XBOX or PS2?
 

Now that there has been a price drop, I am torn between two consoles...I just know Game Cube is NOT an option...most of the game titles I want seem to be pretty much availible on both consoles.

1) I have heard some serious reliability issues about PS2...I know somebody who works at WalMart service desk...they say they get TONS of PS2's returned as defective....is this true??? or is "It's broken" Latin for "I can't afford a $300 video game"?

2) Does the XBOX have an internal HD to store saved games? and the PS2 uses Memory Cards?

3) Does either have an optical or coaxial digital output for sound?

4) Is the XBOX going to die? that would suck to buy a console only to have it discontinued shortly afterwards.

The Xbox does have a HD to save your games. You can also put your on songs on it and play it during your game. It also has a built in broadband adapter. The Xbox supports S video and HDTV. It also has 286 sound channels.

I have only experienced one problem with my PS2 - a circular scratch was placed on one of my games. This scratch was removed with one of those gadgets you can buy at any game/electronics store. One of my nephews did have his PS2 failed though.

You can buy a memory card for the XBox as well as save on the internal HD (for portability sake, I guess).

The PS2 has an optical port builtin, but not a lot of games support Dolby Digital from what I have heard. You need to buy the HD pack for the XBox for the optical port, and it seems a lot of games for XBox supports DD.

Who knows if XBox will die? However, I wouldn't bet on it due to Microsoft's deep pockets.

You may also want to know that more XBox games supports 480 progressive scan. Right now, it seems that only Tekken 4 supports 480p. Hopefully, this will change in the future.

I wouldn't trust anyone from Wal Marts opinion. Especially when it comes to video games, he's probably a fanboy for a system other than PS2.

Some PS2s in the beginning had problems, but then again, didn't X-Box?

It's tough to choose 1, I have all 3 now, but I say PS2 just for the huge library.

Re: XBOX or PS2?
 

1) I have had my PS2 for over a year, and have had no problems with it. I have many, many friends who have PS2s and have had no problems. I would say the failure rate is pretty much the same for both consoles.

2)The X-box has a internal HD where you can store games, but you can also get memory cards for the X-box. PS2 uses memory cards only, unless you upgrade to the HD this fall.

3)PS2 has optical. More and more games are using this feature, even though they said it couldn't be done. X-box, you have to upgrade to the HD pack. Alot of games on X-box use DD.

4)X-box isn't going to die, because of Microsoft's huge pockets, but they are having a hard time right now. Bill definitely isn't making money he wants right now, and I don't know how long he will continue to support it.

I would still go with PS2 because of its huge library and huge user base. If you are an online gamer, Sony's online plans look better than Microsoft's. Its really a gut choice.

Re: Re: XBOX or PS2?
 

I dunno. Perhaps for more die-hard gamers. From a more casual perspective, Microsoft's flat-fee plans and more central design look much more attractive. Of course, if Microsoft dumps Xbox Live at some point down the road, then the games are worthless, whereas PS2 games may or may not be viable, depending on the publisher...

Re: XBOX or PS2?
 

I know this probably doesn't matter but you never know.... Over at IGN and a few other PS2 boards the answer to "How do I fix my PS2?" is always "Buy a new one at Wal-Mart, stick the old one in the box and return it". I don't know if it's really done all that often but I do know that it's always Wal-Mart because they have (or had, they're supposedly now recording serial numbers) the most lenient return policy. If people really have been doing this then someone working at Wal-Mart would see a huge number of PS2s returned as defective but other stores would see hardly any.

I don't buy into this PS2 breaking crap at all. I'm not going to knock the xbox either since I do not have one. A buddy from work bought the xbox last week and returned it on Monday. His reason was that he didn't really have the money to begin with but he loved the xbox, mostly because of graphics. When he returned it the guy told him that the xbox heats up and they get a lot of returns from that. Not sure if this is true or not, but I do know that I never see the xbox working when I go to a wal-mart or Target to buy games. They are usually just frozen on a screen. Now this doesn't mean it is broken, just frozen for one reason or another. I have heard that when you stand the PS2 vertical it scratches the disc's but I do not stand mine up so I can't really say if this is true or not.

Re: XBOX or PS2?
 

1. I doubt it. With everything, there will be some rejects, just put it back and replace it. Both come with warrantees as well.

2. Yes and Yes

3. No idea

4. Yes, eventually. Eventually ps3 and ps4 will die as well. As far as I'm concerned xbox isn't dying soon. Microsoft just invested 2 billion into it, so they're not gonna pull a Sega.



