Posting-frequency: every 7 days
Last-modified: Wed Jun 11 2003


Uk.Games.Video.Playstation
Newsgroup FAQ and Posting Guidelines

------------------------------

Subject: 1. Introduction

What the heck is this ?

Well, its a brief document detailing why the newsgroup exists, why it
should be better than the other Playstation groups, and how we can
keep it that way. Additionally it attempts to answer frequently asked
questions about the newsgroup and answers some questions that are
frequently asked on the newsgroup, that would otherwise be ... erm
frequently asked.

What doesn't this FAQ cover?

It doesn't cover technical questions about individual playstation
software, or questions about how to cheat or get help with specific
games. If you need those kind of answers then check out the various
resources mentioned in Sections 8 and 9.

------------------------------

Subject: 2. Contents

1. Introduction
2. Contents
3. Why u.g.v.p?
4. What is on-topic?
5. What is off-topic?
6. Should I crosspost?
7. Where can I read about General Netiquette?
8. Where can I find cheats, codes and walkthroughs?
9. Where can I find answers to technical questions?
10. Where can I find out the latest release dates?
11. What is the Charter?
12. How is the Charter maintained?
13. Who are the charter posters?
14. What is an Advert?
15. Is making backup copies of my games Illegal?
16. Are there alternative playstation newsgroups?

------------------------------

Subject: 3. Why u.g.v.p?

u.g.v.p. came into being because many of us felt that the existing
Playstation newsgroups had become so full of childish advocacy,
piracy, adverts, binary posts, and general noise that there was no
point in subscribing to them. This group is designed for the
discussion of the Sony Playstation range (including the playstation,
the PSone, and the Playstation 2, plus any other games consoles
bearing the "Playstation" name) and its games and peripherals. The
aim of this group is to discuss Playstation related topics in a
civilised, and hopefully, friendly environment.

------------------------------

Subject: 4. What is on-topic?

Pretty much anything relating to the Playstation. Obviously games,
hardware, programmers, programming and the intentions of Playstation
software companies.

------------------------------

Subject: 5. What is off-topic?

* Adverts - The newsgroup uk.games.video.playstation.forsale is for
these
* Binaries - This is a discussion newsgroup
* Piracy - Adverts for pirated software, or discussions on how to do
it
* Advocacy - Also known as Platform wars or Hardware related Trolling

Walkthroughs and hints for games are welcome, but please have some
consideration for those people who don't want to accidentally read
something they'd rather find out for themselves. Spoilers, where you
give away information which is not obvious from the outset of a game,
should be protected with 'spoiler space', blank lines, of between 10
and 25 lines. Long reviews or solutions (100 lines or more) should be
placed on a web page, and its URL posted. You might also choose to
'ROT13' the hint text, a simple code system which ROTates text by 13
characters.

------------------------------

Subject: 6. Should I crosspost?

Please do not cross-post to other groups when you post an article.
This group was created because of the problems with the other groups,
and when you crosspost, you're effectively inviting those problems to
come here. Conversely, if you read the other groups, please don't
cross-post from there to here.

------------------------------

Subject: 7. Where can I read about General Netiquette?

Network Etiquette (Netiquette) describes a set of rules that should
be applied by all users of the Internet. If you are interested, a
statement of these rules is available in the RFC document number 1855
which can be found at http://www.dtcc.edu/cs/rfc1855.html (Who's computer is this?) or in the
RFC archive at http://www.faqs.org (Who's computer is this?)

To keep it brief, keep the other users of the newsgroup in mind when
you post. Please try not to quote more text than necessary when
following-up to a post. Usually a couple of lines is enough to give
the context. Try not to put too many characters on a line. When
people follow-up to your posts the whole thing can become a real
effort to read. If your editor allows you to set this in preferences
72 should be about right. Don't post messages with HTML content as
many group readers will object, either because they cannot read them
or because HTML content more than doubles the size of the message.
HTML may also carry 'active' content.

Above all, read the newsgroup for several days before you make your
first post so you have some idea of the style and content of existing
messages.

------------------------------

Subject: 8. Where can I find cheats, codes and walkthroughs?

One of the best resources for cheats codes walkthroughs and saves is:

http://www.gamefaqs.com/ (Who's computer is this?)

It has a huge listing of FAQs, walkthroughs and codes, although it
can be somewhat US biased. Remember the US version of a game may
differ in some ways from its Euro counterpart.

The old group Technical FAQ (see section 9), which is sadly a number
of years out of date, also has a section listing online resources for
finding this kind of thing.

------------------------------

Subject: 9. Where can I find answers to technical questions?

