Gamecube, Xbox, PS2!

Ok, lets try this again. Hopefully the flamer lamers will stay away from this one. If not then it's just rude.

Gamecube is pretty sweet. And the fact that it made 98 million dollars in one day shows that. Luigi's mansion is really fun! The graphics are just superb and shows what is to come in the future. And it's small and not so clunky and clumsy looking. Looks stupid though. But the graphics are just amazing. ALso it's very well thought out. from the controllers to boot up to even the eject of the disk is pretty sweet. No more having to force the disk out, this simply has an eject button of the disk itself. very clever i think. Where the ps2 has a tray and damage is likely as someone out there will use it as a cup holder. ;p
I'd buy this if you want something new and different to try (cd's are 3 inch thick and holds 1.5GB's of data, really cool!) and out for metroid, mario, luigi, zelda and the gang. I'd get that. Same excuse for the ps2 with MSG2 and FFX.

and for those who looked at zelda and said it sucks and looks cartoonsish... ahh thats for the gameboy color.

PS2 is sleek and stylish. Graphics are just as amazing. I'll buying me one sometime later when the price drops.
the game selection is huge. it will take nintendo a long time to catch up. I'd buy this if your broke for now and had a PS before. You can run your old games and use your old controller and whatnot. You can always buy that other stuff later. Or buy it for MSG2 and FFX. It's PS2 what else can i say.

Xbox i don't like. Hard drives have a consistency of crashing. I think it's a notebook (read 2.5 inch) hard drive. They do last longer even when carried while still on and such. So it might be ok, but if you drop it even a foot off the ground the harddrive is probably not gonna work. Unless they did something clever to absorb the shock. And microsoft needs to earn their reputation in the gaming console arena and not buy it off. MS has a lot to learn in my opinion and i'd wait before buying it and see how it works first. Infact rent it at your local blockbuster or whatever. At least at my blockbuster you can rent game consoles. Thats what i'd do.

Nintendo has a very long and elite reputation for quality. Thats a fact. We all played Nintendo! Sony is elite also and some part has to do with Nintendo's screw up with the N64 being a huge bomb. I will admit at first i thought the gamecube was stupid and dumb. And then my dad bought it. played luigi's mansion and it's just incredible considering it's a first generation game.

To compare PS2 and gamecube you need to compare PS2's first generation games and luigi's mansion and gamecubes first generation game. Thats a bit more fair then compairing MSG2 and a random gamecube game.

Hey those are my thoughts and lets use this to discuss the consoles and looking forward to your thoughts!

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digital_trucker

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I have to say "Wait and see" on the Gamecube and the X-Box. The PS2 is unique in being backward-compatible. That's possibly the smartest thing ever done in the world of console gaming. Given the HUGE library of games and support that Sony has, I think it's going to take some doing to really compete with them. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a diehard Sony fan or anything. Before the PS, my console of choice was the Super Nintendo. I had planned to get the N64, but Nintendo followed Sega's lead and blew it. For any console to succeed, it needs major third-party support. Anyone remember the NEO-GEO? It was an awesome piece of hardware, But I never say more than a handful of games for it. Same story with Atari's Jaguar and Lynx. Sega always had decent hardware, but they kept coming out with a new machine every year or so and who wants to buy a new console that often?

Unngahhh! Fire good-blue screen bad
 
Cool finally a discussion lol.

I see your point. I was the sameway. wait and see as far as the gamecube. But my dad brought home a gamecube demo. It was a 3 inch disk and on the disk there was a place where it read that the disk is an actual size of the game and holds 1.5GB's of data. i'm just like wow that is cool. Given it's just DVD technology with the discs reduced in size but it's still neat. Also it had videos of the games and i liked what i saw. Same with my dad so he bought it.
a definite consideration it's a pretty neat little console.
It's everything the little disc said it was.

PS2 i can't argue with that. has so many games. I'll be buying myself one when the price drops.

but ya the N64 was a big mistake. They should have went the cd-rom route. Maybe they would have kept final fantasy. Sega just couldn't compete with nintendo for one and then sony came out. And nintendo came out with a big mistake N64 and sony just crushed everyone.