As for the guy saying return it to wal-mart: -rolleyes- . Good thinking, make wal-mart pay for your inability to maintain a machine. If it breaks within the warranty time, return it normally, but switching for another one is suck. And wal-mart has always recorded the serial anyway.....i mean, uh, yeah , they don't record the serial, so go ahead and return it yeah, yeah ;)

Re: Re: XBOX or PS2?
 

That's an opinion not all people on this board share, I assure you. (Read:Hard drive and ethernet adapter built in). Xbox live is gonna come with some voice recognition software (I believe), a yearly subscription and a game for $50.

Re: Re: XBOX or PS2?
 

Did you actually read what I wrote? I said that I've seen on other boards that people often return defective PS2s to Wal-Mart (which could lead to more defective PS2s brought back to Wal-Mart vs. other stores), not that if your PS2 breaks you should return it to Wal-mart. I've had my PS2 for months and have never had a problem so I'm not exactly sure what you're trying to say -rolleyes-.

Re: Re: Re: XBOX or PS2?
 

I wasn't talking to you. The aforementioned post must have been deleted. I apologize.

Actually, on second (err...3rd actually) I was replying to you and yes, I am an asshead.

Re: Re: Re: XBOX or PS2?
 

Sony has said that they will not charge for first party games. That means that any game published by Sony will be played for free online. That means after 5 months of playing a Sony game online, it is cheaper than the X-box equivalent ($10/month flat fee). They also specified that they are allowing the developers to run their own servers, which is better cause then the servers can be optimized for the game. By Microsoft running all the servers, if one thing goes wrong, the whole network is shut down. To give an example, when people started playing FFXI, the Authorization Server went down because of too much traffic. That is fine for the online Sony player, because they can just pop in another game. If that happened at Microsoft, the whole system would be down (I doubt they would use different Authorization Servers for every game). Overall, Sony has the best online plans.

Now = PS2. Backwards compatibility with all PSOne (or whatever the hell they call it now) games + a ton of titles for the PS2 = HUGE game library. I've had no problems with mine at all.

Later = XBox. They need more games. Period. And I'm not sold that they can hang with Sony over the next few years...

Personally, I'd buy a Cube before a box, but that could be because I'm itching to play their version of Resident Evil.

1.) In my experience, the launch PS2s were/are a hell of a lot buggier than the launch Xbox's. A lot of it is the DVD software, but there are also apparently a few really out-there production runs (ie, I know one guy with a launch PS2 who could not get the system to read blue discs). That's not to say Xbox was/is bugless. There were meltdown issues with an early batch (after it was on for more than four hours, it'd go insane), a run from Hungary which may eventually refuse to read any discs, and some instances of Xbox in Japan scratching discs. At this point, you should be safe with either system, since the initial production runs are pretty much sold, and the bugs worked out.

And, skipping to 4:

4.) Not likely. The system seems to be selling pretty well domestically, and provided the price drop isn't costiing Microsoft serious money, should be fairly stable for the next few years. I doubt it'll ever beat or equal the PS2 in Japan (and, therefor, will probably never get much support from Japanese developers), but in the US, things should be okay.

That said, if the systems both really have all the games you want, I'd say go with the Xbox. It's got marginally better hardware, and winds up being cheaper overall once you factor in the stuff it has that the PS2 doesn't. However, the PS2 definitely has a better line of overall software.

No problem, asshead :D

Like some others here, I own all 3 systems. My recommendation for right now is to get a PS2. Main reason: game library and prices. You can get Gran Turismo 3 for $20, and alot of other very good games for < $30. On the other consoles, the only games you'll find for < $30 are the mostly stinkers (Fusion Frenzy, Cel Damage, Kabuki Warriors, etc).

Thanks to a free (which is what it's worth) subscription to Gamepro, I know that the PS2's durability has been a popular subject in their Buyers Beware column. They've just written [July issue] that they've received an "avalanche of letters" of complaints from consumers, and then printed a letter from an employee for a "major video game retailer". Here's some highlights:

- The blue-bottom disc problem with PS2s not only exists, but is rampant. When Madden and NCAA Football 2002 came out, they were defecting out copies left and right due to scratching.

- At his annual manager conference, Sony reps denied everything, claiming no known defects or problems. "At that point I asked for a show of hands from the 100 or so managers who were in the room and who were experiencing this problem in their stores. As far as I could tell, all raised their hands. The Sony guy quickly dismissed our concerns and changed the subject."

