First off, it?s something of a ?universal? remote. You can program it to work your TV and VCR along with your PS2. But this is where you start running into problems. The instructions tell you to hold down Rewind and Previous Chapter, but you actually have to hold down the Previous and Next Chapter buttons to get into the programming mode. This error is repeated, at least in the French instructions, and for people not astute enough to read the tiny text on the programming page that says press L1+R1 and then translate that into the buttons on the controller itself, it can be tantamount to having a worthless controller. Once you get past this major error, it?s actually quite simple to program the remote. I had it working with my TV and VCR within minutes, although the tiny print for the chart hurt my eyes.
The remote?s buttons also glow in the dark, but their glow isn?t bright enough to be of any use whatsoever. Sure, you can see that there are buttons, but you can?t tell what they are. It?s a rather pointless feature.
Some of the buttons are also curiously labeled. The button that should be labeled ?Title? is labeled ?Menu,? and the one that should be labeled ?Menu? is labeled ?DVD.? Huh? While you can always look up the help in the PS2 itself, it?s rather confusing when you?re trying to press buttons to get to the Menu and it restarts the movie instead.
Along with that, the remote?s infrared receiver has no pass-through port. While you can use the remote as a standard controller, it?s useless for all but the simplest games, as the button layout is not conducive to hardcore gaming. So you have to switch it out with a standard controller every time you want to play a game. Argh.
