My new system is...very nice…

Les and Rob were both VERY helpful in showing me how to set the system up from scratch, and doing the scary parts (like pushing down REALLY hard on the CPU to get the fan on)

But they DID laugh at me for having an AT-style keyboard on my old sytstem Hey..it was an original Northgate keyboard--with the ctrl key “left of the ‘A’ where God intended it to be.”

I dutifully ran the system through a series of performance tests (like cranking EQ’s graphic options all the way up and playing until 4am) and it performed beautifully.

Now I need to find a monitor that will support 1600x1200 without making me want to have a seizure due to flicker…

You’re the person I need to ask about a gaming console. I have a small inheritance coming to me and I really want to spend part of it on something like a Playstation 2.  However, looking at amazon.com, it’s not as simple as the old NES was.  I don’t know what to get.  I know I want MediEvil I & II, but what are the basics that I need on the PS2?  Or, should I waste money on that at all?  Any advice for a 41 year old game luddite?

Well, I have a PS2 and I enjoy it quite a bit. It really depends on what kind of gamer you are. There’s certainly nothing wrong with the XBox or the GameCube, but there hasn’t been anything on either of those systems that has made them a must buy for me yet. Just about everything that has come out for the XBox that I wanted badly has also been released for the PC.

That said, if you’re going to pick up a PS2 there are two packages to choose from at this point. One with and one without the PS2 Network Adapter. If you think you’re going to play games over the Net with it any time soon then spend the extra bucks to buy the one that has the adapter already in it ($199). The console itself comes with only one controller so if you want to do two player games then you’ll need to buy an extra controller. Also you’ll need to buy a memory card to save games on. Here’s the the catch on memory cards: If you’re playing an older PS1 title like MediEvil I & II are then you have to use the PS1 Memory Cards to save your game. If you buy the newer PS2 memory cards those will only work with PS2 games. This means if you want to play both PS1 and PS2 games you’ll need a memory card for each type. For someone like me who also owned a PS1 that’s not a big deal cause I can just use my old ones, but if you’re starting from scratch it can make a difference.

So, at minimum, you’ll want the PS2, possibly an extra controller, at least one memory card and a game to play on it. So if you bought the PS2 with the network adapter ($199) and an extra controller ($24.99) and a PS2 memory card ($24.88) and one game, say like Jak II, your total would be $288.86 from Amazon.

If you just bought the PS2 without the adapter ($179.99) and MediEvil I and II, which appear to only be available used at this point ($9.95 and $10.95) and an PS1 memory card ($14.88) your total would be $215.77 from Amazon.

Feel free to drop me an email with any other questions you might have.

I’m just gonna save your response.  That answered everything.  Thank you!