Most of the ones I've seen marked down for Xbox are junk though. PS2's Greatest Hits titles selection includes some really good games. Gran Turismo 3 for $20 is reason enough to go with the PS2.

Well GT3 bores the daylights out of me (I can only imagine what a 10 year old would think) so I'm probably not the best one to task about that game. On the other hand, Amped seems to be lowered in price :up: :) . Are there any games other than ICO and GT3 that are greatest hits so far that are good?

These are the greatest hits games that I found enjoyable

Devil May Cry
ICO
Jak and Daxter
NBA Street
Onimusha
SSX
Tony Hawk 3
Twisted Metal Black

Other titles can be found in this thread

Not bad, but no reason to buy the system IMO. Jak and Dexter might be the only one out of those I'd consider picking up, although that one doesn't interest me much. Anyway, my point is I wouldn't use the greatest hits to measure the reason to get one system over another, I could get most Xbox or GCN games that old for the same price used and in great condition.

I own all 3 systems... <B>overall</B> choice I'd recommend is the

ps2.

-k
###

FYI...
You can get the DVD remote for free with the purchase of an Xbox until Nov. 2nd. You buy it with the system and you get a $30 rebate to mail in.

PS2 for cheap/great games and widest selection

Gamecube for marquee mascot games like Mario/Zelda

Xbox if you want some of Sega's finest and some niche games (like Steel Battlion)


I am going with an xbox this winter and prolly a PS2 when it is dirt cheap. I will most likely never touch a GC. I just don't care about platform games like Mario or Zelda at all.

Sounds like Gran Turismo 3 is a great game in terms of popularity, price and realism--but not necessarily gameplay for a pre-teen...

*IF* we end up going PS2, is there a better choice for a racing game that isn't so technical? Any other hit racing games that might be more fun for the kiddies? (I don't mean Mario GoKart, but some happier medium... :))

Thanks everyone for the great overviews. Looks like there's plenty of good stuff available on both systems...

Based on these two facts alone, I would recommend the XBOX.

Project Gotham is a great racing game that uses real cars. It not only requires you to drive fast but also with style (slide around corners, get air etc.) making it kind of like the extreme games out today. It's got the rockin' soundtrack but better yet, you can burn your own songs to the hard drive and make a unique driving soundtrack.

Amped is also a great snowboarding game, similar in style to the Tony Hawk series. You can pick AMPED and Project Gotham up pretty cheaply now.

Well, everyone wants to surprise the kids on Christmas, but the only way to be sure they won't be disappointed is to ask the kids which one they want.

If you don't want to ruin the surprise, tell her to have the kids make a list of all the stuff they want. Chances are, they'll ask for the console they want, and then you'll know.

However, if they get the PS2, you should give them GTA, and tell them to hide it from their mother. Then you will be the coolest uncle ever.

Xbox dominates the racing game category. How can anybody deny that?

Notable current excellent Xbox exclusives are Sega GT 2002, PGR, Moto GP, and Rallisport Challenge. Outside of GT3, what PS2 racer comes close to these? And unless it's an EA game, racing ports are nearly guaranteed to be better on Xbox, even if they get lazy on visual upgrades, because of controls.

Nothing beats analog dual triggers for racing games. MS was very smart in copying that innovation from Sega.

As for extreme/skateboarding/snowboarding, it's extremely close. Xbox-exclusive Amped may tilt the balance. I can't think of another high-quality title in this category that's exclusive to any of the three consoles. Maybe somebody else can point out something I've forgotten.

I would recommend PS2.
DVD player
tons of games including PS titles
and
Dance Dance Revolution! Gotta get the dance pad with that.

I've had a chance to extensively play a game in development for the X-Box ported over to the PS2. The graphical capability of the Xbox so far outstrips the Playstation that it's not even funny. It feels like I'm playing an N64 at times.

The down side of the X-Box is that the controller is just too damn freakin' big. Even with monster sized paws like mine, I still think the controller is oversized and uncomfortable. Sure you can get the Japanese controllers, or a 3rd party - but that's an additional expense I'd like to avoid.

If I had to buy a console over again, having given all three a extensive and fair shake, I'd probably do the Game Cube. The multi-player games (like Smash Brothers and Monkey Ball) really hold my attention. Meanwhile, Nintendo is putting out little experimental games - Animal Crossing, Pikman - that are really fun to play. And Rouge Squadron is a hard game to put down - a really slick Star Wars game.

The X-box does have some lure - I'll probably get one of those at the next price drop, but for my primary gaming fix it's Nintendo all the way.

