I returned the PS2 I rented last night.

My verdict on the platform, thus far:

- The platform itself rocks! I'm extremely impressed with the graphics capabilities of the system.

- The sound didn't impress me at all... nothing jumped out at me as being extraordinary. That said, I don't actually care much about the sound. It was good enough, as good as any other viable console.

- I hope the games I rented aren't a sign of things to come for this console. What I found, overall, was that the games were high on glitz and low on substance.

Examples:

- NHL 2001...

As I mentioned before, it sets a new standard in what you should expect from a sports game, graphically and cinematically. However, the cinematics became predictable and annoying quite quickly. It made me wanting more and thinking what they could have done.

The gameplay was great, if you played another person. Playing against the computer was a total nightmare, the balance is totally screwed. I won't dig into that rant right now, suffice it to say the game balance in NHL 2001 on the PSX is 10x better in comparison.

NHL '97 was much better on the PC and Genesis(?) NHL '97 was on the PSX. I couldn't give the same margin of victory to NHL 2001 on the PSX over NHL 2001 on the PS2.

- SSX...

This game totally rocks, I understand why it's getting huge accolades. I almost decided to buy a PS2 just for this game, but I think I'd tire of it quickly enough and it'd be cheaper to just rent the console a couple more times to get to that point.

- Tekken Tag Tournament

Apparently quite faithful to the arcade version in playability, and the graphics and scenery are much better according to a friend of mine who played TTT with me.

However, I thought this game was a MINOR incremental improvement over previous versions, and was a disappointment for a premier PS2 title.

I yearn for Battle Arena Toshinden for the PS2 which I feel is a much more fun game to play.

...

The bottom line:

I'm not getting a PS2... yet. Maybe next spring or summer. I'm not waiting for the arrival of the GameCube, or Xbox (shudder), but for more games to validate this platform.