I like the new cost for nintendo games! 50 bucks! I got a deal cos we bought 3 games and only paid 43 bucks for each. sure beats the 80-90 bucks of the N64 games.

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FatBurger

Illustrious
The Xbox has a normal, 3.5" Seagate hard drive. Look over at <A HREF="http://www.hardocp.com" target="_new">HardOCP</A> for some pics of it ripped apart.

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Matisaro

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A: IMO ff7 and 8 sucked, thats one of the reasons nintendo wont let square make ff11 for the gamecube. But thats the past.
B: Backwards compatability was done by nintendo in the gbcolor first, but it is a brilliant idea ;-).

C: The gamecube uses the minidvd format, there are 3 reasons for this.

1: it is harder to impossible to copy at the consumer level(no burnt cd warez games like the ps1 and sc had to deal with.)
2: it transfers data a nice bit faster than regular dvd, to lessen load time dramatically.
3: limits fmv....this may sound like a bad feature, but I think nintendo is on to something. There are way too many psx and DC games with 10 minutes of suck ass game and 2 hours of glorious animation.(ff8 comes to mind) If we wanted to see a fmv movie we would have rented the spirits within, nintendo has always liked games, fmv can be a valuble PART of a game, but when the game is reduced to playing just to see the next fmv clip, the game suffers. (IMO).

"The Cash Left In My Pocket,The BEST Benchmark"
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ya i saw that.

it looked like a 2.5 inch disk. hmmm well thats even worst it being a normal desktop hard drive. Shack it just a little and it'll crash for sure. It's a dissaster just waiting to happen. How's the ventilation for the xbox? looks like it gets really hot. I'm not sure but i'm just using logic. nvidia is known for being hot and pentium 733 is not as hot as athlons but it still gets warm. The gamecube also gets warm but it does have a fan.

What they could do instead is install a 2-4GB notebook drive and surround it with shock absorbing plastic or whatever is available thats best but cost effective. that would increase the lifespan of the x-box and any other console that has a harddrive in my opinion. Why 8GB's though? i think thats overkill really.

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i dunno i liked ff7. 8 your right i didn't care for that one. 9 was awsome though. i still have to beat it. i'm at disk 4... i could beat it just don't want to lol *shrugs*.

hey that makes sense too! good call! I like the 3 inch disks i think it's cool and you have plenty of room for data too. ANd nintendo doesn't have to worry there console illegally doing something i forget what happened with the PS2 in japan. Data transfer... it loads the games like nothing. Like it was still on ROM! Only one so far with some load delay is tony hawk 3. Luigi's mansion has no load delay and starwars i can't get past the first level so lol.

Ya gameplay is really important. ANd luigi's mansion is just really fun to play!

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mawfia

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Thats intersting enough but what about the audience each console is try to attract. Im sorry but Mario and all his friends are getting very up in age now yet they appeal to younger markets. And Pokemon while i guess its fun to ten year olds what about the more adult oriented games...this is where PS2 shines. Im sorry if your a kid then nintendo is fine but when you feel like playing a grown up game then its time for the PS2.
 

bgates

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Lol, what is it that makes you think it's for gameboy color?

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If you can't get this right, who do you think will listen to you?

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jlbigguy

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Having both the Xbox and the Gamecube, here are my opinions.

The Xbox is large and heavy. Once you place it, it should stay put. This is not so for other game systems, as my son always brings one to grandma and grandpa. The Xbox won't be mobil.

Yes, hard drives are somewhat fragile, and don't like to be dropped. I have never dropped one, but I have had a couple fail on me after 3 years. However, the convience of nearly unlimited game saves, plus the yet to be used advantages of a hard drive certainly outweighs the risk of failure. Besides, what is the cost of a 10gig drive if it had to be replaced? Most hobbiests will do it themselves. One great feature of the hard drive is to copy music from your own CD's, and then have that music play in place of the soundtrack of the current game. My son loves this feature.

