As Sony's new machine finally gets a release in Japan, the import scene looks set to reach a new peak, although maybe not at launch. March 4 PlayStation2 pricing at most importers is practically criminal. If you're hoping to purchase a Japanese PlayStation2, which may well be a good idea, it's recommended that you wait a few weeks so that prices can settle down to somewhere in the regions of reasonableness. The launch line-up may not particularly appeal to the western eye, but a heap of quality titles will appear. An impressive aspect of PlayStation2 is the in-built DVD player. Fortunately, Japan and the UK are in the same region as far as DVDs are concerned. This means UK DVDs will be playable on a Japanese PlayStation2 from day one, which is even more reason to go for a Japanese machine.

N64
A few UK importers finally managed to get hold of the extremely rare 64DDs (released in Japan just before New Year). Packaged software ranges from the obscure (Talent Maker) to the ingenious (Doshin The Giant). Quite how Nintendo plan to shape the future of the N64 add-on is uncertain; software support is practically dead on arrival, and as only 100,000 64DDs were released it will most likely become more of a collector's item than a major format. Quality N64 releases are becoming scarcer and scarcer but the release list issued recently for 2000 is a mixture of both quality and trash, and outstanding titles such as Perfect Dark really prove that N64 still has something to offer.

The Game Boy is recognised as Nintendo's top format now though, and with the way Pokémon continually sells, it's easy to see why. Hopefully Nintendo will be able to bring in the Dolphin soon - maybe even this year on import - and, along with Dreamcast, provide some serious competition to Sony.

N.B.
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