What should I buy

Neil3030

Ok, I'm going to be getting a new console around about the May/June mark and i would like your advice on what i should spend my well earned spondooliks on. The 3 obvious ones are PS2, Gamecube or Xbox. My gut feeling(and my wallet) is leading me towards gamecube. I was raised on Nintendo and have possessed a Gameboy, Snes, N64 and GBA in that order. The initial cost of the console won't really effect my decision but the things i am looking for really are:

1. Price of games
2. No. of games produced (the n64 really didn't really live up to its power by way of titles released)
3. Performance

Is it time i throw this Ninty obsession in the trash or should i stay loyal to Mario and his boys?

Help. Please!

phreak

go for a ps2

chernobyl

I dont want to be short, but you need to go to games sites, see what is available on what console now and in the future and decide yourself.

Dont be at yourself

If you're only going to get one, I'd advise getting the PS2. There's already enough quality titles out there to keep anyone happy for a considerable time and even more on the way. Throw in backwards compatability and a DVD player and its hard to go wrong.

The GameCube is cheap. Already it has amassed quite a number of quality games and while the release list isn't overflowing by any stretch of the imagination, there's some exceptional titles there. Then there is the partnerships with Sega, Capcom, Namco and Square so N64 style droughts are unlikely.

XBox? Horribly overpriced in Europe and the games that are there at the moment don't offer much that can't be found on other consoles for half the price. If price isn't an issue it's probably worth a look - though I wouldn't decide anything until Microsoft get around to letting us know how well the console is performing in Europe.

Neil3030

yeh ive pretty much ruled the xbox off d list due to the availability of most of their games on PC.

cheers for the info.

Shinji

What nakey said, essentially.

In a few months time you'll be able to get a Cube and a PS2 for the price of an Xbox - not a bad deal. I can't reccomend the PS2 highly enough right now - it's got plenty of top-notch games and it's not too expensive. Beyond that, GameCube is a good prospect - it's cheap and has a really attractive line-up over the coming year or so, more so than the PS2 in fact (there's a slight worry that PS2 might have fired all its big guns at once, and there's relatively little on the horizon).

The Xbox has yet to prove itself and spending that much money on a console that's still unproven seems a bit of a waste...

Volvagia

I'd suggest A Game Cube or a PS2. I'd go for a Game Cube coz my friend has a ps2 so i can leech of him if i need a ps2 fix but you cant beat good auld Nintendo!

chernobyl

Originally posted by Shinji

The Xbox has yet to prove itself and spending that much money on a console that's still unproven seems a bit of a waste...

Unless you want the games that the Xbox has out now.
I find it hard to see the Xbox failing, Nintendo has the most to prove and the Station 2 has the least.

Dont be at yourself

But both the GameCube and PS2 have upcoming titles in highly respectable series. The XBox seems to be, with few exceptions, awash with generic 3rd party action adventure games, extreme sports and racing games. It has to prove that it can offer something new - that it was titles to match the big hitters from Sony and Nintendo.

Halo is the only title so far that has done that, and the only other title garnering significant attention is Project Ego - outside that there's pretty much nothing.

On a more business side of things, Nintendo have again proven themselves. A low price point, a steady flow of titles, plenty of stock and considerable attention given to the European market suggest Nintendo has learned. Sony don't need to prove anything when it comes to marketting - the PlayStation brand is console gaming. But with Microsoft, we don't know. High price points, undisclosed stock and sales figures and projections and little in the way of partnerships with big name developers. They have a lot to prove.

chernobyl

The reason MS wont disclose the sales figures is because they are embarassing low and they have to see how they can spin it.

Xbox's price will drop soon and it will get a serious push in marketing terms.
I honestly did not notice much Xbox hype so in my eyes it has alot to do.


Console sucess is in mainstream gaming and the class of you games you referred to Nekki are games that sell machines to mainstream gamers.

