CanadianKnight

Hi all!

Okay, I've been outta the console market for YEARS. (Last console I had was a SNES!) Up 'till now, I've been a dedicated PC gamer.

So, my wife has agreed that we should get a new console system. YIPPEE! I like all sorts of games (shooter, driver, strategy,etc) and she tends more towards either puzzle/tetris-type things and/or strategy (simcityish).

We are gonna set up the console with our 32" Tau with a DD5.1 system. So WHICH CONSOLE WOULD YOU SUGGEST? (No component hook-ups available, unless I use a switch box...or I could just go with the S hookup.)

I've been leaning towards the PS2, for the sheer selection of games available. (That way I *know* I'll be able to find games the wife will enjoy.)

On the other hand, I love the tech-level of the Xbox, (the graphics are amazing!) but the game selection seems pretty limited at this time. (But damn if Gotham racing and ... damn...lost it...that fighting game..you know the one...WOW. What graphics!!!)

I'm a little annoyed that the PS2 requires seperate memory cards for PS2 games and PSOne games...extra expense there...but I am really having trouble deciding between these two systems. Any advice?

Both systems price the same locally. (Damn our canadian dollar...argh) Both come with one controller, yes?

Help me out? Thanks!

Adam Tyner

Re: component video -- I'm in the same boat as you. I have a 36" VVega with only one set of component inputs, which are currently being used by my DVD player.

I was thinking about getting a component video switchbox for my impending Xbox purchase (just waiting for the price to drop as I'm not a hardcore gamer and haven't been for ten years). The folks on the Home Theater Forum recommended this switchbox.

If you click on the link, your first reaction will probably be "ummm, that's a composite box", but you can connect each of the three video inputs to the video + 2 audio slots, and it works beautifully. The folks at the HTF (who are known for being very discerning about quality) note that there isn't any accompanying signal degradation. There's a discussion there on the box at http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...threadid=13940

Flay

I own both a PS2 and XBox. I enjoy both of them.

My advice for you is to wait until after E3 to find out about any price cuts. If price cuts are announced for both consoles, then get them both.

Or you could do what I did and buy a preowned PS2 for a cheap price. Then again, if a price cut happens, that will drive down the preowned prices too.

Shuki

only one answer... the xbox. AFAIK the PS2 does not support the 5.1 SS. And do yourself a favor and use the switchbox. forget about that s-video thing if you have the component option.

Josh H

That's really a decison you have to make on your own. Look at the games available and announced (waiting till after E3 would be good for this, and there may be price drops) and buy which ever one has the game lineup that is most attractive for you.

For me it would be the PS2 by a long shot, but you may have different tastes. Being an avid PC gamer, you might prefer the X-box as it will likely get more FPSs and PC ports than the PS2.

Josh H

I think it's pretty foolish to base which system to buy on whether or not it supports DD 5.1. Tech specs do not make a system good, the games do. He just needs to decide which system has, and will have, the most games that appeal to him.

CanadianKnight

Thanks for the input gang. Still a little undecided...so if anyone else has anything to add, please do!

I'm not OVERLY concerned about the game system being DD5.1. That's why the PS2 is still an option.

I guess my problem is this...every time I purchase and/or get interested in a system, I always seem to pick the one that dies shortly thereafter. (I still have an Atari Lynx kicking around somewhere, for example...) So while I really want an XBox, I'm afraid it doesn't have the staying power of the PS2. Or the library. Heh. (Plus I really admire Sony for making their system backwards compatible!)

Tough call. If anyone else has opinions they'd care ta share...I'm listenin.

gcribbs

do you have younger kids?

if so the the PS2 with a bullet since the available PS1 games plus the PS2 greatest hits make this the best system for a family.

If you have no kids then look at the games each has(both you and your wife) and pick the one that has the games you want to play.

Personally I would suggest waiting till after E3 and buy both the PS2 and the GC as this gives you the best selection of games. This is what I will be doing when the hoped for GC drop happens after the PS2 drop. Of course since you did not mention the GC maybe I should not mention that one

Tamrok

If the only reason keeping you from getting an X-Box is the fear that it will fail like the Dreamcast, I wouldn't worry about it. Microsoft is in this for the long haul. They've stated numerous times that they don't expect to catch Sony's installed base in this generation of consoles. Microsoft has the money and resources to be able to look long-term. They will continue to support the X-Box for years to come. As for game libraries, Sony does have a big head start but you can expect nearly every major third party game to eventually show up on both X-Box and PS2. However, I do agree that you may wish to wait until after E3 for any price cuts. You may save yourself enough money to be able to get both systems.

