“Microsoft will make its first move into the cutthroat business with the Xbox on Nov. 15. Three days later, Nintendo plans to start U.S. sales of the GameCube, its first new console since the 1996 launch of the Nintendo 64. Meanwhile, market leader Sony has built a strong bunker against the interlopers, having shipped more than 20 million PlayStation 2 machines since its debut last year.” Never in the history of the $20 billion video-game industry have two home consoles made their debuts in the same week. It’s shaping up to be a battle royal between Microsoft and Nintendo.
Xbox vs. GameCube – Get Ready to Rumble
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Eugenia Loli
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Heh!
Y’all can kiss Nintendo good bye, they haven’t got a chance!
Thanks to marketing\anti-piracy decisions to use their own
specialized disk format combined with the recent announcement
by Sony regarding the release of Linux for the PS2, Nintendo
hasn’t got much of a chance! Do the math, with both Sony’s PS2
and Microsoft’s X-box you can watch Dvd, listen to Audio cds–
what does the Nintendo Game Cube bring as “added value?” It
hooks up to your GameBoy Advance… So what?
Consider also the fact that Sony is releasing Linux for the PS2!
This will be a huge leap for us all, allowing multiple options
for gamers who still have their old SNES and Genesis game carts,
now (with the aid of an emulator\cart rom extractor) we’ll all be
able to enjoy _ALL_ of our old games on one system!! Chances are
that Bill Gates (who was convinced _not_ to add a version of
Windows to the X-box) will see this as a vindication of sorts and
release either WinCE or Windows NT embedded (whatever they’re calling
it these days…) for the X-box, which in turn translates to more
games via Rom Emulation!
What does Nintendo bring to the table again….?
[…]
I thought so.
“Sony’s PS2 and Microsoft’s X-box you can watch Dvd, listen to Audio cds”
But how many people actually do this? If you can afford a $400 dollar console, odds are you have a CD/DVD player I’d think.
“Consider also the fact that Sony is releasing Linux for the PS2!”
So what? No one but hardcore linux users will be able to use it. And Sony sure won’t be making any money from people using PS2’s as linux boxes.
“What does Nintendo bring to the table again….?”
If they bring good games, they’ll do just fine.
>But how many people actually do this? If you can afford a $400 dollar console, odds are you have a CD/DVD player I’d think.
This is true, but currently, because of several reasons (moving houses etc), me and Jbq are using the PS2 as a DVD player too.
BTW, <A HREF=”http://www.BeNews.com“>BeNews just came back up (sorta – the past content is missing for now).
> what does the Nintendo Game Cube bring as “added value?”
Extremly good games. e.g. far less shit ones.
> Microsoft’s X-box you can watch Dvd
1. You have to buy an addon to do this.
2. Panasonic are releasing a DVD versoin of the Gamecube.
3. It could be argued that the reason MS and Sony have have these fancy gimicks is because the need them to sell units to indecisive people. Why do I need a CD player I have one in my PC? Why do I need a DVD player I can make my PC a very good one for half the price of a PS2 and it has hardware decoding unlike the PS2 which I’ve heard can stutter. I can play my snes games on it too.
> Consider also the fact that Sony is releasing Linux for the PS2!
> This will be a huge leap for us all, allowing multiple options for gamers who > still have their old SNES and Genesis game carts, now (with the aid of an > emulator\cart rom extractor) we’ll all be able to enjoy _ALL_ of our old > games on one system!!
Let see even the N64 has a few emulators ported to it so all this does is make it easier to port them. And do you have rom dumping hardware probably not so that means you’re downloading roms of the net, and thats a breach of copyright.
Who cares… Sony’s PS2 will wipe the carpet with both Microsoft’s Xbox and Nintendo’s GameCube!
“1. You have to buy an addon to do this.”
The add-on is $30. Not exactly *that* expensive. And to the poster who mentioned that if you can afford a $400 system (really, it’s $300), you can probably afford both, well….if you were going to buy a DVD player anyway (usually around $200), I would think a PS2 or an XBox would be very attractive. Especially the XBox, though, because it has much better DVD capabilities.
“Why do I need a DVD player I can make my PC a very good one”
Most people want to watch movies on really big televisions while sitting on their couches rather than sitting at their computer desk. And hooking a computer with a DxR2 card or whatever to a TV is a pain.
“Who cares… Sony’s PS2 will wipe the carpet with both Microsoft’s Xbox and Nintendo’s GameCube!”