Hard as it may be to believe, most gamers dont enjoy 2 days straight on FFVII, drueling over the prospect of a new mario/zelda, they want sports games, fighting games and MS delivers the prettiest games but they must do this at a reasonable price.

Giblet

It's all about games. Personally I'd go for an GameCube, but just because I love the Resident Evil games. And it's damn cheap for a new console.

Dont be at yourself

http://www.eurogamer.net/news.php?id=20654

Just found that after my last post. Abysmal sales figures really. Not official yet mind.

The price needs to drop ASAP - they have to take advantage of their headstart on the GC because with 2 more consoles on the market, Microsoft are going to find it extremely hard to find a slice of the pie.

They already have pushed the boat out on marketting - in store displays, demo pods, magazine supplements, print ads, tv ads - everything. They've shoved XBox down our throats but its not doing any good with a price point like that.

As for a console's success - if we're talking mainstream and financial success then the PS2 has already won. I'd personally gauge a console's success on the quality of the games that appeared on it (hey, the Saturn was a success, ok??!). In that respect, the XBox isn't currently (or likely to be in the forseeable future) a success.

In the end though, a game's quality is totally subjective - one man's meat is another man's poison and all that.

-oRnein9-

The fact of the matter is that you should buy a Ps2 and if you don't your making a big mistake and missing out on the best console ever so far!

Shinji

Chernobyl, you can make stuff up all you like, but the fact of the matter is that the Xbox has had the biggest marketing push of any console ever in all three territories, and has done nothing short of flopping utterly in two of them.

Describing Nintendo as being the game company with most to prove gave me a good laugh though. Keep up the good work and the blinkered vision

chernobyl

I didnt see any push for Xbox in Ireland and MS admitted that they "screwed up" in Ireland.

I never played a single Xbox game in Ireland before i got one, i only saw ads for it on WWF events which Sky actually then edited out.

ninty has a huge problem amoungst mainstream gamers as much as it may annoy you but "GC = kids toy" to most ppl, you cant aruge otherwise Shinji, if Nintendo stay exclusively loyal to their hardcore fans (hello Sega and their Saturn) they wont win this battle.

There is not enough room for 3 consoles, there is only room for one.

Xbox has a price problem (easily fixable)
Nintendo has an image problem (more difficult to fix)

Shinji

I didnt see any push for Xbox in Ireland and MS admitted that they "screwed up" in Ireland.

You'll have to excuse me, I was thinking of the bigger picture - you know, territories like Germany and the UK which actually matter a damn, which MS spent a bloody fortune on and which both sold miserable numbers of consoles.

ninty has a huge problem amoungst mainstream gamers

I think it's exceptionally foolish of you to think that because Nintendo has an image problem with YOU, this means they have an image problem with everyone. You just bought an Xbox at launch, this means that BY DEFINITION you are not a mainstream gamer.

Have you actually got any idea how many N64s sold? Have you any concept of how many GBAs there are on the market right now which will connect to GameCube titles? Do you have even the slightest notion of what a powerful brand Nintendo is in the USA and Japan? Even in Europe the Nintendo brand is still second only to PlayStation in terms of importance to gaming, and in Japan and the US it's more powerful again - in fact, in the USA N64 games sold well right up until last Christmas.

You're basing judgements on the success of games consoles on a global level on your own perceptions of their manufacturers - oh, and on the fact that you just paid a small fortune for an Xbox and are now desperately trying to justify the purchase to yourself, which is probably a more relevant factor really

"GC = kids toy" to most ppl

Most people have never even heard of it. Which is okay - they have a few months to build it up, and they can push their core gaming franchises and so on, which people HAVE heard of. Most people still haven't really heard of Xbox though, and that's more of a problem seeing as it's in the streets...

if Nintendo stay exclusively loyal to their hardcore fans (hello Sega and their Saturn) they wont win this battle.

You think the Saturn flopped because Sega stayed loyal to their "hardcore fans"? What the hell are you on? You're blatantly making stuff up that you have no idea about and hoping nobody will be bothered rebutting you.