Joshic

I used to be an avid PC gamer, and I enjoy both my Xbox and PS2 a lot. Although these days I do enjoy playing the Xbox a lot more than the PS2. The graphics are better, load times are better, save times are faster, and the games are fun. Plus I'm really beginning to hate the fact that I've already had to spend $70 just to save games. I do agree that the Xbox caters to the PC gamer more than the PS2. The PS2 has a lot of good platform games for it, but that's one genre that really doesn't interest me. Jak and Daxter, Klonoa2, Maximo - all were so-so IMO. Of course for many gamers platform games are their favorites, so YMMV.

If you've waited this long to buy a new console, I recommend waiting just a little longer until after E3 and the expected price cuts for the consoles.

And regardless of which console you get, please, please do yourself a favor and use component video inputs. If it forces you to buy a switchbox, then do it. It makes a huge difference in picture quality with either system.

Cy Jervis

I was doing the X-BOX vs. PS2 thing last summer and had all the same thoughts as you. The more I thought about it the more I wanted the X-BOX: DD 5.1, great graphics controler with triggers, no memory cards needed, and to be able to burn music onto the hard drive for playback in games. My wife saw my obsession and bought me one on launch day and I have not regretted it yet. The load times are quick, the sound is awsome and the graphics blow you away. I've burned 50 songs onto the drive and haven't touched the memory yet. My living room shakes when I play with the subwoofer on, and my dad sat thru about 3 minutes of hockey before he realized it was a game. Wait until E3 and then make up your mind, don't follow the rest of the sheep, make your own choice.

WOWZY

Since owning my Xbox I can say that it's a pleasure just putting a game in and playing it rather than having to hunt for memory cards.

If the 5.1 doesn't matter to you then NOT having to buy memory cards for the Xbox should save you alot of headaches and money since it has a Harddrive. Memory cards are sooooo yesterday.

I laugh at my PS2 friends that are constantly scrambling around trying to find a particular memory card for a game in the pile of memory cards beside their tv. One of my friends has over $150 in memory cards alone and another has more than that.

Josh H

Most people I know still use mem cards with there x-boxes. They need them to take their save games to friends houses, plus some are afraid of losing data. Hard drives are among the most often failing pieces of electronic equipment (not the X-box harddrive, but harddrives in general).

jagernaut

How many games does he have? I have saves for over 12 games on one PS2 memory card + 2 megabytes for the 2.1 dvd driver and i still have space left over.

The average person (unless they play A LOT of season mode sports games) could get by with 1 card, and would need 2 memory cards at most.

Keyser Soze

Ps2.

-k
###

Gdrlv

I would go with the PS2. I own a PS2 and don't have an XBox. However, my best friend's got an XBox and a PS2, and he plays his PS2 way more often and often laments that XBox doesn't have more attractive gaming options. Besides Halo, he hasn't found a great game that's available for XBox and not available for PS2.

XBox may be a more advanced system with more power, but PS2 has the better games, and it looks like they'll continue to have the better games. That should be your first consideration...

brygx

This is for if you had to make a choice today.. For future lasting power, I'd go with the xbox. It'll make the most of your games and your tv/stereo setup. The PS2 is at the end of it's lifecycle, it's got maybe a good year left in it. If you don't need to decide soon, wait til after E3 and get the console that appeals most to you.

Grimfarrow

The PS2 will definitely have a larger game library. Moreover, IMO the PS2 wil survive *longer* than the X-Box. After all, the PS2 currently has over 28 million units shipped, compared to the 3-4 million units by June of the X-Box. Superior hardware does not mean that it will last longer. Heck, just look at the 3D0 for proof. It's all about who has the largest market share, and it's PS2 by far.

spankyj

To sum it up:

1) Wait till after E3 to buy. See where the prices are at.

2) Game library vs Gaming power. (Subject to change)

3) PS2 - Dvd player included, need memory cards.
XBox - Hard Drive included, need dvd remote.

4) Go with your gut, and enjoy.

gcribbs

simply not true. The PS1 is even still being supported by Sony heck it is outselling the XBox still in Japan.

The PS2 has a 5 year cycle. This system will be around for a long time they expect to hit around 40 million sold by the end of the year.

Roan

I own both the PS2 and the Xbox. I spend a lot more time playing the Xbox because the games tend look better. It's hard to go back to the jaggies and the frame rate problems you often see on PS2 games after playing a game like Halo. I'm not saying that all PS2 games are like that or that all Xbox games don't have those type of problems. Xbox games just tend too look nicer. Overall, both systems are great and you can't go wrong either way.

Josh H

Not true at all. Game systems have 5 year life cycles and the PS2 has only been out for a year and a half.