I think this will be interesting to see. Clearly, the PS2’s head start and Sony’s reputation from the PS1 will help it a lot, but the XBox has a lot going for it. Integrated four controller support, better DVD, better graphics and sound, built-in networking, relative ease of porting games from Windows, etc. Great graphics don’t make a great game, of course, but they do sell a lot of them. Even GT3 on the PS2 looks pixelated, so it’ll be interesting to see if developers take full advantage of the XBox–if they do, the XBox will have games that look a lot better than the PS2 games. Also, personally, I’m kind of big on multiplayer games (i.e. having your friends in the room with you), so that’s another thing the XBox and the GC have going for them over the PS2.
It’ll be interesting to see…
Unless you’re in love with Mario…<g> I see no compelling
reason to even look at a Game Cube, consider the N64..it had
a few good games, but Nintendo’s biggest mistake was to let
Squaresoft get away from them! [Me..an RPG Junkie? how’d ya
gues…;p]
Ungoliant (IP: —.qld.bigpond.net.au) wrote on 2001-11-10 00:39:05
===================================================================
It could be argued that the reason MS and Sony have have these fancy
gimicks is because the need them to sell units to indecisive people.
//And how many undecisive people are there? Consider it this way,
//the ability to play movies and cds are “added value” –I can only
//imagine how many kids will be using these as bargaining points this
//year for X-mas. [and..and..it has a dvd built right in, so if you
//get this for me for christmas it’ll be for the whole family…]Heh.
Nimdok (IP: —.dsl.mindspring.com) wrote on 2001-11-10 00:14:54
=================================================================
No one but hardcore linux users will be able to use it. And Sony
sure won’t be making any money from people using PS2’s as linux boxes.
//Who says? I mentioned the Linux factor to several of my co-workers,
//and now they’ve decided to go out and buy PS2s just for this reason.
Ungoliant (IP: —.qld.bigpond.net.au) wrote on 2001-11-10 00:39:05
===================================================================
Let see even the N64 has a few emulators ported to it so all this
does is make it easier to port them. And do you have rom dumping
hardware probably not so that means you’re downloading roms of the
net, and thats a breach of copyright.
//I think you missed my point. Thanks to the release of Linux for
//the PS2, (think internal hard drive,) this will mean that you’ll
//be able to take all your games with you, no matter what-not requiring
//overly special hardware, not requiring lugging around heavy moniters,
//ect… I understand your point that the average user won’t feel
//comfortable with Linux at first, but _I_ think that with time this
//could become as common as “moding” has been.
You can already get Linux and console emulators for the Sega Dreamcast, albeit they’re still mostly in beta.
The Linux kit for the PS2 sounds pretty cool. Originally, it was thought that Sony wouldn’t release it in the US. But popular demand has changed that. They demoed it running X-Windows with a word processor and mp3 player, among other things… Perhaps this is Sony’s attempt to steal marketshare away from the traditional PC.
>”Why do I need a DVD player I can make my PC a very good one”<
>Most people want to watch movies on really big televisions while sitting on their couches rather than sitting at their computer desk. And hooking a computer with a DxR2 card or whatever to a TV is a pain.<
Well I actually don’t own a television, not because I can’t afford one, but being that my iMac is the DV model, I decided to just use my Mac to watch movies and I usually don’t watch normal television anyway! When I purchase my next Mac I will probably get the works and just pump cable television thru that and never buy a TV again, but you never know… I might change my mind!
“I mentioned the Linux factor to several of my co-workers,
//and now they’ve decided to go out and buy PS2s just for this reason.”
If all they’re doing is running linux on it, then Sony makes no $.
“//And how many undecisive people are there? Consider it this way,
//the ability to play movies and cds are “added value” –I can only
//imagine how many kids will be using these as bargaining points this
//year for X-mas. [and..and..it has a dvd built right in, so if you
//get this for me for christmas it’ll be for the whole family…]Heh.”
Perhaps I underestimate the value, but I have trouble imagining people basing gaming decisions on the presence of DVD. I find it FAR more likely for them to say: “well the gamecube is $100 cheaper, we could buy 2 games and a cube for the cost of the other systems”. That is a far more practical edge IMO.
“Well I actually don’t own a television, not because I can’t afford one, but being that my iMac is the DV model…”
You’ll notice that I said “most.” I think everyone would agree that you’re not the typical case. In fact, I hate to be a bit rude, but why’d you even bother pointing it out when it’s so clearly irrelevant?
“Perhaps I underestimate the value, but I have trouble imagining people basing gaming decisions on the presence of DVD.”
I think it depends on many factors. For college guys and whatnot, I would say the DVD is pretty important, as (I would imagine) most people who like video games also enjoy movies. For younger people, it’s possible that the DVD functionality would help persuade Mom and Dad to help them pay for the system.