The graphics and sound on the Xbox are simply incredible. I am 6 foot 6 inches tall, so my hands are large. I find the Xbox controllers the best I have ever used. Plus, the extra long controller cables with the breakaway feature is great.

Last night we added the DVD module to the Xbox. It is a very capable DVD player, and has all of the features of a dedicated console DVD. For the cost of the DVD module ($30) you get a full featured DVD player.

The Gamecube is a big improvement over the N64. But the 2 games we have (Luigi and Rogue Force) are cartoonish, so we can't gauge what the machine can really do. Explosions and lighting in Rogue Force are very impressive.

I don't like the new Gamecube controllers. They are too small for me. The N64 controllers were more functional for me. Don't get upset guys, this is just my opinion formed from my oversized hands. It would be nice if the controller cables were longer.

It is too bad Nintendo didn't try for backward compatibility with the N64 games. A cartridge slot for N64 games as well as the CD would have been great. Sony was brilliant in this regard, being compatible with older Playstation I games.

So overall, I find the Xbox the better of the 2 systems. The Gamecube is a toy with great graphics and sound. It will be mobil, going on trips to friends homes with my son. The Xbox is more then just a game machine, and will find a permanent home in our entertainment center in our family room, never to leave the premises. While the Gamecube feels like a toy, the Xbox feels like an entertainment console. It certainly has more untapped potential then does the Gamecube, after all, it really is a PC in disguise.

In the long run, which will come out on top? The one with the better games. While the N64 has much better graphics then the Playstation I, my son prefers the Playstation because he feels it has better games. Based on the quality of Halo for the Xbox, Nintendo may have a strong challenger on its hands.

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FatBurger

Illustrious
Again, I've never had a hard drive go bad on me, and I'm not too gentle with my box on the way to/from LANs, either.

Yes, it has a fan to help with cooling. It is basically a Celeron, not a Pentium BTW. 128k of L2, on a 133 FSB. Overclocked Celeron, more or less.

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digital_trucker

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I don't know about all this "delicate HDD" business. I have my computer in my truck (no, it's NOT a laptop) with 2 HDD's in it. It surely does get bounced around and vibrated. It's even fallen upside down a few times! (user error in restraints) No probs. Anyways, to get back on topic, it's all about the games. Everyone has different tastes (if it says FF, I like it!) Like I said above, without third-party support and a few signature games, no console will last. If I had a nickel for all the times I heard "I'm buying an N64 to play Zelda", I could quit driving this truck and go and build my own version of Hal! Give it a year and see what happens. The only reason I bought a PS2 at launch was because of the backward-compatibility so at least I could still play all my old games-figured I had nothing to lose! Looked at it like an upgrade.

Unngahhh! Fire good-blue screen bad
 

Intel_inside

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Xbox: pros: most versatile, probably most powerful system. Harddrive and ethernet built it. Dvd support with addon. Will probably get alot of pc ports to it. Cons: Most expensive, bulkiest system. Least name reconiztion.

PS2: pros: biggest game library as of now, built in dvd support. cons: very few good games as of now. Slowest system.

Gamecube: pros: Cheapest. Best in-house developers. Small system. cons: lack of dvd support (untill the hybrid home entertainment system comes out).

Personally I think if microsoft plays the game right (no pun intended) the xbox could end up on top. Gamecube will have some games that will justify it's purchase so there is no way it will bomb. Same with the ps2, which has had a head start. However I have a feeling it's going to be more of a gamecube vs. xbox fight

AMD = Anger Management Disorder
 

Zenthar

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I have been a video game fan since my early age. I got a NES at the age of 7 and I have always been a Nintendo fan. I too wa disapointed by the N64, hope they learned from it.

Even if I'd like to see Nintendo shine again, I'll just wait probably a year to see what happens.

