exactly, this is APPLEinsider, and as such, Keep-MS-Outsider. I mean, why do you have an apple anyway? well, that's the reason you have to buy a sony, and do it now, or I will personally see to it that the devil puketh in your warm bed.
(and as a ps: I've said it before, but you need to get a ps2 with Grand Theft Auto 3 - that is probably the game I've spent longest playing without getting suicidally bored, ever).
well, just bought a ps2 last night, and onimusha warlords used at CAN$20 (friggin' cheap!), and holy crap! i now no longer feel an urge to upgrade my computer, with graphics and gameplay like this. i mean, i know they aren't all this good, but this is friggin' amazing! and i still have enough cash to buy a gamecube next year if i want to.
by the way, another point that helped me make my decision: recent stats just came out, and playstation2 is the number 1 selling piece of console hardware right now. so if i am a game developer, i am developing fo ps2 first (unless microsoft has either a.) left seven bushels of cash on my doorstep or b.) bought me out completely. so the great games will continue to come out for ps2. no worries there. and if you are really concerned, while getting all three may be too expensive, i think that buying a ps2 AND gamecube is not totally break-the-bank (i think you can still get the gamecube at US$99 with rebate in places), AND gives you access to all but the most exclusive xbox games (and the gamecube has some great graphics abilities, and a controller that detroys the other two). i don't think you'll ever regret not getting the xbox if you get those two together.
wanna know where the xbox is right now in terms of sales??? let's look at the list, as published just the other day by PlayDate's annual survey:
1. PlayStation 2
2. Game Boy Advance
3. PS2 Network Adaptor
4. GameCube
5. PSOne
6. Xbox
that's right, the xbox is behind the PS2, the GameCube, the PSOne, and even the GBA and the friggin' PS2 Network adapter. no wonder they moved kevin browne to head up the xbox division. unfortunately, i like the guy, and i think he just got himself promoted to the rank of "chief scapegoat." <img src="graemlins/oyvey.gif" border="0" alt="[No]" />
I'm going to stop lurking and weigh in on this one.
Bodhi, the Gamecube is cheap, has graphics on par with the Xbox (ATI took the dolphin graphics chip engineers, chained them to a terminal, and made the 9700 I reckon) - but it has Zelda in it's corner, and the Resident Evil series for the next few years. Two fantastic reasons.
Sure Halo is supposed to be good, but is it good enough to buy a console just to play it? Try and name 5 Xbox games that rate up against top games on other platforms. Halo, Buffy ... not much else at this stage IMHO. I'm sure they'll be released eventually, but they're not here now (develop faster RARE, faster ... ).
In the meantime, I'm not going to buy an Xbox to play Halo when I have a plethora of FPS that play better with a mouse and keyboard on my aging G4/466 (with flashed GF3, lucky me) ... anyway, I bought a console to play the kinds of games I _don't find_ on a PC (where FPS's rule).
I can quote stuff like such as '3rd generation games', and 'buckets of developers' as reason's for buying a PS2, but the truth is you should buy a PS2 for only one reason, and that reason _isn't_ GTA 3 ... although come to think of it, that is a damn good reason.
That reason is ICO. You might only spend 5-8 hours on this sucker if you're a skilled gamer ... but it's worth every second.
To sum up then *heh heh*: Buy an Xbox if you want great games in 3-6 months time, buy a Gamecube if you want great games in the next 1-2 months, and buy a PS2 if you want great games _now_, and access to a small library of great games.
I've got all three (Cube, xbox, PS2) and didn't buy any of them either, incidentally.
Lessons learned:
It's not about the paper specification of the console, it's about the ability of the manufacturer to get good developers making good games on your console -- added to the fact that paper specifications mean JACK SHîT in the console world.
Xbox: ugly, ugly, very ugly, insultingly bad industrial design (eg the disk draw ejects over the eject button), ugly, but comes with Halo. That is all. Bad strategy for getting new games on the things ... developers have been encouraged to use all the sound channels etc. but the senior management doesn't understand games ... result, something like Project Gotham Racing, which sounds overwhelming but it completely horrible. The games are not the best on this console. Remind me why you're buying a console?
PS2: Now you're talking. Does all that future-proof stuff you're after (linux, online, blah blah) and the games are good and will be good. You'll be happier with a PS2.
GameCube: technically WAY better then it's been portrayed, and the games are the best games. Also in its favour is the fact that THE GAMES ARE THE BEST GAMES ... how to put it ... the games are like sleepers: you know, the ones you just find yourself playing because you enjoy them most, even though you "want" to like the others.
Get a Dreamcast and a GameCube. Dreamcast is perfect for running old SNES & NES Games plus it can also playback VCDs, ShenMue II is available (way before the XBox version) and the amazingly great "Test Drive Le Mans" (it's so much fun to outscore the 40 seconds record).
Gamecube is lovely for multiplaye battles (Smash Bros, Mario Party, Burnout) and some singleplayer games rock either I just got Pro Rally (which does somewhat exist on PS2, but the developers call the GC Version EXCLUSIVE, because they have improved almost everything) which is fun. Mario Sunschine is just AMAZING. The only problem is that Colin McRae Rally will be out much later, but I can live with that.
