Change of Pace! PS2, XBOX or GC?

[JohnIII]

Originally posted by Asher
I'm really happy with my situation: I've got Xbox and PS2 right now, and get to play the good games on both of them (Xbox is getting far more attention than the PS2, though). I'm most likely going to get a Gamecube when it drops to $99US and also when all of these first-party Nintendo games that were promised come out.

That's the weird thing. I'm really happy with my GameCube now, since I already have two kick-ass fourplayer games and the controllers are standing up under extensive stress-testing. I'll buy a PS2 when the price goes down for Pro Evolution Soccer (that game is seriously, seriously good), and I'll buy an X-Box if there's ever a game for it that appeals to me and that I can't get elsewhere.

[Asher]

If you want four player action games you should try Hunter: The Reckoning. Very awesome when you invite 3 friends over...

I actually had a 10-hour session of it the other week with friends. We all love it.

Turn out the lights, turn on the Dolby Digital and sit down and play all night.

The cooperative play in Halo is also exceptional, but it's restricted to 2-player. Up to 16 can deathmatch in Halo though.

[JohnIII]

Er, the fun in four-player games is having more than four people there. So you can, as Sixchan said, have tournaments. Or, in the case of Mario Party, teams!

Is Hunter: The Gathering co-op, DM, or both?

[Asher]

BTW, I just ran across a quote from John Carmack (DOOM guy) on the Xbox: http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=6227&cid=978882

I don't have much of a personal stake in it, but I am pulling for the X-Box. If you need to pick a feudal lord in the console market, I would take microsoft over sony/sega/nintendo any day.

Though this quote was from a year ago. He now has more of a personal stake since he's on the Xbox Advisory Board for MS.

Of course it doesn't mean anything, but it's always nice to have Carmack making 3D engines for your console. Especially since the next-gen Unreal engine also runs on the Xbox already, too.

[Nostromo]

Originally posted by Asher

Sega bailed because it was woefully in debt.
MS is the richest (and largest) company in the world, and one quick look at their history shows that they're extremely arrogant/persistent in everything they do.

They've already sunk billions of dollars into the Xbox, they're already designing the Xbox^2, they're spending billions of dollars on Xbox Live and additional marketing/game development costs.

None of the three are likely to pull out of the market right now. Out of the three the most likely would probably be Nintendo, since it's always been their software franchises carrying the company rather than actual console design.

MS is getting better third party support than Nintendo, better first party support than Sony, and has hundreds of games (literally) in development for the Xbox. Look at the release calender...it's not going anywhere anytime soon.

Good points. But I still think that Microsoft could decide to pull the Xbox out of the market. It doesn't seem unlikely to me. They have failed in the past and they could very well fail with the Xbox. (If the Xbox fails, however, it would be a fiasco of huge proportions.) That's why I prefer to wait before buying it. A suggestion: maybe they should bundle it with Windows?

[Asher]

Originally posted by JohnIII
Is Hunter: The Gathering co-op, DM, or both?

Both.

[JohnIII]

I'll see if one of my 'Box-owning friends is going to get it, then. Looks good.

[Asher]

Originally posted by nostromo
Good points. But I still think that Microsoft could decide to pull the Xbox out of the market. It doesn't seem unlikely to me. They have failed in the past and they could very well fail with the Xbox. (If the Xbox fails, however, it would be a fiasco of huge proportions.) That's why I prefer to wait before buying it. A suggestion: maybe they should bundle it with Windows?

I don't see Microsoft bailing at all. The whole reason they got into the market is because they see it as critical to Microsoft's survival. It may seem far-fetched right now, but look at what MS is going for: They think the whole house, most certainly the living room, is going to be computerized and hooked up eventually.

Sony began, from the start, positioning the PS2 as an Entertainment Computer. You can even get Linux for it. MS and Sony both want to control this market. They want to make a fortune by doing content delivery services as well as using the box to act as the "home server". In the next console iterations, expect to have the thing act like a TiVo, probably ship with the option to control house lights (Xbox was shipped with this technology but it's not activated...yet), and even download movies and music.

MS doesn't want anyone else moving in on its turf, particularly a large Japanese company. That's why the Xbox was born.

I don't see them as scrapping it. They're very willing to make losses on it right now since they're making insane profits already, and they see it as vital to their survival. They're a bit paranoid.

[Nostromo]

Originally posted by Asher

It may seem far-fetched right now, but look at what MS is going for: They think the whole house, most certainly the living room, is going to be computerized and hooked up eventually.

Of course, they will deny this. They're repetitively stating that the Xbox is all about games...

Originally posted by Asher

Sony began, from the start, positioning the PS2 as an Entertainment Computer. You can even get Linux for it. MS and Sony both want to control this market. They want to make a fortune by doing content delivery services as well as using the box to act as the "home server". In the next console iterations, expect to have the thing act like a TiVo, probably ship with the option to control house lights (Xbox was shipped with this technology but it's not activated...yet), and even download movies and music.

Yes, it is rumored that Microsoft is working on a "Xbox deluxe", a sort of combination between the Xbox and their failed product, the "Ultimate TV".

[Saint Marcus]

I'll buy a PS2 when the price goes down for Pro Evolution Soccer (that game is seriously, seriously good)

It certainly is. I bought that game last year, and I'm still playing it every single day. It's graphics and presentation have been surpassed by now (by 2002 FIFA Worldcup for instance), but it's extremely good and realistic gameplay yet hasn't been equaled by any footy game.

MS doesn't want anyone else moving in on its turf, particularly a large Japanese company. That's why the Xbox was born.

Good thing Sony isn't a pushover. It's one of the few companies in the worl who can, and does, give MS a good run for it's money. Not just with consoles, but they're also starting to compete in the mobile phone markets.