Nevermind the Bollox, here is the GameCube (Sony Playstation 2)

Member Name: Zooropa_Boy

Product:	Sony Playstation 2
Date:	07/05/02 (204 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Many

Disadvantages: many

I hate reading the hundreds of conflicting opinions written by kids worshipping one console dissmissing the competition. They lack any sense of objectivity, the entire point of debate on the issue. It is really quite sad to spend your time allining yourself with a japanese cooperation and aggressively defend them and attack their rivals. That is what they pay advertising agencies and press people for.

On the other hand you have a load of posts packed with pasted, meaningless jargon about system performance that the average man on the street doesn't understand or care about.

The bottom line in this argument that no one console is entirely bad, nor does one competly eclipse its competition. Otherwise millions of people wouldn't buy it, face the fact that a hell of a lot of people prefere the PS2 and the xbox. Lets look at the strengths and weaknesses of each console.

Playstation 2

Pros: 1) SONY, well trusted household name partly the reason for the success of the PS1.

2) Doubles as a DVD player (albeit not as well as the machines actually designed to do it).

3) Plays PS1 games, no need to burn your old games, u can even sell the old console to help pay for the new one.

4) Looks ok, nice design, can stand on side to save space.

5) A few great games in the line up, metal gear 2, GTA3, grand Tourismo and Max Payne.

Cons: 1) On paper it is the weakest of the 3 consoles by a quite a bit, BUT this really doesn't count for much, because the games developers use the power in completly different ways.

2) PRICE! £199 for a console and a controller is unreasonable, especially when compared with the GameCube and xbox, that is, on paper a vastly superior system.

3) ONLY 2 controller sockets: who ever had this bright idea should be crucified while his family is stoned to death in front of him. Now we have to buy a hideously ugly 'multi tap' for about £30 so all
our friends or children can play. No offence Sony but you really can go and F*** yourself.

4) Games, I have to say, i am not overly impressed by most of the games on the PS2, they are rushed sequals and even graphically they aren't any better than the Dreamcast.

I like the Playstation 2, sony did reasonably well, they chose to stick with the orginal controller and have overcome inital problems at the launch. The also relesed it well before both the xbox and the GameCube meaning that they had already sold more than 25 million units before the other 2 were even launched. The hardware age gap means that it looks like a dinosaur when compared with the NGC and xbox but its not nearly as significent as Ninty and M.S would have you believe. And SOME of the games are fantastic

Next xbox
Pros- 1) An absolute BEAST of a machine, 733mhz P3 clockspeed, the fastest of the lot, and it can do a zillion polygons or something. But yet again this doesn't count for a lot and no doubt the polygon count is exaggerated. (NB- although it boasts a 733mhz CPU, the P3 isn't as efficent as the NGC's IBM 485mhz chip so in practise the actually speed are very similar.

2) The xbox has a few nice extras that make it more like a PC than a console, such as a 10gig interal hard disk-ruling out the need for memory cards. And also such abilities as the option of coverting your fav songs from CDs into mp3s that u can listen to during the game.

3) HALO, a First person shooting game that looks stunning and is by far the xbox's best game.

Cons- 1) Without doubt this is the ugliest man made object ever created, worse than the millenium dome. Its like a giant slab of paving stone painted black, its also rather enormous.

2) The controller of the xbox will give u arthritis, its the most awkward, uncomfortable controller I have ever used. it makes even the best games like HALO a chore to play- with a good controller you wil
l forget it is even in your hands (eg: N64, NGC and to a lesser extent the PS1+2.)

3) Bill Gates/Microsoft

4) £30 extra for DVD player, as far as I am concerned Microsoft should make it as standard or not at all.

I get the feeling that Microsoft were making a PC rather than a console, not that this is wholly a bad thing, the hard disk rules out the need for memory cards but 10gigs is a hell of a lot and other features like the MP3 thingy just seem a tad pointless. The xbox does have a number of nice refinements (eg: the controller cord that breaks if u pull it too hard to stop the paving slab from damaging your floor) but the controller and the console's size are the main deterrents for me. Never the less, it has proved popular in the USA and its sheer power shouldn't be underestimated.

GameCube
Pros- 1) By far the best looking, coolest games console ever made, available in indigo or jet back, both look great.

2)Size, or rather lack of it, the Cube is tiny 11.5x15x16cm! (Which of course means that technically means it isn't a cube)

3) The NGC is designed to be portable, with its small size, built-in carrying handle and the 5" flat screen that attaches on meaning that you can play it in the car (sold separately).

4) The Controller- simply the best input device ever made for a games console.

5) I think the Cube is the only console that can truly claim to be next generation: It is a finely honed number crunching machine. Everything about it is optimized for preformance, making it by far the most effient console. Ninty have put a hell of a lot of money into getting ever aspect of the cube right, the controller on its own was in development for a year!

6) The NGC is designed for the sole purpose of playing games, Nintendo have abandoned the 32mb cartridge (replacing them with 1.5gig 3inch mini-DVDs which, incidentally, are soooooooo Freekin Cool) and have made a develo
per's dream- a machine that is easy to make great games for, nintendo have removed the bottle necks that sank the N64, and may yet sink the xbox and PS2.

7) The Price £129! £70 cheaper than the competition. Extremely good considering its technical specs.

Cons: 1) everyone has a PS2, the Cube (or the xbox for that matter) won't do as well as the PS2 no matter how good it is, peer pressure plays a huge role in sales, the N64, an overall superior console beaten because mainly because it wasn't as trendy as the PS1. (Highly over Simplified I know!!!!) SONY IS COOL......unfortunately for everyone else. To quote a fellow dooyoo-er JUST SAY NO!

2) GAMES, this is more of a question mark than a weakness. The games for the Cube are very good, BUT none of them are mind blowing like Metal Gear 3 and Halo, AT THE MOMENT. To quote 'computer active', "at the launch, the NGC's games are evolutionary rather than revolutionary." But there are some promising titles in development; we will just have to wait a few months for the Zelda’s and Mario 64s.

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update
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I have been doing research and i can confirm that the GC now will have an amazing games list, they have 'rare' and 'sega' and have recently stolen square from sony (final fanasty....i think)
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3) No DVD player as such. For most i doubt this will be an issue but when compared with the others this could be a problem

Well thats what i think, obviously i am biaed towards nintendo but i can't help that, i tried to be as even handed as possible. I like all of these machines but the sad thing is that there can only be one winner, and chances are it will be Sony, moreover, one manufactuer will finish last and be relagated.

I genuinly believe that nintendo have made the best
console and it is the one to go and buy, its extreamly powerful, the games will be the best, and it is £70 cheaper than both Xbox and PS2. In sum, it is truly the next generation of console.

Summary:
PS2: 4/5
xbox: 3.5/5
Cube: 6/5

Summary: