving into 2008 and beyond, I'm sure they would have kept the HDD around and let support for it build gradually.
 
Thanks everyone for all of your responses. Looks like I'm really going to need that HDD Utility Disc if/when I do grab a hdd.

It sounds like the hdd is really only good for backing up saves, which is too bad as I was hoping to forego memory cards. Right now, I think the sum total for all of the games I have would only take up 3MB!

Also, it sucks the way that most NA releases had their hdd support taken out when they came over.

Eh, maybe it'll come in ahndy when I grab SF: Anthology.
 
Meh if you are concern about memory card disc space you can just pick up codebreker and you can copy all your save to a usb drive.
 
I've been looking for a copy of the Utility Disc for a while, but to no avail. So, if you happen to find a place to get them, let me know. ;)

Worst part is that mine was working, but I corrupted it by having to turn the PS2 off when the RE:Outbreak install froze. Blah.
 
[quote name='Ryuukishi']So many of Sony's decisions seem to have been based on the assumption that every PS2 user would just instantly trade up to a PS3. They were right that consumers would be more ready for console hard drives in 2006 than they were in 2004... they just didn't think the PS2 would still be around. If they had envisioned the PS2 thriving into 2008 and beyond, I'm sure they would have kept the HDD around and let support for it build gradually.[/quote]

It took me forever to upgrade to the PS3, but I would've loved to have had a HDD in the PS2 from the factory(ala the Xbox), but to me it seemed like Sony was nickel and diming you last gen.

Wanna play with more than 2 people? Get a multitap. Both the GC and Xbox had 4 ports built in. Wanna save your games? The Xbox had you covered from the start, while the GC and PS2 required memory cards.

Why the hell the Xbox didn't do better last gen is beyond me, since it was supposedly more powerful than the PS2 and you didn't have to pay $25-30 for a friggin' memory card or multitap.

Personally though, I still miss Sega as a manufacturer of hardware.
 
[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer']It took me forever to upgrade to the PS3, but I would've loved to have had a HDD in the PS2 from the factory(ala the Xbox), but to me it seemed like Sony was nickel and diming you last gen.

Wanna play with more than 2 people? Get a multitap. Both the GC and Xbox had 4 ports built in. Wanna save your games? The Xbox had you covered from the start, while the GC and PS2 required memory cards.

Why the hell the Xbox didn't do better last gen is beyond me, since it was supposedly more powerful than the PS2 and you didn't have to pay $25-30 for a friggin' memory card or multitap.

Personally though, I still miss Sega as a manufacturer of hardware.[/QUOTE]

Actually the hdd was the biggest problem with the original xbox. It added to manufacturing cost that the other console didnt have to deal with. Which is also why MS made X360 available without hdd. But the Sega was the first to use battery for game save on CD system. the problem was that on system memory fills up too fast (Dragon Force takes up ton of space) and you have to remember to change it
 
True. But the PS2 memory cards were $30 each, which I didn't have to spend when I got my Xbox @ $149 in 2005. So, even though MS lost money, it was a boon for many players since they didn't have to pay for a memory card(or a multitap), which saved them $60 or more over Sony's PS2.

To me, that's the whole reason I picked up the Xbox, aside from having had issues with my Sony consoles last gen.
 
Yes, other ways to format it in the not-so-legal way. Sure, if I want to load games off the HDD, that's great, but all I want it to do is what it's SUPPOSED to do (which, I realize, isn't much).

From what I've read, the programs you reference don't help, you'd still need the official disc.
 
There is legal free utility that can be used to back up save games to hard drive or USB flash drive, but you would still need a way to run the program.
 
If you just want to backup game saves you can use Codebreaker and a USB thumb drive to do that, but that's not what he's asking about. No, there is no reason to have an HDD if you are going to stick to what Sony would prefer you to do with it, which is basically nothing. However, I really doubt that Sony will care if you put your own, purchased games on the HDD and run them that way. I mean if you asked they'd say not to do it, but they'd never do anything about it. Why should they? If you had illegally copied games on the drive, though, that would be a different story. Just don't do that. The benefits of running your games from the HDD are fabulous. Much faster load times, all your games in a menu, your original discs don't get scratched.
 
[quote name='crunchewy'].... The benefits of running your games from the HDD are fabulous. Much faster load times, all your games in a menu, your original discs don't get scratched.[/QUOTE]

Totally agree. Another benefit is longer life for your PS2. My fat PS2 is still going strong and I'm sure that the laser getting very little use is part of that.

I can't tell you how many times I've read complaints about load times and then when I've played the game from the HDD there were no load time issues at all.
 
You also need a Network Adapter plug in the HDD at the back. They are pretty expensive on eBay, I'm still looking for a reasonably priced one.
 
Network adapters are readily available used at gamestop. Or at least that's where I got mine and I see them there all the time. Works great.
 
I'm lucky I stumbled across a network adapter for cheap way back when. I think I payed around $6.XX. Anyhow, I couldn't get a file for my saves when I first picked up the official HDD and found that Metal Saga actually saves directly to the HDD. Thus a file was created which helped me transfer saves between my memory and HDD. It helped me free up a lot of room. I'd say the HDD is handy to have...though too bad it wasn't expanded upon.
 
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