More launch stuff...
Posted by @ 3:35 PM, EST
Gamespot kicked up some Ridge Racer V impressions.
Here’s a bit:

"I'm addicted. Just as the previous installments before it, Ridge Racer V has me hooked - big time. I spent the better part of yesterday afternoon exploring the game - trying different cars, different portions of the track, and different racing tactics. It has that perfect Ridge Racer feel that makes you want to play it again and again. Most of us anticipated that RRV would come out on top as the best game to own for the PlayStation2 at launch. In my opinion, there's no contest whatsoever - RRV is light years beyond any of the other launch games in terms of gameplay experience."
Full article + new movies

IGN also posted up some impressions of RRV. To check them out go here

Tim Horst, IGN’s foreign correspondent wrote up a lunch day report.
A slice:

"As far as units received by stores around Japan, the magic number seems to be in the 30s-40s. The Tsutaya Book/CD store where I reserved my PS2 got 37 units in. The small game store I reported on yesterday got 45. Convenience stores, like 7-11, touted as "the way" to get things from now on, had an average of six per store. No matter where I went, every store was sold out of units, and the clerks had no idea when they would receive their next shipments. Another item that flew off the shelves were the stands, both horizontal (what's the point?) and vertical (looks way cool)."
Full article

GIA posted some impressions of the PS2:
Some of it:

"Hooking the system up and switching it on, the boot-up sequence appears. The black screen fills with a blue smoke and grey boxes, as well as swirling lights. These lights zoom in and become part of the on-screen display, swirling and playing around in a circle. While the boot-up sequence is nice on its own, what makes it even nicer is the fact that it is all rendered real-time. After the boot, two choices appear on-screen: Browser and System Configuration. Selecting the latter causes the screen to morph once again, with more abstract shapes appearing. Five boxes appear in the forefront, each containing different options."
Full article

They also posted first impressions of Eternal Ring.
A bit:

"There are two kinds of unfinished games that get released. The first is a game that is rushed to the market, but hasn't been fully debugged. A recent, well-known example of this would be Sony's racer Gran Turismo 2, which shipped with only 98.2% of the game completable. The second kind of unfinished game is a game that has potential, but is rushed to the market lacking features that really should have been implemented. From Software's PS2 action RPG Eternal Ring fits the latter description perfectly.

"There are so many problems with Eternal Ring that it is hard to know where to start. A few hours into the game, play control is probably the biggest downfall so far. Sony's excellent Dual Shock 2 controller is used so very poorly here. The most glaring problem is the lack of analog control. In a first person game, the Dual Shock 2's twin analogue sticks are a perfect solution to the control problem: use one stick to move, the other to look around and strafe. From chose not to use either stick, and instead decided that the digital pad and L & R buttons would work just fine (hint: they don't). All of the human characters, including the main character, Kain, have exactly one speed: slow."
Full article


Movies
Gamespot posted an Armored Core 2 movie, it is the same that was shown at the PS festival but this one has better quality:
Movie (5.8 MB)
They also posted a few movies of From Software’s RPG, Eternal Ring:
Movie (3.6 MB)
Click here for more Eternal Ring movies.
Here's a new movie of Gran Turismo 2000:
Movie (1.7 MB)