Yeah, Kellehair's right, with the possible exception of the PS2.

I've seen comments many times like "the x-box has no good games besides Halo" or "The GC only has games for kids."

I wish i had these kinda a parents, you lucky bastard.

1. The X-Box will survive, and X-Box 2 will do much, much, much better.
2. MS sees $200 consoles, and games at $50 a pop, that consumer will buy every time they want a new game, not everytime they upgrade windows.
3. Is MS selling the X-Box under cost, NO WAY, i gaurantee you they are making some cash on the sale.
4. MS sees the X-Box as a direct conection to the rest of mainstream america that doesnt use a computer with Windows or the MSN and the internet. This is MS being smart, not MS be "stupid" "subsidizing" current X-BOx users.
5. 10 years from now, MS will be in front of the judicial department for dominating the home entertainment business just like they were (are) for dominating the PC.
6. PS2 = Apple in the future! ~(8(l)
7. You will see every store with Bins full of XBox 2 games for less then $10 .... just like you currently see with computer games.
8. By the way, i bough my XBox a month ago, i have no access to XBox Live, yet i love it! Halo, 007, Ghost Recon, RaliSport, Project Gotham and more!

You love it long time!

None of the companies are turning a profit. Hardware has always been a loss leader. You have to factor in production costs per unit (which are probably still more than $200 for the X-box), research and development costs of making the system in the first place, huge marketing costs, and now, paying Sega whatever they agreed to for the pack in deal.

This is true, but as you state, this is true for ALL gaming companies, it is not excuslive to x-box.. this is something that at some point, ALL products that are developed go through. Not just an MS or XBox problem
1. We buy the parts from the store.
2. The store pays less then we do when they buy if from the whoesaler.
3. The whoesaler pays less then the store does when they buy if from the manufacturer.

The result, the retail cost of the xbox may be well over $200, but i will not beleive, unless i see evidence, that it cost more then $200 to manufacturer (parts and labor) each xbox. You can get FULL computers for $400-$500 w/ software, mouse, keyboard, monitor, printer from a bargin basement PC seller on the internet

I think there was an article awhile ago that said each Xbox cost $375 to manufacture. That cost may have come down some but now you have to factor in the cost of packing in 2 SEGA games as well as the cost of the $30 rebate on the DVD adapter.

2 games and the DVD deal were mutally exclusive.

I may be opening the doors of hell, here, but most people I talk to (I'm in the middle of trying to decide myself) say the XBox has beter graphics than PS2. Is that true? And... I know they are both DVD ready, but do you need to buy anything to get the PS2 to play DVDs like the XBox?

It makes sense to buy the DVD remote for PS2 since using the controller is a bit of a pain. Graphics wise the Xbox is superior, but don't let the be your major decider since graphics, like beauty, is only skin deep and gameplay is forever. It would help if you told us what games you like.

Since everything has pretty much been covered, the only thing that I can add is that one of the most wonderful features about the Xbox has been it doubling as a juke box. it's been wonderful having 80 of my most favorite cd's ripped to the Xbox Hardrive!

All of my cd's are now stored in my closet except for a few in my car. Being able to listen to any song at just the touch of my remote has spoiled me more than you could imagine. Plus since you'll be at school you can have your cd collection on the Xbox hardrive and won't have to worry about classmates wanting to borrow your music and not returning them and you can leave your collection of cd's at home and not worry about someone at school stealing them.

Thanks for the input, I think I will go with the X-Box. Personally for me it just seems like the better system.

Plus personally I think it has plenty of good games on it. That and more to follow (Halo 2, Doom 3(!)).

Thanks for the opinions. Now, hopefully the rumored new price drop of $150 happens.

Thanks

-cerial442

The Xbox is vastly more powerful than the PS2 - it's also far easier to develop for (as is the Gamecube). Graphics-wise, the Xbox trounces all over the PS2. Gamewise, the PS2 probably has more compelling top quality titles (at the same time, they have more complete dump as well)... The Xbox hasn't quite come into its own yet - the games available are for the most part just average... they're good and fun, but most of them aren't mindblowing. Xbox has a handfull of really excellent titles and a handfull of terrible ones, with the bulk falling somewhere in the middle as just "good enough". The PS2 has tons of great titles and tons of terrible ones... their middle of the road stuff is mostly their multiplatform games. The PS2's graphics engine has been tapped to the limit already pretty much... while the Xbox has room to grow... The one thing the Xbox has over the PS2 is potential. Blah blah blah - I started writing this like 3 hours ago and went to go do something else... I come back and I don't even know what my point was anymore. I click submit anyway...

