Based on the evidence of a new announcement, 2003 could indeed prove to be the year UK PS2 goes online. That's right, it looks like you could be playing against opponents you can't see by Easter.

There is no putting it off anymore, "Broadband" will inevitably be the buzzword of the next 12 months. As long as you can get the 'band in your area, then the chances are you will be hooked up and ready to go by Easter this year. In America, the big online extravaganza kicked off with both Broadband and Dial - Up connections playing off against each other. Unfortunately, this proved to be plain annoying for the players, as Dial - Up connections were slowing down game for Broadband users. So the upshot of it all is, that to play online here in the UK, you will need Broadband from one of the various providers here. All well and good, until the price of the damn things is taken into account.

How much will it cost then?

Well, the best case scenario is that you will already have a Broadband conncection and there will be no charges per play of each game. An Ethernet Network Adapter (right) will be all you need. This will set you back about £45 and comes with an online demo disk and an as yet un-named full online title (that'll be a crap one, then...).

And the worst case scenario?

Well, this is where it gets complicated. I will assume that you do not yet have Broadband, and will have to pay all the fees involved to give a genuine indication of the likely price. Below is what you will need to buy:

Ethernet Network Adapter £45
Broadband Modem £90
Broadband Installation £50
Monthly ISP Fees £30

All this, and the prospect of having to pay per play hasn't been taken into account yet. Ouch. You can see the price starts to add up. So I suppose it's fair to ask :

Is It Worth The Money?

The genuine answer is, that I don't know. There are indeed a few good looking games coming to Broadband, with TIF 2004 and a little game called RESIDENT EVIL both confirmed, and the prospect of GT4 going online, it could prove to be an essential purchase. Of course, once these games are released, the developers are likely to start focus on PS3. Thus leaving you with a huge bill to pay on a platform now obsolete. Up to you then.