Your position is entirely reasonable, but that’s why the DVD is one factor out of many. It’s very useful for people in certain situations and completely worthless to others. Although I have no intention of buying any console, since I want to buy a DVD player anyway, the extra $100 would be more than worth it (not to mention that the system is more powerful, to boot).
a lot of people here are talking against MS, and how bad they are. and when they release a gamebox, a lot of the same people go out and bye it.
I can’t beleave it. do you really want the same problems also on the gaming-console ?
and don’t tell me that windows on a game-console is so much better than on a pc.
shure it’s easier to support only one hardware, but the bugs are still there.
ever heard from a nintendo, or sony which crashed ? mine never crashed.
Thöms
I’m addicted to Zelda so my choice is easy.
Sony had a few problems like the second batch of PS2’s wouldn’t play certain PS2 games I’ve heard nothing like this about nintendo. There have been problems with the x-box at least with display versions and crashin at E3 I tried to find links on this but I’ve lost them sorry. At least the X-box comes with a harddirve to patch the software it will probably need it.
I doubt nintedo will go down they’ve been doing this a lot longer than MS and they have a lot of devlopers WANTING to work on the cube as opposed to the N64.
> ever heard from a nintendo, or sony which crashed
Yeap, Golden Eye had a few times while playing against a friend.
But to be honest, I really don’t care that much, games machines are evil.
PC’s FOREVER!
“If all they’re doing is running linux on it, then Sony makes no $.”
Well, you have to buy Sony’s Linux CD and you also have to buy the Sony hard drive, etc. to make Linux useful (the memory card just isn’t big enough). It looks to me that Sony will be able to make quite a bit of money off of people who want to run linux on their PS2.
I saw Linux on the PS2 demoed last spring at JavaOne. It was running X, Java and WindowMaker, which is my most beloved window manager. I think it’s great.
Why the hell would I want Linux on my game console??? How does having Linux ported to your console give it an advantage? Remember, these are supposed to be game consoles, not DVD players/servers/desktops. Just becaue it can be done, doesn’t mean that it should…
My money is going to Nintendo…I tried an XBox at a local store, but it kept crashing. Big surprise.
-G
Nimdok (IP: —.dsl.mindspring.com) wrote on 2001-11-10 05:10:36
//I mentioned the Linux factor to several of my co-workers,
//and now they’ve decided to go out and buy PS2s just for this reason.”
>>If all they’re doing is running linux on it, then Sony makes no $.
Trust me, if it’s there it’ll get used! How many people will buy a PS2
_JUST_ for the Dvd? I’m sure that people who already own\were planning
to buy a PS\2 will just see this as one more reason on a long list to
go out and buy the system they wanted already wanted in the first place..
linux on a game console??? can i install mysql or interbase on a ps2? can i install apache an check (from other city) if mi brother is listening mp3s? can this “nice” state of the art do more thigs (or really useful thigs) with linux than a linuxless console?
There was a web sever running on a dreamcast somewhere so Shark you probably can do all the things you want to.
Porting open source OS’s to consoles is becoming more popular there’s are really obscure site about porting linux to the n64, but devolopment stopped after the kernel was done or something along those lines. There’s a port of NetBSD for the Dreamcast and the PS2 as well. There’s a linux port to the playstation as well it’s called Runix. So it’s likly that something will be ported to the x-box and gamecube. The x-box will be pretty easy as it’s an x86 based system.
have a lot at these links. Netbsd.org has some too.
http://linuxdc.sourceforge.net/
http://cs-people.bu.edu/artdodge/linux/dreamcast/
are both linux on dreamcast sites.
http://www.cs.earlham.edu/~odo/N64/n64.html
linux on N64.
http://www.runix.ru
Runix.
>>You’ll notice that I said “most.” I think everyone would agree that you’re not the typical case. In fact, I hate to be a bit rude, but why’d you even bother pointing it out when it’s so clearly irrelevant?<<
Well the reason that I have decided to just keep my computer as my main source as entertainment on top of doing the others things I do with it, was to see how far I could take the technology before wanting to purchase other items like a television for instance. I know it might be irrelevant, but my view is that the PC and/or Mac can be more than just a PC and/or Mac. When I moved to Europe I decided to be conservative on some things and the TV bit was one of them (though I am still contemplating on getting one). I am also thinking of buying a new game console and was thinking about getting the PS2 because of its DVD abilities and not even purchase a DVD player at all… just a TV and a PS2. Oh well it will be interesting to see who will be the winner of the game console wars this x-mas?!
What matters in the Game consel maket is GAMES!!!
It doesn’t matter what your consel can do, if it doesn’t have the games to back it up.