In previous years Solomon Paul Sammy maintained the group Technical
FAQ at his web site:

http://www.argonet.co.uk/users/sps/psxfaq/ (Who's computer is this?)
http://web.archive.org/web/20011102225630/http://www.argonet.co.uk/us (Who's computer is this?)
ers/sps/psxfaq/

That site has a huge resource of technical information dealing with
the PSX.

The FAQ hasn't been updated for some time and the original web page
is currently down (the mirror is still functional), therefore the
modification links below are now rather suspect. Please send any
suggestions for additions and modifications to the FAQ to him at
psx_techfaq@argonet.co.uk

Alternatively, if you know of a website of particular relevance to
PlayStations then use the form at:

http://www.argonet.co.uk/users/sps/psxfaq/forms/urls.html (Who's computer is this?)

Another vast source of technical information on the orginal
PlayStation can be found at:

http://web.archive.org/web/20011006014636/www.execpc.com/ (Who's computer is this?)
~halkun/PSX/html/playstation.html


As the group now covers questions surrounding the PS One and PS2 as
well as the original PSX we shall be adding new FAQs to the FAQ as we
go along. They shall be added below. If you wish to add anything FA
to the FAQ please post to the group or contact the group co-
ordinator.


Q: Can I use PS1 memory cards in the PS2?

A: Yes ... and no. You can use PSX/PS One cards in a PS2, but only
to save PSX/PS One games to. In fact, you need a PSX/PS One card to
save PSX/PS One games to, since you can't save them on a PS2 card.
Similarly you need a PS2 card to save PS2 games to.


Q: What type of video lead will give me the best picture and sound?

A: There is a lot of confusion on this issue, much of it because the
terminology is complex. There are two basic facets, the type of
signal a lead carries, and therefore delivers to the TV, and the type
of socket, or plug, through which the lead connects to the TV. The
type of signal is much more important than the type of socket so in
the following paras we'll go through the leads in ascending quality
order. But before that there is a key issue, and term, to clear up:

SCART: this is a technical standard, denoted by a French acronym, for
a socket and plug system. It is a 21 pin socket in a 'D' shape (specs
at http://www.acl.co.uk/pinouts.htm (Who's computer is this?) ). Any form of signal can be
passed through a SCART socket, depending on what pins are connected.
Without detailed investigation, and major surgery, it can be
difficult to establish what kind of signal is being carried. In PS2
terms it could be Composite, S-Video or RGB. A common type carries
both Composite and RGB (this is done for technical reasons and means
that it may give either picture depending on whether the TV's SCART
socket is RGB enabled).

RF Lead - low quality picture, mono sound. Universal connection
through coax (aerial) input into television. All information goes
down a single line. To be avoided if at all possible. Only available
as optional extra for PS2 (PS One/PSX RF leads will work with PS2).

Composite/AV Lead - Mid quality picture, stereo output. Lead with
RCA (phono) video (yellow) and stereo audio outputs (red + white). It
is called composite video because the video signal goes down a single
line. Can plug directly into the TV, be routed through a SCART
adaptor, or be delivered via a dedicated SCART lead (all TV SCART
sockets will accept composite input). Comes as the standard PS2 lead
out of the box (PS One/PSX AV leads will work with the PS2).

S-Video Lead - High Quality, stereo output. Lead with mini DIN video
(yellow) and RCA (phono) stereo outputs (red + white). S-Video has
separate lines for brightness and colour. The video plug has several
pins instead of the composite cable's one pin. Separating the signal
over several lines is good because the different components of the
signal (for example, brightness and colour) interfere with each other
on a single line. Can plug directly into TV or be routed through a
SCART adaptor (not all TV SCART sockets will accept S-Video input).
Only available as optional extra for PS2 (PS One/PSX S-Video leads
will work with the PS2).

Component Lead - High Quality, stereo output. Lead with 3 BNC
connectors and RCA (phono) stereo outputs. A format which is rarely
used in the UK, but is much more common in the US than RGB. Carried
by some high end TVs and many DVD players. Has to be switched on
from the PS2 settings (as YCb/PbCr/Pr). Only available as an optional
extra for the PS2.

RGB/Euro AV Lead - High Quality, stereo output. Lead which carries an
RGB signal and outputs via a SCART socket (not all TV SCART sockets
will accept RGB input). Known as RGB as the Red, Green, and Blue
video signals are carried direct to the TV on separate lines further
reducing the possibility of interference. The stereo audio signals
are also carried via separate lines. RGB must be switched on in the
PS2 settings. Only available as optional extra for PS2 (PS One/PSX
RGB leads will work with the PS2).