Sony used to rule simply because it had games, but if other more powerfull consoles can have as much games, will it still be #1 for long? The backward compatibility is a nice feature, I like the idea, but besside that, I don't think it has anything SPECIAL to take it appart from the XBox which is more powerfull (same audience, same kind of games, both support DVDs, ...).

As for the XBox, many people seems to be sceptical about the reliability of the system and I must admit I'm one of them. Even if having a HD means no need for a savepack, will some game companies see that as an oportunity to release beta games and patch them later on? THAT is my biggest fear. What makes the console games so much stable compared to PC games ... yep the Developers don't have a second chance to get it right! But overall I'm impressed by the awsome graphics comming out of that thing and if they can keep themselves from screwing up I see a very bright futur for microsoft in the console business.

The GameCube is what it's name tells: a game cube. No DVD support, no HD, just a plain "old" console as we all used to love them back in the NES, SMS, Genesis, SNES time. I think the more you add the more open you are to faillures, we all know that since we all have PCs. A point often raised by many against Nintendo is le lack of "grown-up" games. You must understand that the concept of "adult games" is still "new". There was no such thing back in the old SNES and Genesis time (besside Mortal Kombat). And when the PSX, and N64 came out, the N64 screwed up (hard to have adult games when you have practicaly no games at all). On a more personal note, I still like some childish games, I find it very zen, there is nothing more relaxing after burning live Nazies with a flamethrower then a little game of Pokemon Snapshot (N64) or even Unicycle (SNES).

I think the videogame industry is getting to "serious", and I miss the old childish fun I had. Today I spend most of my gaming time playing old emulated games with ZSNES and MAME, why? Even if the next Zelda video traumatized me, maybe it's inocent look combined with a real good game will bring that back ...
 

bgates

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Everyone knows Nintendo "has it," but the question is can they get it together.

They started out good with the N64, but then they lost alot of developers and decided to target a whole new audience. Nintendo became the system for the younger crowd, which alot of people are thinking will happen with the GC (Already apparent in the new Zelda,Luigi's Mansion, Pikamen, etc). Even though Japan may like that style, It doesn't sell well in the U.S.

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Intel_inside

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Actually, the n64 sold quite well in america.. it was in Japan that it really failed, probably thanks to it's lack of rpg games which are the main sellers in Japan. Although pokemon was very popular in both countries.

AMD = Anger Management Disorder
 
what is it with your ga'damn mothur'fuc'kin insults! i don't get it. You people say say i'm stupid and this and that and who here is doing the name calling?

hypocrite!

www.nintendo.com

gameboy color has a zelda game coming out fiting the description of a cartoonish 2d look.

show some respect to someone you fuc'kin know jerk!

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agreed.

I'd rather have the PS2.

my dad is 50 and doesn't the equal being a kid almost?
Gamecube is the easiest thing my dad can handle lol. He bought it to play zelda and metroid *nods*

it's still a cool system though!

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bgates

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Lmao, I guess you still don't understand. The Gamecube Zelda is rendered with a 2d Cel shader.

click and learn
<A HREF="http://cube.ign.com/previews/17012.html" target="_new">http://cube.ign.com/previews/17012.html</A>

Maybe you should get off your dad's computer and stay in school?

-¤ Shut the f*ck up or go AMD ¤-
 

Matisaro

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Final fantasy 8 totally sucked, final fantasy 4 is the best one, but lol...why is this convo on the cpu forum anyways????

"The Cash Left In My Pocket,The BEST Benchmark"
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BuGaLoU

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I didn't much care for Final Fanstasy 8. 7 was ok. 3 and 2 for SNES was the shiz though! Shadow in 3 and Kain in 2! I loved those characters!! FF8 got annoying having to watch the freakin GFs or what every they were do there 5 minute animation 7 times every fight for every 3 characters.... I would much rather play FF3 or 2 any day over 7 or 8. Haven't played 9 really.. 8 turned me off to the whole FF world.

Computer: $2000 Internet Access: $40 Registering for forums: Free A good signature: Priceless<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by bugalou on 11/21/01 03:49 AM.</EM></FONT></P>