Others say...

"Codebreaker and AR Max are both great"
The Good: Interface is great, incredibly easy to use, comes preloaded with a bunch of codes already for use. DVD Region support, in which I have had zero problems with.

The Bad: The Codejunkies website. This is where you will go to grab codes for games that you bought that may not be preloaded into AR Max. The site CAN be extremely unreliable, and there is no other website you can use to get the codes that you desire. So if the site is down...sorry. Another bad is the amount of codes compared to Codebreaker...just wow there really is no comparison, there are just that many more codes for codebreaker.

The Ugly: The Memory manager. Just to test it I backed up some saves on another memory card. Took a clean memory card and "crushed" (which is like a compressing tool) some saves, yes it saved room but I also half the files I crushed became corrupt.

Why this is on Par with codebreaker: There are tools out on the net that will let you convert codes over from v6 - v7 codebreaker to AR Max Format and visa versa. Without these I would go codebreaker, even taking in account the benefits with AR Max.

Words from the Wise: As with any cheat device, make sure that you back up your games first before you start using codes. Some codes as with any device can really mess some things up and even cause loss of your original save!!

"Do Not Buy."
Do not buy this. This is a piece of junk pretty much.

I'm actually the son of the person who bought this, and even as a gift this is absolute garbage. Thankful She went through the trouble yes ^.^ But not quite happy with the product. Angered with the product!

Here's what My experience is with this from turning it on.

1. Open the package, A flimsy silver box in which the logo punches out for some reason, easily big enough to fit 3 DVD cases. It actually holds two instruction manuals, one in Spanish, and a CD-Rom in a sleeve.
2. Putting it in. This is not a CD-Rom. Not a DVD, which the Playstation 2 is primarily meant to handle, but a CD, the thing that in conjunction with movies, played to much will screw up your PS2. A low Quality One No less, it sounds like my Playstation is falling apart trying to play it.
3. The codelist is crap, there's games on here with no codes for them at all installed.
4. Using this is interesting. I rarely get the desired result, often codes used will have completely negative effects, which I was not warned about. But in fairness to that area, they only claim it will warn you if it screws up the game, not screws with it.

Also when I got this, the website was down for over a week, and entering codes is lengthy, and tiresome. The codes for each game are incredibly pathetic. Especially with RPGs. Customer Service is a Mess to deal with, worse so then DirecTVs.

If there is a piece of dust on this disk, it will not play, you need to wipe it down thoroughly before inserting it. It's "USB Compatibility" Is explained in the manual, and on use I wouldn't recommend it. The DVD Region X feature, only works on select DVDs, or maybe it's just not compatible with Japanese DVDs, you're better off Buying a DivX DVD player for that. (They sell those cheap now)

Just do not buy this. It was bad enough I will never buy another Datel product again. As far as being Generic goes, I don't know if this is, but it takes the cake on what you would expect from a Generic product. Even the codes section of their website is a bit hidden away, and Generally doesn't contain anything but what's already on the disc/catridge depending on what system you get it for. Just spend your money on a Codebreaker, or Gameshark even, but not this.


"Don't Understand the Bad Reviews."
Personally, I don't understand the poor reviews. I have owned the ARM for a very long time and I love it. It DOES work with my slim PS2 and has worked for every game I have tried it on. The ethernet connection doesn't work with my ISP, true, but that is a small price to pay for all the help it has been getting over tricky sections in games. And, since I only have to input codes once and it recognizes the game for then on, I don't even consider the lack of an ethernet connection to be a hinderence. This is a phenominal cheat system and I only hope I can find one as good for the PS3.

"Playstation 2 Action Replay Max "
This CD is good, it is hard to use though. Especially for a child. Directions are not very clear.

"The version I received doesn't work with a slim PS2"
The AR disc I received would not play in my slim PS2. I checked with Datel and found that only AR versions 3.30 and up will work with the slim PS2. The version Amazon shipped was 3.06. As another reviewer has stated, Datel says that they will exchange older versions for a 3.30 version if you send it to them together with your sales receipt. Not sure if they make good on that offer as I decided to return my AR to Amazon for credit.