For a more detailed explanation of all the issues see:
http://www.kat5.tv/videoformats.html (Who's computer is this?)


Q: When I play a DVD on my PS2, it looks all green. Why?

A: This is because Sony, in their wisdom, decided to cripple the RGB
output of the PS2 DVD playback. If you try and output through a RGB
you will get a 'green' picture. The reason for this appears to be to
Sony's attempts to satisfy the DVD standards committee - of which
Sony is a leading member. You can get round it in a number of ways:
(1) by using the Composite lead which came with the PS2; (2) by using
a S-Video lead, which will give you better picture quality than
Composite, but only if your TV can accept an S-Video signal; (3) by
purchasing a Datel 'Region X' which uses data on a Mem Card and a
boot disc to allow you to play through a RGB cable, giving the best
picture quality, without the 'green' effect, it also allows you to
play discs from other regions as well; or (4) there is an internal
mod which can get round the 'greening'. We would suggest (3) as
being the lowest risk - highest reward solution at this time.


Q: Why won't Region X or non-official cover discs boot up on my PS2?

A: There are several generations of PS2 with different versions of
the mainboard, with updated hardware. Some of these appear to be
much more picky about which unofficial discs they will boot.
Authorised Sony discs are OK but the ones produced by Datel and
certain demo discs may not work. Datel usually have produced a new
version of Region X which will boot on these new boards - contact
them to find out. The benefits of a a new board usually involve
improved reliability or reduced cost to Sony - it should not effect
the functionality of the console.


Q: Can I play US or Japanese PS2 imports in my UK PS2?

A: There are now a selection of modchips that allow imports to be
played on a PAL region PS2 and many of these modchips also allow the
use of pirate copies. The fitting of these chips does require you,
or the vendor, to open up your PS2 and get involved in some
potentially tricky soldering. It will also invalidate your warranty.

The legallity of chipping, and the playing of imports games on a PAL
PS2, is also a matter of debate (and possible legal action).


Q: Why would I want to play US or Japanese imports on my PSX or PS2?

Well some games are not available in the Europe region, this is a
particular problem for those who enjoy RPGs produced by some big
Japanese developers. Even where games are released in Europe they
may not be as 'good', for some, as the original US or Jap version.
Tim Miller explained it thus on 27 Feb 2002 in uk.games.video.xbox:

US and Japanese TV signals are sent out at 60Hz. Not surprisingly,
Japanese and US TVs are built to display a signal at 60Hz. They
therefore expect to get signals at 60Hz from any source that's
plugged into them.

US and Japanese ... at a vertical resolution of 525 lines ... expect
to get ... 525 lines ... plugged into them. (fill in gaps yourself)

Therefore, US and Japanese consoles output a signal at 60Hz, with
resolution of 525 lines. Note that at no point does NTSC/PAL come
into this - they just refer to the way the colour signal is encoded.
Ignore it for now.

Now, ignoring regional protection and whatnot, you have two problems
when
trying to run a US game on a European TV:
1) The Euro TV expects a signal at 50Hz
2) The Euro TV expects a resolution of 625 lines
(note: this is not true, I'll come to it later)

In the bad old days, developers had an easy way around this. They
just slowed the game down by 17.667%, so the signal output was at 50
times a second, instead of 60. They also just output 525 lines of
data, meaning there was minimal work to be done. This resulted in
borders at the top and bottom of the screen to make up the rest of
the 625 lines.

This is not entirely good, as you'll realise. The game won't work as
well when it's slower - controls may be unresponsive, a "three minute
time limit" may last 4 minutes, characters may seem to walk slowly,
and so on. Indeed, if you played Street Fighter 2 in the arcade,
then playing it on the SNES was quite different since the characters
moved slower.

There were two options available to developers who wanted to rectify
this.

1) Optimise the game.
This is costly, but by far the best solution. This involves a
reworking of the game engine, to make sure that the game is output as
Euro TVs expect it, but still runs at the same speed as the versions
in the US and Japan. This basically involves ensuring that nothing
in the game is tied to the refresh rate, and can, in some cases,
involve rewriting the game from scratch.

Examples: Sonic the Hedgehog on Megadrive, Resident Evil Code:
Veronica on Dreamcast, Powerstone on Dreamcast.

2) Take advantage of TVs.
You know I said I was lying when I was talking about Euro TVs? Well,
a lot of them can accept a signal at 60Hz, and with a resolution of
525 lines (when used with the PAL colour encoding, this is known as
PAL60). When I say "a lot", I actually mean "virtually all". Out of
about 20 TVs I've used over the past year, there was one that
couldn't. And that was 15 years old.

