Developers are salivating as well. ''There are no limits with PlayStation 2,'' says Capcom game designer Keiji Inafune. ''You can do anything you can imagine.'' Inafune is currently ''imagining'' Onamusha, a samurai horror story set in a photo-realist ancient Japan, due out this summer. Price is no object: When asked about reports that PS2 games cost as much as $4 million to produce, Inafune laughs, ''We spent much more than that,'' adding only that the cost was in the double-digit millions — of dollars.

Not all PS2 games are as elaborate as Inafune's. In fact, many of the 12 games at launch (more will be available when the PlayStation 2 hits U.S. stores this fall), such as the two shogi (Japanese chess) games and a mah-jongg title, are less than ambitious, given the PS2's much-hyped power. The only games that even hint at the graphics revolution that lies ahead are Namco's Ridge Racer V and Capcom's Street Fighter EX3.

But that revolution may not be too far away. When Namco releases Tekken Tag Tournament later this month, Sony's polygons will look brighter. TTT has the kind of graphic punch and sheer brutality that will remind gamers why they wanted this console in the first place. Not that they need reminding: Sony reportedly shipped one million consoles for the launch, but with 980,000 quickly snapped up (including Internet sales), the PS2 was selling 10 times faster than the original PlayStation did at its launch five years ago. Many stores had presold their entire inventory, but those that didn't handed out vouchers to customers on a first-come-first-served basis. When the stores opened for business at 7 a.m., customers with tickets were processed quickly, ushered through stores, handed a shopping bag with a PS2, asked what games they wanted, and pointed out the door.

By 11 a.m. — the time Tokyo electronics stores usually open for business — the crowds were gone. And so were all the PlayStation 2s.

(Additional reporting by Noah Robischon)

Originally posted Mar 17, 2000 Published in issue #531 Mar 17, 2000 Order article reprints
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