Disclaimer: The following are my opinions and you may or maynot disagree with them. If you are offended by the following, I am not sorry. :)
You're all wondering what's this all about and it's just my opinions about the current systems and games.
Playstation 2: I'd like to start off by saying that I hate this system and it's a load of crap. It debuted in the US at $300 and the Japanese system sold for about $700 in the local import stores. I think $300 is a good price for a launch system since that seems to be the medium price, but for the Playstation 2, I thought it was expensive for what it is. Sure it sported a DVD player, which mine doesn't work and I bought it new, but it's one of those features that a gaming system doesn't need. It doesn't come with a modem or ethernet card of any kind and it's planning to have online games. It's hardware power was surrounded by a lot of hype which I still fail to see anything truely impressive.
The PS2 games on the other hand is a different story. I guess developers should be the ones to blame for not harnessing the true power of the PS2, but we're well into the 2nd generation of software which I think should be enough time for somebody to get close to tapping that power which Sony speaks of. With the current PS2 library, I'd have to say it's a bit disappointing. There are good games, but the ratio of games worth buying to the size of the library is low. MGS2 was an impressive game for a while and you can beat the game 2-3 times in a five day rental, but it missed that flair that MGS1 had. Maybe because it's a squel or the fact that the story was messed up and Rosemary kept annoying me at the end. Other notable games are GTA3 (long ass loading times), DMC, Ico, VF4, & the debatable FFX. The PS2's software future seems dim to me too with only 4-5 games I'm interested in: Ape Escape 2, Sky Gunner (soon to be released), Ikaruga (if it gets canned for the DC), Shinobi, and Kingdom Hearts.
On a smaller note: I can't believe that you had to buy that cheap plastic stand for the PS2 seperately! If you drop $300, I think they could include something that cost only pennies to make.
Gamecube: I haven't had a lot of time with the little cube, but I must say I am satisfied with the hardware. It's a cute machine that can hold it's own in terms of power of pricing. Sure it doesn't offer useless features for games, but it saves me some bones which means I can buy more games. It doesn't come with the modem or bba, but Nintendo already stated that they aren't big on online games. The only online game for the GC I would look foward to is PSO E1&2 so buying an extra piece of hardware is a toss up depending on the price.
Software wise, I think it's safe to say that a majority of gamers are disappointed with the current library. The only game I would consider buying is RE. I admit that I'm not a fan of Nintendo games even though they are excellent. They just aren't my style. It's future software does look better and promising besides the fact that Metroid Prime is now a FPS instead of the traditional 2D scrolling which we have come to love.
On a smaller note: I love Super Metroid. It's definately one of my favorite games of all time. Can't wait for Metroid Fusion on GBA.
X-Box: This huge black box is neither impressive nor disappointing. I'd say that I stand on a neutral point on the system. Sure it's huge and has a big green spot on it, but at the same price of a PS2, it offers much more hardware wise. Now I've heard countless rumors that the X-Box overheats if you leave it on for 3 hours or more. I kept in mind that I only heard this rumor from non-X-Box owners who are anti-X-Box. I wonder if stores have to change the X-Box systems in the demo stands every 3 hours.... Highly unlikely.
People complain that the Box doesn't have any games except for ports. Sure the library has lots of ports, but does that make the game bad just because it's a port on the Box? There are lots of ports on the other systems. I don't hear anybody complaining about that. The currently library is also disappointing to me since the only games I would pick up are DOA3, JSRF, & GV. It's future library is looking much better, but I have been blinded by one game: Panzer Dragoon Orta. This is THE game I'm looking foward to out of all the games that are coming out on all 3 systems.
On a smaller note: I just picked up a book yesterdat at B&N called Opening the X-Box. Hopefully it'll make a good read and gain more insight on the Box. It's 300+ pages if you're wondering. That pretty big for a book just to talk about one system.