- "Sony will accept a rate of 2 percent of defective systems from retailers. I can tell you for a fact that the actual figure for our company is around 11 percent to 13 percent. It is not just the blue-bottom disc problem, either. Some units stop playing DVD movies and DVD-format PS2 games." Etc, etc.

*******

If you've gone to enough forums and read enough game mags, it's clear that PS2 is in the top 3 of all-time defective hardware. But it's too early to tell exactly where it places compared to DC and PSX.

The amount of PS2's that come back damaged is ridiculous, I'd have to say it's 15 % in the first 3 months. In the next 9 months it gets closer to 30 %. I seriously recommend the extended warranty to people who buy a PS2.

Re: XBOX or PS2?
 

1) PS2 and XBox both have had some reliability issues. Gamecube is the only one of the three that hasn't generated very many complaints. I think the new PS2s are more reliable than the old ones, and the XBox rumors may have been overstated. Any console you get, you might want to consider an extended warranty.

2) XBox has an HD. That's why it's so big. PS2's memory cards are 8MB, which holds a ton of saves. The bad news is that you need a memory card. The good news is you'll probably only need one. I'm not too big on hard drives for consoles, and I probably won't buy the PS2 HD add on. I hope future consoles will be less like XBox and more like Gamecube, but I prefer the gadget aesthetic to the VCR aesthetic of the XBox, so that's just my opinion.

3) I know PS2 has optical. XBox probably does. Gamecube does not.

4) Nobody knows whether XBox will die. I think it's unlikely it will be discontinued like the Dreamcast, but the exclusive titles may slow to a trickle. PS2 has a user base of around 7 times that of the XBox. Most of the good exclusives go where the users are. But XBox and Gamecube will likely get plenty of multiplatform support. The XBox and Gamecube versions will look better, but the PS2 versions will often have better control, because the game would have originally been designed for play on the Dual Shock.

As far as exclusives, Grand Theft Auto is now PS2 exclusive. So is Tekken 4 and all the Square games. XBox has whatever Microsoft publishes, a couple of neat looking Sega games like Panzer Dragoon.

Nobody knows the status of Soul Calibur 2. Sony claimed it was now PS2 exclusive. Nintendo said they were still getting it. Some of the speculation is that Sony got Namco to not put it on the XBox, but it's still coming to PS2 and Gamecube.

Re: Re: Re: Re: XBOX or PS2?
 

Are you sure about that? I read an article that made it sound like the PS2 version of Everquest would be free, but I wasn't sure. If this is true, that's a huge deal.

Otherwise, XBox Live is better than paying $10 per game, but I'll probably still only play online games that are free.

Re: Re: Re: Re: XBOX or PS2?
 

Wrong, Xbox Live is $50 for one WHOLE year. The $50 also includes a voice communicator, and a free game.

Wrong again. Microsoft will be running the server but whom do you think will provide the code to run? Microsoft? I don't think so! That would mean that Microsoft would have to know exactly how every game works and create code for it. The game developer will create optimized code for Microsoft and Microsoft will just run it on its server providing authorization, backup and support services to the game developers. With Microsoft's fat pockets they will be able to afford some really fat pipes so gaming should be great.

Do you really think that Microsoft would only run one server? As I remember correctly Microsoft is planning THREE massive data centers and I am sure that they will be able to do load balancing and recover if one server goes down. The problem with FFXI is that Square is running the servers. They know nothing about servers and the Internet. I don't know about you but if I buy a game I want to play it now. I don't want to play another game because the servers are down. Now whom do you think would have a better time keeping their servers up? Microsoft with $2 billon dollars or 15 developers all running different protocols?

No to mention having a different password and login for each developer. For ease of use and reliability I would defiantly go with Microsoft. Plus don't you have to spend $40 + $80 for the network adapter and hard drive? Oh and how do you plan on talking to your friends over 56K? Last time I checked Play station controllers did no come standard with a keyboard.

Re: Re: XBOX or PS2?
 

Where can I read about the possibility of such nonsense? I can't find it at ign :confused:

Re: Re: Re: XBOX or PS2?
 

Look harder.

http://cube.ign.com/articles/360/360266p1.html

The part about them killing the XBox version was an idea people were talking about on a message board. It's speculation, like I said. But that's what Sony did to GTA3 XBox.

I don't buy that SC2 won't be on Gamecube. It's being developed on Gamecube hardware. But I do believe that Namco can be cajoled or coerced off of the XBox.

Nintendo does its own thing, so it can co-exist with either of the other consoles. But Sony and Microsoft are in direct competition, not just for consumers but for developers