PS2 Action Replay Adds MP3, DivX, Genesis Emulation

Thanks to 1UP for its article discussing the forthcoming, impressively feature-rich Action Replay Max for PlayStation 2. This Sony-unapproved third-party USB drive/CD combo includes the ability to "burn a CD of MP3 music, DivX video, or Genesis/Mega Drive ROMs [on your PC], which will then play back on an Action Replay-equipped PS2", and, similar to previous versions, "...will circumvent the PS2's DVD region lockout, and also stream MP3 music or DivX video from a PC connected to the PS2 by way of its Network Adaptor." In addition, the device can "download new cheat codes through a broadband Internet connection, or accept new codes loaded on a CD-R or Datel's own USB flash drive", and finally, Datel "has also added its PS2 online chat and instant messaging client to the Action Replay package."

Comments

Any idea if it fixes the HDD problem?

[KyolFrilander]

When Sony released the HDD, one of the updates is a service patch that makes unofficial discs like everything that Datel uses take about six times longer to launch.

Legitimate games take 20 seconds. The AR MAX takes 120. Take out the drive, and the AR MAX takes around 20 again.

But if you ask Datel about this, they say "oh no, there's no problem, it works fine, you're obviously imagining things."

I wonder if this update does anything for that. Lord knows you can't conveniently remove the HDD every time you don't want to use it, and a 2 minute boot is obscene, especially since the codes are kinda still crashy. Bleah. Hopefully there's an update program. :)