Comments
(and as a ps: I've said it before, but you need to get a ps2 with Grand Theft Auto 3 - that is probably the game I've spent longest playing without getting suicidally bored, ever).
by the way, another point that helped me make my decision: recent stats just came out, and playstation2 is the number 1 selling piece of console hardware right now. so if i am a game developer, i am developing fo ps2 first (unless microsoft has either a.) left seven bushels of cash on my doorstep or b.) bought me out completely. so the great games will continue to come out for ps2. no worries there. and if you are really concerned, while getting all three may be too expensive, i think that buying a ps2 AND gamecube is not totally break-the-bank (i think you can still get the gamecube at US$99 with rebate in places), AND gives you access to all but the most exclusive xbox games (and the gamecube has some great graphics abilities, and a controller that detroys the other two). i don't think you'll ever regret not getting the xbox if you get those two together.
wanna know where the xbox is right now in terms of sales??? let's look at the list, as published just the other day by PlayDate's annual survey:
1. PlayStation 2
2. Game Boy Advance
3. PS2 Network Adaptor
4. GameCube
5. PSOne
6. Xbox
that's right, the xbox is behind the PS2, the GameCube, the PSOne, and even the GBA and the friggin' PS2 Network adapter. no wonder they moved kevin browne to head up the xbox division. unfortunately, i like the guy, and i think he just got himself promoted to the rank of "chief scapegoat." <img src="graemlins/oyvey.gif" border="0" alt="[No]" />
[ 10-23-2002: Message edited by: rok ]</p>
Bodhi, the Gamecube is cheap, has graphics on par with the Xbox (ATI took the dolphin graphics chip engineers, chained them to a terminal, and made the 9700 I reckon) - but it has Zelda in it's corner, and the Resident Evil series for the next few years. Two fantastic reasons.
Sure Halo is supposed to be good, but is it good enough to buy a console just to play it? Try and name 5 Xbox games that rate up against top games on other platforms. Halo, Buffy ... not much else at this stage IMHO. I'm sure they'll be released eventually, but they're not here now (develop faster RARE, faster ...
In the meantime, I'm not going to buy an Xbox to play Halo when I have a plethora of FPS that play better with a mouse and keyboard on my aging G4/466 (with flashed GF3, lucky me) ... anyway, I bought a console to play the kinds of games I _don't find_ on a PC (where FPS's rule).
I can quote stuff like such as '3rd generation games', and 'buckets of developers' as reason's for buying a PS2, but the truth is you should buy a PS2 for only one reason, and that reason _isn't_ GTA 3 ... although come to think of it, that is a damn good reason.
That reason is ICO. You might only spend 5-8 hours on this sucker if you're a skilled gamer ... but it's worth every second.
To sum up then *heh heh*: Buy an Xbox if you want great games in 3-6 months time, buy a Gamecube if you want great games in the next 1-2 months, and buy a PS2 if you want great games _now_, and access to a small library of great games.
Cheers,
Tobes 'Gameplay, _then_ Graphics' Oldham,
[ 10-24-2002: Message edited by: crazed_ebot ]</p>
Lessons learned:
It's not about the paper specification of the console, it's about the ability of the manufacturer to get good developers making good games on your console -- added to the fact that paper specifications mean JACK SHîT in the console world.
Xbox: ugly, ugly, very ugly, insultingly bad industrial design (eg the disk draw ejects over the eject button), ugly, but comes with Halo. That is all. Bad strategy for getting new games on the things ... developers have been encouraged to use all the sound channels etc. but the senior management doesn't understand games ... result, something like Project Gotham Racing, which sounds overwhelming but it completely horrible. The games are not the best on this console. Remind me why you're buying a console?
PS2: Now you're talking. Does all that future-proof stuff you're after (linux, online, blah blah) and the games are good and will be good. You'll be happier with a PS2.
GameCube: technically WAY better then it's been portrayed, and the games are the best games. Also in its favour is the fact that THE GAMES ARE THE BEST GAMES ... how to put it ... the games are like sleepers: you know, the ones you just find yourself playing because you enjoy them most, even though you "want" to like the others.
Cube.
Get a Dreamcast and a GameCube. Dreamcast is perfect for running old SNES & NES Games plus it can also playback VCDs, ShenMue II is available (way before the XBox version) and the amazingly great "Test Drive Le Mans" (it's so much fun to outscore the 40 seconds record).
Dreamcast: $50 incl. 4 Controllers & memorycard (eBay)
Gamecube is lovely for multiplaye battles (Smash Bros, Mario Party, Burnout) and some singleplayer games rock either I just got Pro Rally (which does somewhat exist on PS2, but the developers call the GC Version EXCLUSIVE, because they have improved almost everything) which is fun. Mario Sunschine is just AMAZING. The only problem is that Colin McRae Rally will be out much later, but I can live with that.