So, the quick fix involves the software having a 50Hz/60Hz option.
If you choose 50Hz, you're back to bordered chug-o-vision. If you
choose 60Hz, you're at full-speed, full-screen. Wooooh.

Examples: Almost every Dreamcast game. Rez on PS2.

Option 3) is of course to not do anything, and piss people off.

A quick note about PAL/NTSC: The Dreamcast outputs PAL60 when you
choose 60Hz. Virtually every TV can take this, and you're away. The
PS2 outputs NTSC when you choose 60Hz, which means that relatively
few Euro TVs will display the output properly. The Euro TVs will
show a 60Hz picture fine, they will show 525 lines of resolution
fine, they will show a black and white picture.

However, if you use a fully-wired RGB scart lead for the PS2, then
the
PAL/NTSC issue doesn't come into it, and you'll have 60Hz games in
full
colour. When the games have a 60Hz option, of course.


Q: Why doesn't my PSX copy of Formula 1 '99 work on my PS2?

A: Because it doesn't. There are a few PSX games which are
incompatible with the PS2, including: Formula 1 '99, Return Fire, and
Metal Gear Solid - VR Mission Pack. There is a list of Japanese
releases which don't work on the PS2 to be found at:
http://www.cheatsforplaystation2.com/compatible.htm (Who's computer is this?)


Q: My PS2 seems to have scratched a circular mark on one of my
discs. Why?

A: This happens occasionally, particularly when the console is in
the vertical position and is moved whilst the disc is spinning. I
would generally suggest keeping the PS2 horizontal and not moving it
when it is running.


Q: I've acquired a second hand PS2 and the DVD parental Lock is set
at a low level and I can't play the DVDs I want?

A: If you don't know the locking code that was orginally set try this
in the relevant menu section. If the 'enter password' screen
appears, you can disable this by entering 7444 in the password
section. If your PS2 then displays 'invalid password', re-enter the
password screen and press the select button followed by 7444. This
will delete any password in your PS2's memory. Your PS2 will then ask
you to enter a new password. Enter a new password. You will then be
asked to 'confirm new password'. After confirming this new password
you will then be allowed to enter the parental control menu. Set the
region and the parental lock level to off. Ejecting and closing the
disk tray will then save the DVD menu options.


------------------------------

Subject: 10. Where can I find out the latest release dates?

Paul Delaney (pauldelaney@blueyonder.co.uk) maintains a list of
upcoming UK release dates for PS One, PS2 and DVD release dates, and
often posts a weekly schedule of Playstation releases, with hot news
as he gets it.

Paul's schedule is also available on his web site:

http://www.releasedates.co.uk (Who's computer is this?)

Another useful resource of release dates is:

http://www.tothegame.com/ (Who's computer is this?)

Obviously, though, if you hear anything about a forthcoming release,
post it to the group, people want to know.

------------------------------

Subject: 11. What is the Charter?

The Charter is an official document that defines the purpose of the
newsgroup, and what should and shouldn't be discussed within it.
This document has to be proposed and voted upon before the group can
be created. The Charter can be changed after the newsgroup's
creation by a successful vote.

You can find details of the procedures involved in maintaining the
uk.* newsgroup hierarchy at http://www.usenet.org.uk (Who's computer is this?) or by reading
the relevant messages in uk.net.news.announce

The original rationale for creation of uk.games.video.playstation,
and its current charter are:

Rationale:
At this time, there are NO Sony Playstation groups in the UK
hierarchy. The existing Playstation groups are both very high-volume,
and US biased, but do have some UK content, which is increasingly
difficult to find. They also contain frequent binary postings, and
adverts, many of which involve pirated software. This amounts to a
very discouraging environment for the UK participants who wish to
enter into serious discussion about Playstation games. Because
Playstation games are released months apart in the various different
countries, the group would focus on UK releases.

CHARTER

This group is for the discussion of the Sony Playstation range
(including the Playstation, the PSone, and the Playstation 2, plus
any other games consoles bearing the "Playstation" name) and its
games and peripherals.

Links to websites are welcome, if they contain news regarding the
Playstation, that could not easily be posted to the group otherwise.

Reviews, hints, tips and cheats are welcome, however spoilers should
be protected with spoiler space of between 10 and 25 lines. Long
reviews or solutions (100 lines or more) should be placed on a web
page, and its URL posted.

Discussions related to the act of piracy are forbidden, as they
relate to an activity illegal under UK law, and invariably lead to
long and unfriendly threads in the newsgroup. Discussions of the
politics of software pricing and supply, or advocacy of legalistic
aspects should be carried out in an appropriate politics or advocacy
group.