I'm of the opinion that you only need one good car racing game to keep you busy, and GT3 is king of the hill.

But I'm surprised Gamecube has been left out here. It's easily the best system for kids. The portability is great, the controller is probably the best for those with small hands, and I'm inclined to say it's more durable than PS2, though I haven't smashed them against a wall or anything to see. I think kids could break the disc tray on PS2/xbox/any DVD player.

Also Gamecube has a lot of great games with robust simultaneous play modes, which is much better than fighting over whose turn it is.

You are completely evil. :D

How can you dominate a category when you don't have the best racing game?

Just by having more racing games total?

By having more quality racing games, yes.

I don't buy the there's GT3 and there's nothing else baloney.

Well, my brother is 12, and all his friends have a PS2. They all have GTA3, and Tony Hawk 3. My brother rather play arcade racing games like Need for Speed or Burnout than sim racers like GT3. They don't have that much interest in Xbox either, IMO games like SEGA games, Brute Force, Halo, Duality, and online gaming appeal more to older gamers.

I agree that both of those are great games, but I haven't seen PGR for less than $49.99. You can find Amped for about 15 though. If you know where to find PGR for less than 50, please tell me. Thanks in advance! :)

Let's see... I asked "Outside of GT3, what PS2 racer comes close to these?" Two people challenged my analysis and both offered the grand total of ZERO other racing games as proof of the strength of PS2 racers.

I think that eloquently points out a possible recommendation for this thread's author to follow. There's far less chance that a pre-teen kid is going to love GT3 as much as some here do. And if you knock that out, there's little left of quality in the category, which apparently is 1/2 his deciding factors.

And nobody has yet added any other extreme/boarding franchises that I may have overlooked.

If he said sports... PS2 or Xbox.
If he said platformers... currently GC or PS2.
If he said Japanese-style RPGs... PS2 or GBA.
If he said Western RPGs... Xbox.

But he asked about racing & extreme/boarding, and the best choice (especially for a pre-teen) is Xbox.

adamblast, if you want to do your nephews a favor, ignore all the well-intentioned advice here and figure out some way to find out what your nephews want. The posts here make some good points about why they might prefer one over the other, but I've found that kids have an annoying tendency to form their own opinions on that matter.

I'd suggest that you have your sister ask your nephew's friends. They ought to know what her kids want.

The best thing to do is for her to just ask which they'd prefer. Surprising them is great, but probably not worth the risk of buying them something other than the system they wanted the most.

Racing and extreme sports games are petty even across the X-box and PS2, so that's not much help.

If Final Fantasy is a factor as eluded to, then the PS2 is the clear choice.


To make a blind reccomendation, I'd go with the PS2. It has the largest game library due to receiving the best third party support. Plus the library is much bigger when you consider that you can play PSone games.

Basically, there's pretty much something for everyone on the PS2, and it's the "safest" buy as a result of this.

roflmao The xbox doesnt dominate anything.

PS2 Racers

TOCA Race Diver
AUto Modelista
GT3
WIpeout fusion
Ferrari F355

are much then a match for M$'s little box

Maybe if you weren't roflyao, you'd remember that somebody is asking about advice for a ten and twelve year old.

GT3? I'm sure all pre-teens love the idea of tuning up dozens of details on hundreds of cars.

And if you had only been able to stop laughing, you'd have seen that I wrote "Other than GT3..." two separate times. So thanks for answering the question with GT3. It added quite a bit.

Ferrari F355? You mean the port of Sega's ambitious DC simulation of one make of car criticized for its much higher than average level of difficulty? I'm sure that's more great advice for these two kids.

Wipeout Fusion? Well, if we're going to branch out into the futuristic sub-genre, the original Wipeout developers seem to have it covered on Xbox with Quantum Redshift.

Auto Modelista? I didn't realize unreleased games (February 23, 2003 according to buy.com; March 17, according to Gamestop) were in the running, otherwise I might have included Midtown Madness 3 or PGR2. Besides, I was writing about high-quality exclusives... based on Japanese reviews and developer word-of-mouth, this title may be 0-for-2.

TOCA Race Car Driver? Another unreleased game? Boy, that sure does make my analysis of the current situation seem lame. I can see why your sides are aching from laughter.

:rolleyes:

At least you mentioned some titles, though. When you boil it down, though, your answer to "Other than GT3, what PS2 racer comes [NOTE: that's present tense] close to these?" is simply Ferrari F355.

firstly im laughing at you.

secondly

ps2 racers are a match for xbox, now sonny what is a match for tekken 4 & vf4?

if you say doa3 i will slap you.