Christmas coming up ... my 11 year old son finally destroyed his old PS1, so it's time for an upgrade.

This question has been asked many times, in many different forums, but which of the 3 current consoles do you prefer?

PS2 has more games titles available ... XBox has fewer titles (so far), but has far superior graphics to PS2, and of course a "chipped" XBox is becoming a virtual DivX, HT, games console for the home. GC is a bit of an outsider for me. I have always thought that unless the "Mario" style of game was your thing, that PS-series was a better bet.

Any thoughts? Thor - you must have an opinion of this ...

Walt,

I'll jump in. :p:

I concur with your thoughts regarding GC -- it's a kiddie machine. Or, at least, that's what Nintendo seems to be courting with its game selection.

PS2 is an easy choice -- it'll play the old PS1 games you've got, and there are TONS of games out there.

I went from PS1 to PS2, also got my hands on a Sega Dreamcast, and finally now have an Xbox as well. My verdict:

DANG, I like that Xbox. I like the controller, I like the way it has a hard drive to save your settings, and I like the way it loads up so much faster than PS2 does. In the end, it's all about "the games" you want to play, but I have chosen the Xbox over the PS2 just about every day ever since I got the Xbox....

Hope that helps -- good luck!! :p:

Well...I really don't know anything about the gamecube...so I'll leave that one alone.

Between ps2 and x-box...it really comes down to games. You have the advantage of playing all your ps1 games on the ps2 machine...and ps2 has a TON of games. But, I own and enjoy the x-box. I wouldn't buy anything else if I had to do it again. The games really do kick a little a$$.

But, I'm not sure what games kids like to play...I would ask him which he enjoys more...and which games. either way...they're two darn good machines.


thoots...what games do you play? I usually stick with racing and shooting. Two of my favorite racing games are ralley sport and Nascar 2003. Then you have Halo and the new splinter cell by Tom Clancy...that is really one cool game!


take care>>>>>>

I too am in this quandary trying to decide what to get son of THOR for xmas. I am an avid PC gamer so I lean towards the Xbox. But I am concerned, I read that if Xbox doesn't sell well this Xmas then it will be the end of it, Sega Dreamcast anyone? I do not want to be stuck with a system no one makes games for anymore :(

In the end it will probably be what deal I can get, I beleive you can buy an Xbox with the extra controller and two games for the price of an PS2 right now. So being the cheap bastard I am I will prolly bite the bullet and go for that.

Yeah there are some great deals on the XBox for the Christmas season down here too. Console, bundled with 2 games (including the ubiquitous "Halo"), 2 controllers, and the DVD remote ... all for the same price as the standard PS2.

I am leaning towards the XBox as well ... it feels more like a PC to me and I feel more comfortable with that. I just feel like XBox is about a year or two ahead of PS2 (which is is judging by release dates) ...

About a month ago I went through the same process. I did a little research on the web and came to a decision that is fine for me, but perhaps not all. Let me try to exlain, I like driving games. Alot. So when Need for Speed:Hot Pursuit 2 was announced, I knew I had to make a decision. First of all, I've given up on trying to decide on a game machine based on technical specs. It really comes down to the game itself and how well it was written to take advantage of all the new power in each machine. Since NFS:HP2 is available for all three machines listed, there would probably be little difference from machine to machine. Usually exclusive titles have the best chance of maximizing each machine's hardware capabilities. Also, basing a decision on number of available games doesn't seem too logical to me. If we had one machine with 5000 POS titles as compared to another machine with two killer games, I'd go with the machine with two games. In the past, I've been disappointed with PlayStation games more often than satisfied. In the end, I've only got about four games on my PlayStation that have any chance of lasting replay value.

As I mentioned above, I like driving games. One of the things I really like on NFS:High Stakes on the PlayStation is the Dolby Surround encoding. NFS:Porsche Unleased has for all intents and purposes a mono soundtrack, thus holds little interest for me. Driving through tunnels or under bridges is quite fun in Surround. Or, hearing cars approach from the rear. Sound is very important to me. Hence, why I hang out at AK. And, believe it or not, but the surround sound capability is what made my decision easy between PS2 and Xbox. The PS2 has DD for only CGI intros or other precanned sequences. The Xbox is the only machine that can and does provide 5.1 encoding in realtime. The PS2 reverts to Dolby Surround for realtime gameplay. Many of the Xbox driving games (including NFS:HP2) take full advantage of the realtime 5.1 sound.

Crazy huh? Choosing a game machine based on Dolby Digital.

I confused so which did you get?

Oops, sorry. Xbox. Good sound. Plus, all the other things Walt posted in his opening post. Namely, DivX player with mod card and Linux.

house...have you tried ralley sport...the way the cars drive on the various surfaces is something all driving games should strive toward...least that's the way I see it ;)

If you guys are truly into driving games someday you need to get a high powered PC with a really nice vid card and play using a force feedback wheel, it roxors your boxors ;)

gonefishin,

No, not yet. It is on my Christmas wish list. I've only picked up a couple titles. This allows others in my household to get me a Chirstmas gift instead of complaining that I'm too difficult to shop for. But, if they miss their opportunity, I will have Ralley Sport in January.