Posts seeking or providing information intended to assist in
copyright infringement (software piracy) are prohibited. Posters
looking for these topics would be advised to look at alternative top-
level hierarchies.

Posters are also requested to refrain from starting any console
comparison, "system wars", or advocacy discussions (such as "Xbox
sux!!!"). Such discussions are often designed to be inflammatory,
and even when not designed to be, can be.

Advertising

No advertising is allowed in uk.games.video.playstation. There
exists a separate group for advertising,
uk.games.video.playstation.forsale - all advertising posts must be
posted to that group, and must not be crossposted to
uk.games.video.playstation.

However, adverts of no more than four lines, which are part of the
poster's regular signature, and which are not the main reason for the
post, are allowed.

Cross-Posting

Cross-posting in general is discouraged. Cross-posting to newsgroups
outside of the uk.games.video.* hierarchy is strongly discouraged as
it may invite postings which do not conform to this charter. Cross-
posting between uk.games.video.playstation and
uk.games.video.playstation.forsale is banned, apart from posts
approved by control@usenet.org.uk.

Binaries & Formatting

Encoded binaries (e.g. pictures, compressed files, etc.) are
forbidden. Cryptographic signatures (e.g. PGP) may be used where
authentication is important and should be as short as possible.

Posts must be readable as plain text. HTML, RTF and similarly
formatted messages are prohibited. To see how to make your newsreader
comply with this, read <http://www.usenet.org.uk/ukpost.html (Who's computer is this?) >.

END CHARTER

The charter document for the group can also be viewed at
http://www.usenet.org.uk/uk.games.video.playstation.html (Who's computer is this?)

------------------------------

Subject: 12. How is the Charter maintained?

Many of us agree that this group has great potential, but it could
easily go the way of the other Playstation newsgroups (consisting
mainly of modchip adverts and piracy related posts). The charter is
an official document created and approved under rules created by the
UK Usenet committee. However, there is no official way to ensure
that the rules set out by the charter are followed by all posters.

To this end, the Charter is enforced by a group of newsgroup regulars
referred to as the Charter Posters (or Jedis in some quarters). The
actions taken by the Charter Posters are supported by the regular
posters to the group.

If a post is made that breaks the rules of the Charter, the following
actions are taken:

1. The poster is emailed directly with a copy of the group FAQ and a
short note explaining how their post broke the charter.

2. If the poster continues to post contrary to the Charter the Duty
Charter Poster may make a complaint to that posters ISP. Such a
complaint may lead to that user's account being suspended or
terminated by their ISP.

------------------------------

Subject: 13. Who are the charter posters?

Time has made it abundantly clear that many people, either through
ignorance or by deliberate intent, will break the group's Charter. To
help keep this situation under control, a group of volunteers have
elected to carry out the duties of informing the offender by e-mail,
and posting the FAQ.

This group is co-ordinated by Angus MacCulloch,
a.macculloch@man.ac.uk and each volunteer does a two week tour of
duty, before taking a period of R&R. It's possible, with the
imperfect universe that we live in, that the changeover period may
produce some duplication of effort and Johnny Offender may get two e-
mails rather than one. Well, that's what you get for missing staff
meetings.

------------------------------

Subject 14. What is an Advert?

The charter specifies that no adverts should be posted to the group.
The issue of what makes up an advertisement post has been raised by
posters, and to clarify matters the following rules are applies by
the Charter Posters. You will be considered to have gone against the
charter if your post is one of the following:

1. It offers something for sale.
2. It states a requirement to trade (buy or swap) something.
3. It publicises a commercial webpage or service.
4. It publicises a non-commercial webpage that carries banner ads
unless those banner ads are enforced by the webspace provider.
5. It publicises a non-commercial webpage or service but has been
posted more than once in a month.
6. It publicises a non-commercial website that has no relevance to
the readers of the newsgroup.

------------------------------

Subject: 15. Is making backup copies of my games Illegal?

Probably not, if that's all you're doing. However, discussing
methods of copying playstation games could provide potential pirates
with the necessary information to get started. Hence, discussion of
copying Playstation games is considered likely to *generate* piracy,
and that being the case, it is against the Charter. There are plenty
of other newsgroups that do not have this restriction, and some of
them even welcome this kind of discussion.

------------------------------

Subject: 16. Are there alternative playstation newsgroups?

If you don't agree with this group's Charter, or you simply wish to
subscribe to another uk group that includes adverts etc. you might
try the following:

alt.uk.games.video.playstation (no charter)

uk.games.video.playstation.forsale (adverts etc.)

alt.games.video.sony-playstation (no charter/international)