So far Xbox doesn’t have much content that is all that compelling. Most of it is avalable on other systems, and the exculsives are nothing great
PS2 has some cool stuff, but a lot of crap also.
Gamecube does have cool stuff, and the nintendo tradition of keeping games at a high quality. If you want inovative games Gamecube will be the platform of choice.
Personally the only nextgen games i’m looking forward to is the new Metroid, the new zelda, and Resident Evil. Other then that i’m really just not impressed
What about Rouge Leader? I heard that the Death Star had to be made more plastic looking so it didn’t out do the movie.
Hard drives mean FILE SYSTEM. FILE SYSTEM means MAINTENANCE. MAINTENANCE means USERS are REQUIRED to *DO* something (other than gaming). The simplicity will be gone. The big DIFFERENCE between the PS2 HDD and the XboX HDD is on the XboX it is REQUIRED, on the PS2 it is an OPTION.
ULTIMATE TV is Microsofts 1st set-top-box-with-a-hardrive-that-runs-a-watered-down-win2k.
Its “automagic” HDD maintence FAILED. UTV would report no space left when their was space. LOTs of issues here. There are many other major problems MS is have with UTV that competitoirs like TIVO are not having. MS makes shitty hardware (oohh, so they make a good mouse!, I’m reffering to *real* hardware) and buggy OS’s – that IS their track record. Will XboX be any different? I don’t know and neither do you. Only time will tell. I for one, will not be spending my $$ on one until/unless it proves itself. This PC-wanna-be concept has been done before and failed, so I won’t hold my breath.
I don’t think Nentindo has much of a chance. IMOP, the PS2 and xbox will have more games for the serious gamer. Nentindo has always been more, well, mario-ish. They cater mainly to the younger audiance, but I think the xbox will be able to do that to. I think the gamecube will be like the dreamcast in the end…
So really, it seems to me like it will be ps2 vs xbox. The xbox may have slightly better graphics, but I think there are still going to be a lot of good games coming out for the ps2. And really, the graphics on the ps2 are great. Much better than the n64 or playstaion.
If you really want to stick it to MS, you’d go out and buy an XBox, install Linux on it, and never buy a game for it. Then you’d have a $300 decent PC running Linux that MS lost $100 selling to you.
The Xbox will have the bast games unless you are not yet in High School. The Xbox is being marketed to a more mature demographic, the GameCube is aimed primarily at the Toon-style games. Most gamers that are not reliant on their parent to buy for them are going to want what the xbox has to offer for titles. Some adults get a kick out of the toon-style games, but not the majority.
I would buy an xbox just to play HALO alone, but looking at how the game was acquired and then turned into a ‘xbox only’ title … I think I’d rather pull my own fingernails out. Sure I want an xbax, but I won’t buy one. And when I do track one down that has been stolen, I won’t subscribe to any of the microsoft online services.
btw, if anyone has access to fenced xboxes, I’ll pay full retail : )
But how many people actually do this? If you can afford a $400 dollar console, odds are you have a CD/DVD player I’d think.
——————
I just love this logic. So, just because I had the money to buy a brand-spanking new console with my x dollar budget, I’ve naturally got money to burn and it can be safely assumed I’ve spent it on a DVD player before buying said console. Bravo…
DVD/CD *is* a compelling reason to get one console over the other. End of story.
And just because you’ve got one, it sure doesn’t hurt to have another sitting in a small black box in the gaming room.
Will XboX be any different? I don’t know and neither do you. Only time will tell. I for one, will not be spending my $$ on one until/unless it proves itself. This PC-wanna-be concept has been done before and failed, so I won’t hold my breath.
————-
I’m having visions of xbox Blue Screening, myself. I also think the close ties to the PC and win2k kernel is definitely a bad thing as far as reliability goes relative to other consoles.
ok, xbox is a x86 running a mix of WinCE+ and Win2K-lite. So how do XBox only games work again? writing basicly a compatablity rapper for Windows must be an easy task for the emu guys?
So isa blue screen of death still blue on the X-Box ? Hahaha.. Its gonna be fun watching M$ actually try and market something in a market that there is actually competition. I hope also that when someone mentions the name ‘microsoft’, they think of a toy company, not a company that makes operating systems.
The specs on the Xbox do not look very impressive. Hard core gamers will snub them to run games faster on their Macs or PC’s; “lite” gamers may well prefer the GameCube or PS/2. Time will tell.