The PS3 will likely come out in fall of 2005. The next MS and Nintendo systems will likely come out in fall of 2006. Not a big disparity there.

agrall

If you have ean HDTV and/or a DD-5.1 capable sound system, I would recommend the X-Box. I have owned both systems, and in general, the games look and sound much better on the X-Box.

TheAllPurposeNothing

All this talk of PS2 v XBox v GameCube constantly amuses me.

No matter what system is leading...no matter what titles are in the pipeline...no matter what franchises a system has...it all means nothing.

Because it is all a crap shoot.

Sony got very, very lucky last fall. GT3 and MSG2, while strong out of the gate, haven't come close to holding that strength. Look at the March sales list. Before going in the Greatest Hits line, GT3 was already out of the top 20. And MGS2 had been long out. The game that is selling that system is GTA3...period!! A game with virtually no hype last fall. A game no one was expecting anything from. A game that basically took what was revolutionary about Shenmue (basically being to able to entirely inhabit a universe) and added the simple pleasure of being corrupt. I'm curious to see how the PC port affects PS2 sales.

The game that Nintendo secured its future with was not Mario, Zelda, or Metroid-based. Yes, it established iself on such titles, but never could maintain iteself on them. It was a simple little game from Russia, not Japan, that was so addicting that even grandmas wanted Nintendos. A game that consisted of nothing but blocks falling. A game that would have easily been ported to an Atari 2600 or a Timex Sinclair. This game also secured Nintendo's future in the handheld market, dominating the superior Lynx or Game Gear. No Nintendo system, save the handhelds, have had as much luck with any of the franchise titles.

Halo, obviously, is what drives XBox sales. Not necessarily because it is innovative, but because it perfects the details of similar games before it. But Microsoft needs a wild card like GTA3 or Tetris to truly boost its sales. For all of its nVidia powered, DD5.1, hard drive-driven techno-mumbo-jumbo, it is just a game system. And one game can make or break a system.

The next title that will sell systems is more than likely just a small blip on analysts radars right now. And it could once again, amount to nothing more complicated that little blocks falling down the screen. Something addicting and hard to put down. Without such a title, it could come to pass that all three game systems could wane. Remember...after Atari's big reign in the late 70's, it was a muti-colored, non-electric square that reigned. It took almost five years for video games to retain their footing.

Tomorrow is my son's fifth birthday. At the top of his want list is an XBox with Halo. And I gave in and bought it for him (please..no bad parenting rants...he's quite mature for his age with a good moral standing...plus he whips my butt in UT time after time). But second on his list, and almost as desirable, is Rock'em Sock'em robots. The same toy I wanted at his age. A simple game that's still loads of fun. So why did I go with the first choice, at a price tag 20 times the other? Two reasons. One..because part of me remembers back to 1977, when I wanted an Atari 2600 to play Space Invaders. And so did everyone else. After saving allowance with my brother for half a year, no one had a single system in stock. With my Dad's coaxing, we bought a Magnavox Odyssey2 instead. And while it had some good games (KC Munchkin, anyone?), it was just never the same. And second...you just never know..the next great, must-have game could be on this system. And I won't have to worry about disappointing him when everyone's sold out. Rock'em Sock'em Robots will be around a long time and readily available. The same can not be said for the XBox (or PS2 or GameCube).

So what's the point of all of this? Don't choose your system based on forum user likes/dislikes or industry speculation. Pick the game you most want and buy that system. Because the only guarantee you will have is that you will have the one game you desire most. Tomorrow could well likely be another story....

--Mumford

P.S. Though this is pure speculation, and therefore should be taken with a grain of salt, I believe that Sony's announcement that it will not drop console prices is entirely based on a forehand knowledge that GTA3 will NOT be released on another console. If Microsoft drops its price as expected, Sony would be foolish to think people would pay $50 to $100 more for a system that's one must-have game is being ported to its cheaper competitor.

CanadianKnight

Thanks for your thought and opinions everyone! (And Mumford? AWESOME post. Thanks!)

After taking everything into account, not to mention the opinions I got here and on a couple other forums, I went out last night and purchased a nice shiney new X-Box. With five games. (DOA3, Wreckless, Spiderman, Crash Bandicoot and Amped, which was bundled with the machine.) Also picked up one of those new S controllers. Nice!

(And no, I didn't get Halo. I will eventually...but I have plenty o' shooter-type games on my PC at the moment...)

So, needless to say, didn't get much sleep last night! I can't get over the view-distance (or lack) on Amped. You can see the whole damned hill!

Very happy with my purchase. And I bought from one of those nice stores that has a 30-day price protection guarantee. So if the rumours of the price drop are true, they'll refund me 110% of the difference.

Thanks again everyone!!!