Great news for PS2 owners

[psx_paul]

http://www.hdloader.com/

Looks like they are on pre-order from www.divineo.co.uk

Utilizing exciting new technology, HDLoader allows you to install and run your Playstation 2™ games directly from a hard disk drive connected to your console (Sony PS2 Network adapter™ and compatible hard disk drive required).

Enhance Your Gaming Experience

The Playstation 2™ is capable of reading data from a hard disk drive much faster than it can read from a CD or DVD. Using HDLoader to run your games from a hard disk drive leads to significantly reduced game loading times. Never again will you need to endure painfully slow loading times which plague so many games!

HDLoader makes gaming more convenient by allowing you to store your games on a hard disk drive, eliminating the need to change discs each time you wish to play a different game.

Simple and Attractive Graphical Interface

HDLoader’s user interface is designed with simplicity in mind – boot up HDLoader and begin playing your games without wasting any time navigating through a complex user interface.

The intuitive user interface allows easy management of games currently installed on your hard disk drive. Add or remove games with the push of a button.

The interface is multi-lingual. Use HDLoader in your own language.

Excellent Compatibility

HDLoader offers excellent compatibility with your games – over 95% of games work flawlessly when running from your hard disk drive.

HDLoader is compatible with both standard IDE hard disk drives and the official Playstation 2™ hard disk drive.

[VIPER_1069]

excellent news paul lemme know what they are like bud lol

[Markbot]

If you don't know what it is check it out here. http://www.hdloader.com/

In a nut shell, it is a PS2 boot disc that allows to copy your legally owned PS2 games to a hard drive in your PS2.

I got my hands on one of the disks this weekend and had the chance to play around with it some. This is what I learned:

It will not copy backups to the hard drive unless you have a modchip in the PS2. We tried this with an unmodded and a modded PS2.

Western Digital hard drives definitely will not connect properly. Maxtor worked just fine.

We tested it with a 60GB Maxtor that had previously been formatted NTFS. It took the HDloader about 5 seconds to do the FAT format.

CD-R and DVD-R backups were copied to the HD using the modded PS2. They worked fine. Then the HD was placed in the unmodded PS2 and they also worked fine.

It takes 30 seconds to install the HD and network adapter.

I tried to make a backup of the HDloader disc to see if a copy would work in a modded PS2. It has a visible ring in the middle of the disc which is a CD. I tried using Alcohol "ringprotect" copy mode unsuccessfully.

This has the potential to be a pretty cool tool to copy your games to a hard drive and then only have to fool with one disc.

There are some incompatibilities with some games though. Read the How To and FAQ on their website for details.

Cost = roughly $40 for HDloader disc + HD + network adapter