The Saturn failed for a few very simple reasons. Firstly, Sega didn't anticipate serious competition from Sony, and didn't do anything to counter the PSX marketing until it was too late. Secondly, the machine was focused on 2D abilities and its 3D was inherently poor - again poor prediction by Sega, who didn't see the move into 3D coming. The final nail in the coffin was the difficulty of coding for the Saturn; the system was an order of magnitude more difficult to program than the PSX, and developers and publishers cottoned on to this very early on.

Sega's promotion of the machine left a lot to be desired, but this assumption that they pandered to a core audience and hence got done over by Sony is entirely false. You can't make up history to back up your argument.

There is not enough room for 3 consoles, there is only room for one.

So *that's* why the N64 did so well, I take it? Wow, shame nobody told Ninty there was no room for it - I'm sure they'd have taken it off the shelves immediately. And given back those billion-dollar profits they made off it, too.

Xbox has a price problem (easily fixable)

Xbox has a far more uphill struggle than just plain price.

jaggeh

<edit>
in response to chernobyl, yer full of shoit, ive had nintendo in my house since nes, i have had sega since master system, i have had 4 different gameboys and now have gba, i also have playstation......but the thing is nintendo is the one console system i will go back to time and again for pure playability and fun factor

i dont see how ninty have an image problem tbh
</edit>


id definatly go for ps2/gamecube

my biggest turnoff for the xbox right now (other than the few games and price) is the fact microsoft are planning on charging for any online gaming you wish to do, this charge is on top of any connection charges you have to pay

chernobyl

Shinji i have no need to justify Xbox, i have played it non stop since i got it and i dont think SEGA Saturn was too far behind in 3d power to the PSX, i had tomb raider and wipeout and they looked crisp and close to their PSX counter parts.

Saturn had an image problem to, or the lack of it, the saturn failed for a huge variety of issues all of which fall on sega's head.

I think that Xbox ad sums up gaming today "some play to escape reality.." and i believe Xbox will take gaming further than the rest.

I dont think we will ever agree but speaking to ppl who only have a PS2 at the moment, most dont want another console.

As for the "N64 sold lots so there is room for 2"
Most ppl i met @ launch in 97 had refused to buy a PSX, they had been surviving on their Super Nintendos. [or went with the usuals and got burned]

Nintendo has a loyal fanbase, a big one, but Sony have already won, christ i dont even know why i bothered posting here, i should have just said "get a ps tew".

..... BY DEFINITION ....[but i think]mr wannab/Hardcore here.....[/but i think].

Ouch.
I never considered myself hardcore and have never implied so.

KdjaCL

Neil
im gonna wait till xmas before i buy a gamecube (secretly hoping to find a used PS2 for next to nothing ) so i wouldnt`mind having both .but i got the N64 the day it came out and mario made me happy for a while but then it was FIFa and Killerinstinct ,so i dont want that happening again so im gonna wait .
Iss should be out by the time i buy it anyway .
Kdja

jaggeh

the saturn was a sore spot for sega, they didnt anticipate the jump to 3d games as soon as it was.....the saturn is much stronger with 2d graphics than ps by far tho

-oRnein9-

Have you made ur mind up on which console your gonna buy m8.

Neil3030

At the moment

65% of me sez gamecube
35% for d ps2

I have a pretty fly PC so i don't see myself getting an xbox.

DeadBankClerk

i went skiing last week and decided to take a console with me incase the weather was bold, and i was about to pack my dreamcast when i looked at my n64 games. the n64 has such quality titles, that i will be buying a gamecube the day it's released.

last week i mostly played:
mario cart
mario 64
goldeneye
thq wwf wrestling of some sort (2000?)
iss64
f-zero X

DeadBankClerk

Originally posted by Neil3030

I have a pretty fly PC so i don't see myself getting an xbox.

i be down with tha' shi' homey

Volvagia

Your soo right DeadBankClerk absolutely classic titles from nintendo! Especially Zelda - Ocarina of Time! so im getting a GC aswell!