Which PS2 games were highly rated by the reviewers, here at GameSpot and elsewhere, but turned out to be a big disappointment for you when you actually played it for yourself? When I say "highly rated", I mean the game garnered a 7.5 rating or better.

For me, those games included...

Twisted Metal Black - Way too rapid and chaotic, for my tastes. And, really, the whole thing seemed pointless, to me. What I was hoping for was a dark and twisted world of Car Wars (a.k.a. Autoduel). But there was little if anything like that, in this game.

S.L.A.I. - Themech arena combat was way too rapid and chaotic, for my tastes. (You seeing a trend here? :P ) And I found the interface extremely confusing and awkward, both in the arena and out. Also, all that Japanese pop music, while out of the arena and operating through the game's "cyberspace",was grating on my nerves.

Valkyrie Profile 2 - The whole "side-scroller" typedungeon explorationreally turned me off. Not that I hate side-scrollers, mind you - I just found myself thinking it silly and not liking it, in an RPG. (Note, however,that I loved Paper Mario, on the GameCube. So, go figure.)

GTA: Saint Andreas - I absolutely hated the driving interface and gameplay. The rest of the game was interesting and even a little fun, but the driving parts - and there was an awful lot of that - killed it for me.

Soul Reaver 2 - The melee combat simply wasn't all that interesting or challenging. Also, there were far too many incidents where I found myself coming to a standstill in the game and scratching my head, wondering what I was supposed to do or where I was supposed to go, next.

Grand Turisomo 3 - After playing exciting and intriguing racing games like Need for Speed: Most Wanted 2, Midnight Club 3, and Burnout 3, I came across GT 3 in a bargain bin at GameStop, for only $3.99. Even for that low, low price, I found GT 3 to be not worth it. It was way too, er, pedestrian, for my tastes.

Each of these games, I bought used at GameStop,but ended up returning within the allotted 7-day period, and exchanging for another game.

Overall I think it is a good purchase as the cables arent all that expensive.mohmaaytah

An S-cable will cost me only $15. It's handling my humongous TV,seated in our living room's entertainment center, and messing with the labyrinth of wires behind that, that makes me hesitate to try this out. (See, I discovered my TV has an S-cable input in the back because I happened across the owner's manual, the other day.)

Overall I think it is a good purchase as the cables arent all that expensive.mohmaaytah

An S-cable will cost me only $15. It's handling my humongous TV,seated in our living room's entertainment center, and messing with the labyrinth of wires behind that, that makes me hesitate to try this out. (See, I discovered my TV has an S-cable input in the back because I happened across the owner's manual, the other day.)

The other day, I discovered that my TV has an S-video input in the back. So, I'm thinking about buying and installing an S-video cable for my PS2. Now, I already know that a true component video cable in conjunction with a HDTV will greatly improve the graphics of a PS2 game (provided, that game has progressive scan graphics mode). But what about an S-video cable with a standard TV, with a PS2 game in its default graphics mode? Will that improve the graphics at least a little bit? (I'm thinking - hoping - it will improve the image sharpness and/or clarity, at least alittle bit.) Or will an S-video cable really make no difference at all, compared to the standard RCA cable?

I would appreciate some informed opinions here.