Um, I’ve played the X-Box, and I have one word for the person who made this comment:
>So far Xbox doesn’t have much content that is all that compelling. Most of it >is avalable on other systems, and the exculsives are nothing great
—————– HALO ————————
I’m a long time Mac fan, and I’ve been waiting for this for a VERY long time. Halo is EVERYTHING they crack it up to be. I played against 4 other individuals on the same XBox, and the machine didn’t even hickup (Goldeneye eat your heart out). Massively MP Halo is 16 players, 4 XBoxes hooked together. Graphics for Halo are *BETTER* than Unreal tournament on a PC… with 4 PEOPLE PLAYING SIMULTANEOUSLY. Anyway, I just thought I’d add my $.02. BTW: Fusion Frenzy is very cool too.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with the game:
http://www.xbox.com/games/action/halo.htm
Anyone who says the Xbox won’t have any games has never ported a piece of code in their life.
For a PC game house, Xbox == easy money!
I got my hands on a X-Box with a copy of the Halo demo about 4 days ago (I doubt 5% of the posters here have even seen one in person) – I must say that I have seriously miscalculated the X-Box. I’ve been an avid Anti-Microsoft dude for some time (Amiga dude here), and I must say that they’ve finally done somthing right. The system rocks. Period. Halo is going to be a must have (Buy far one of the top 3 shooters I’ve played on any system – Including PC) and the graphics are spectacular. The GFX are already 4-6 times better than the PS2 – Notably the clarity, lighting effects, and poly count/draw distance. The thing has the graphics leverage the 3DO had over the SNES and sega systems (Though it failed) So there you have it, I claim that the X-Box is in fact, against my original thoughts, a very competent system.
So that leaves the Game Cube, which I think will also be great – Cant wait to get my hands on one. It will be worht it just to have the games made by Miyamoto.
About the first post: Dude, like everyone thought the N64 was going to bomb because it was using cartridges – Yet it did not and did great. Remember that.
– Kelly
After parusing the “opinions” here about the new consoles due out, all I see here is more adue-o-nothin’… I bet the oldest person here is probably 19!
We’re coming up to a holiday season. Basic… very basic market fundamentals stipulate that who wins out of a crop of competing products, will be the one with the best marketing campaign.
Another factor will be the amount of disposable cash available to many. With the economy in a quasi-uproar, it’s anyones guess what happens between now and the end of the next quarter.
Fact is, the general public has no clue about Linux, could really care less about it, etc., because they are just that… the buying public– ie End User.
Someone on here stated it correctly. Fact is that if they can afford to spend $400 or what ever price they hit; on one of these, odds are extremely high… way up there, that they also own a DVD and CD player… where ever it’s located in the house. That addage of trying to be “all in one” doesn’t and hasn’t gotten it now since the ’80s. People are not nessesarily going to buy based on that premis. I have 2 friends who have some serious disposable income, and as such, they have both Sony and Nintendo boxes, and buy games for both… Some peoples kids just live for this stuff… Fortunately, mine wont.
It’s interesting innovations and all, and should prove to be interesting product, but not something worth getting into a “mine is better than yours” thing…
And seriously…
If Microsoft all of a sudden becomes a dominant player in the game cube field and Nintendo and Sony drop off the planet, then we might have another avenue where Microsoft wants to own your butt…!!!
After parusing the “opinions” here about the new consoles due out, all I see here is more adue-o-nothin’… I bet the oldest person here is probably 19!
We’re coming up to a holiday season. Basic… very basic market fundamentals stipulate that who wins out of a crop of competing products, will be the one with the best marketing campaign.
Another factor will be the amount of disposable cash available to many. With the economy in a quasi-uproar, it’s anyones guess what happens between now and the end of the next quarter.
Fact is, the general public has no clue about Linux, could really care less about it, etc., because they are just that… the buying public– ie End User.
Someone on here stated it correctly. Fact is that if they can afford to spend $400 or what ever price they hit; on one of these, odds are extremely high… way up there, that they also own a DVD and CD player… where ever it’s located in the house. That addage of trying to be “all in one” doesn’t and hasn’t gotten it now since the ’80s. People are not nessesarily going to buy based on that premis. I have 2 friends who have some serious disposable income, and as such, they have both Sony and Nintendo boxes, and buy games for both… Some peoples kids just live for this stuff… Fortunately, mine wont.
It’s interesting innovations and all, and should prove to be interesting product, but not something worth getting into a “mine is better than yours” thing…
And seriously…
If Microsoft all of a sudden becomes a dominant player in the game cube field and Nintendo and Sony drop off the planet, then we might have another avenue where Microsoft wants to own your butt…!!!
>>After parusing the “opinions” here about the new consoles
>>due out, all I see here is more adue-o-nothin’… I bet the
>>oldest person here is probably 19!
errr…try 24…soon to be 25yrs old…