Folks,

For me, it's driving games, nothing else. :p:

I'd say the best of all time for me remains "Rage Racer" on PS1 -- gosh, why does no other game spread the opposition out so that you really have to bust your ass and drive perfectly in order to get around that last guy?? Plus, it gave you the control to actually perform that well.

But, of course, who wants to drive that kind of thing now?? I am currently really enjoying the new Need for Speed Hot Pursuit 2 on the Xbox. Again, this is one where you actually can control your vehicle, and it has quite a bit of depth and challenges. I've had pretty much every other racer on PS2 and Xbox, and other than the EA Sports F1 Gran Prix game, I'm not nearly as enthused as I am about NFSHP2!

So, that's what I'm into! :p:

Yes I love the driving games as well ... but until now I have mainly used my GForce wheel on my PC.

EA Sports F1 is a favourite of mine ... I played that so intensely I used to get a headache from concentrating for 1 hr+ of the race!

I also used to love Flight Sims, but I haven't seen anything recently that has got me excited.

Might have to try NFSHP2 on the XBox ...

I've never been much of a Gamer - the lat time I played games on a TV it was with one like this one:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1942091571

They are a lot of fun tho :)

Chris

Hi, all. Well, just discovered this site; looks good. Gonefishin', if you'd have mentioned this site sooner...

I have to offer my 2 cents worth, here. In my system HT system, we have/had just about everything hooked up: DreamCast, Playstation 2, X-Box & Gamecube. Now I'm a huge psx guy, going way back. I've bought about 100 original Playstation games, so my choice of favorite system was easy; the P2.

That is until the 'Box came along...

I thought the P2 looked good, but the X-Box thouroughly creams it. I can promise you that is you spend any time looking at Gotham Racing, not even playing it, you will weep in despair at all PS2 driving games. The mirrored lighting effects, the z-buffering, every effect...it will floor you. And the hard drive-that's wicked. You can save games w/o memory cards, record in game music, etc.

Now, for quite awhile I kidded myself that the 'Box only had a slight edge, but I was living a lie. The P2 just flatly isn't capable of processing the type of lighting effects, etc. The very best of Sony's games can't hold a candle, visually, to an average X-Box game.

This is not a comment on playability, just graphics. Well, actually the sound kills everything out there, too. Most of the games I've played or seen for the 'Box have ingame Dolby Digital. Man, incredible, houseshaking bass and fantastic wrap arround sound effects. For the most part, the 'Box has great games, but I'm afraid that it's awful hard to look at my P2 now, no matter how great the game.

To see what I mean, play Star Wars Starfighter on the P2, then try if on the X-Box. Better control on the box, but mostly it burns the P2 down, graphically.

I still have my P2, but I haven't played it in 9 mos, though my brother bought Medal of Honor for p2 cos it wasn't out on xbox; of course a couple months later it was out for the Box so he bought it again. Yep, you guessed it; it crushed the P2 version. Oh, well. I still have an entire shelf of old games, including Diablo & Risk, so I'll keep it hooked up just for that.

My impressions of the other systems? The DC is a keeper; doesn't have the P2 or X-Box's horsepower, but I've never played a fighter on any console that's as good as Soul Caliber, including all the Tekkens, DOA, etc.

The Cube was a huge dissappointment to me. I tried to enjoy it, but the controller sucked, the games are too short and mostly kiddie stuff. I ended up selling it to a guy at the HD site, and he's enjoyed it, so all's well that ends well.

Rob B

Hi Rob...good ta see ya here. :D

I still can't stop laughing when I think that I bought me a video game...I'm a grown man fer cripes sake! :p: but it is some great fun! the x-box does have some cool graphics...best use I've seen for use of graphics is, without a doubt, Splinter Cell. The real time lighting is very well done...and Tom Clancy's story line...just goes on for ever...getting you deeper and deeper into the game. But, it does take some time to get used to "how the game plays"...like any game...you have to learn it's style a bit. One of the things I noticed about this game is, at first, I wasn't looking at the background. Well...I was looking at it thinking it looks great...but you may have a trellis with some ivy growing on it...and tho it does look cool...it took me a while to figure out...hey dummy...climb that thing!

but, even without the graphics and sound (which is good!)...and with the games looking great on the bigscreen HD tele...the real treat for me is the gameplay...While not all x-box games have great gameplay...a good number of them do! This is a thing I never really liked about PS2...a number of the games just didn't seem to have good gameplay...or control.

I still think that the best machine ever put out was intellivision...for it's time...this thing was great! Good graphics (considering) and some damn fine gameplay! sniff...sniff...i miss my intellevision :(

well...take care guys>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Ah well you all convinced me, stopped by the local pawn shop today and picked up an X-Box in the box with 1 controller and all cables and also the DVD kit $240 value for...........$150 bucks :D Already wrapped and under the tree for the boy.