Episode 1 – Pilot Season

The Very Raw ‘Pilot’ (July 20th, 2005)

Now that the hype is over, it’s time to see how the latest Star Wars games stand on their own. OpenAlpha.tv takes a look at the Episode III PlayStation 2 and Nintendo DS game, as well as Lego Star Wars. As a follow-up segment, Open Alpha delves into the problems with the blue Lego Star Wars PS2 disc and how to overcome it. (10:38)

NOTICE: These almost as old as dirt OpenAlpha episodes have the original show notes below meaning plenty — if not all — of the links have been broken thanks to the decay of time and souls. Be warned!

Files: WMV (50MB) | H.264 (25MB) | MP4 (26MB) | iPod/M4V (50MB)

Show Notes

Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (PS2) – 2 out of 5

Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (NDS) – 3 out of 5

Lego Star Wars (PS2) – 4 out of 5

Lego Star Wars PC Demo available at Downloads.com.

If you would rather go the FilePlanet route, go right ahead.

Things I Left Out*

*because I am a goof

If you tend to play your PS2 vertically most of the time, you’ll have to lie it flat to get around Blue Disc Read Errors. Also, another simple non-technical fix involves running the PS2 Diagnostic before booting a blue disc. This will align the laser and often avoid those pesky DREs. If you have any more fixes, quick or otherwise, let me know and I’ll add them here.

Please be very careful with the following guides. Only you are responsible for the prolonged life of your system and the guide authors will likely tell you the same thing in all caps. If you are not comfortable with this sort of work, please do not attempt. OpenAlpha.tv is not responsible for any of the following external links. I’ll redo my own later on since I accidentally deleted my photos.

External Version Chart Links:

ConsolesAndGadgets.com

PSXServices.co.uk

PlayStation 2 Cleaning Guides:

Ars Technica

G4 from the old TechTV site, written by Robert Heron

GamingWorld X

PlayStation 2 Voltage Guide:

Col_Sandoz & XShady’s guide at IGN

Credits

host / producer – Jenn Cutter

editor / footage / theme – Graeme Mislan

director (apartment footage) – Rob Hawke