Actually, no.

Consoles are sold at a loss for at least a year following launch. I read that the Xbox cost $375 to manufacture at the time of launch, don't know the current cost, but they aren't making money at this point. Head over to the Gaming Age forums and I'm sure someone there can give you some actual numbers.

Nintendo is apparently breaking even or turning a small profit on GCs right now.

Companies make their money on software plain and simple. The make a fortune on the licensing fees from third parties as well as whatever their first party games bring in. Console sales aren't figured into profits until well into a system's life.

Interesting, does it still cost $375 to manufacture right now? Sometimes it's very expensive to manufacture on launching time, but later on, it gets cheaper. Just wondering.

I am personally waiting for the XBOX to hit the $100 mark to make a purchase. Not too many games I am interested in (only two so far are Jet Set Radio Future and Shenmue II). Right now, I would try to buy a used Ps2 for around $150 at some places. I bought mine from a kid for $100. I like the Greatest Hits titles, they are cheap plus there are some other fun titles for $20 or less like Frequency, Gitaroo-Man, Mister Mosquito but then again I love quirky Japanese games. If XBOX had about 5 more crazy titles then I would be interested. I would also wait to buy a GC when it hits $100 for there are some excellent titles that came out for this platform. (I am waiting untill then since I already bought one but my house got robbed so good bye GC).

I think the XBOX won't really fail but will never suceed as much as the Ps2 and I don't think the XBOX2 will fully top out over the PS3. If you make one purchase, buy the Ps2. If you make two, buy the Ps2 and a Nintendo. It's cheap and you can buy games from some places for under a buck. I still play the regular Nintendo more than any other system. Ok, that was uncalled for but oh well.

You people discount systems too quickly saying that the PS2's lead is insurmountable. At any generation there can be a huge shift of power if the leader isn't careful. It took one generation for Sony to topple Nintendo and Sega, so you never know, the Xbox could take over with the Xbox-2 or maybe Nintendo might shock us all with their next-gen hardware and could reclaim the top spot. Maybe even a fourth party drops their hat into the fray, although I doubt that's happening at this point. Especially with MS pushing their release date up to directly compete with Sony I see that year being a very interesting battle. One thing is for sure, if either system comes out with lackluster debut titles, much like the PS2, Xbox, and GC were all criticized for to a point in their first years, it could spell big trouble for either one.

No console has ever been on top for 3 generations in a row... It might be Xbox's turn next gen.

For some reason I don't think anyone at Microsoft thought the Grand Theft Auto series was going to be the juggernaut that it currently is.

I think this round in the console wars has been decided. But the X-Box is most likely not going to be abandoned anytime soon. I don't think that Bill Gate's ego will allow that. The next gereration of consoles are going to decide who'll reign supreme.

What I'm wondering is are we going to see more of the same from Microsoft? Meaning are other consoles (be it Nintendo OR Sony) going to get a monster of a game title while MS continue to release more of the same types of games that they have for the current X-Box incarnation. Meaning more of Halo type FPS and games that are "decent" at best. Splinter Cell looks nice and might be that type of game for the X-Box but I'm wondering if it will really move consoles. I haven't played it yet so I will reserve judgment till I have.

You really don't buy a CD player because it's the "greatest" techincally, you buy it to listen to the Beatles or the Stones or what have you. For the next generation it's going to be interesting to see if Microsoft or a third party can come up with a game that will create it's own "Beatlemania" for the X-Box.

I agree that anything could happen next time out. MS could have a huge GTA suprise hit and could take over. Final Fantasy VII was a really big hit and put the PSX on top for good and GTA3 did the same thing this round. Who knows what the must have hit will be next time out. Anyones guess as to whether the Xbox 2 or PS3 will be the hit system, however Sony will have an advantage going into the next round, but that could be overcome if the Xbox2 has a big hit early on. It will be interesting to see.

I think the X-Box is certainly gonna last, but if your thinking of which to get, i'd say get a PS2. While i think the box has a FEW good-great games, for me the PS2 has just too many. I have both systems and i play the PS2 way more, and play a handfull of different amount of games when i do play it, whenever i pick up a X-Box controller, its just to play Halo and now Splinter Cell. But for the PS2, some of my fav. games ever are on that system.