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"Battle of the Consoles!!!!"

Which of the latest crop of consoles do you think will end up the winner?

Let us take a quick look at those in with a chance:

Nintendo: Their Gamecube, previously known as the Dolphin. Due to be released early next year here with a crop of familiar names in new games.

Microsoft: The Xbox has a lot of money behind it, and will be promoted well for it's launch here early next year.

Sony: The Playstation 2 is already out there and making an impression, but is it good enough to hold off the competition?

Now here are a few of my views on the subject.

Gamecube: Games are mostly orientated around what kids want, with more Mario, more Donkey Kong, and much, much more of the same. Gamecube samecube I say!

Xbox: Games look impressive, and if there are enough games it should blow the competition away.

Playstation 2: When the Xbox arrives this will be old hat. So far it has had some decent games, but lacked real innovation.

So personally, I think that Microsoft are onto a winner with the Xbox!

Dave_ the_ tramp wrote:
> Where would we be without the console wars, eh? Yep, it’s that time
> again so buckle up and get ready for another round of ‘Who will win
> the next-gen console war?’

The battle now is obviously between
> the PlayStation2, Xbox and GameCube, with Sega now providing
> software support. I will highlight the main pros and cons of each
> console in turn, beginning with the PlayStation2.

The PS2 has the
> considerable advantage of being released long before the other two.
> It now has the chance to build up a good user base before the others
> are even on the market. Although it has made a poor start, with the
> pre-order fiasco and a lack of quality games, there is better to
> come. Killer app like Metal Gear Solid 2, Gran Turismo 3 and Final
> Fantasy 10 (yeah, they’re all sequels) will sell thousands of PS2s,
> as will new titles like The Getaway, Ico and Devil May Cry and an
> expected price drop will also be welcome. Also, it will soon have
> online capabilities.

Next up is the Xbox. Of the three, least is
> known about Microsoft’s first console, although already the signs
> are not good. There are fears that it may become too much like a PC
> (with the Pentium processor, etc), and it is notoriously hard for a
> non-Japanese console to crack the Japanese market (those Japs like
> to keep their own economy healthy). Still, we shouldn’t really pass
> judgement just yet, and it will certainly have strong financial
> backing from Mr. Gates.

Thirdly, and lastly, we have the
> GameCube, Nintendo’s 128-bit offering. It’s started off on the right
> foot with a projected selling price of £199 (and comes with
> four joypad ports, so no £30 MultiTaps here). Stunning titles
> like Luigi’s Mansion and Star Fox: Dinosaur Planet have already been
> unveiled, there will quite probably be games featuring Nintendo’s
> many other mascots, like Zelda, Donkey Kong and of course those
> annoying/cute (delete as applicable) Pokemon. And not forgetting
> Mario of course – Shigeru Miyamoto is rumoured to have been working
> on ‘100 Marios’ since he finished Mario 64. The only criticism of
> the GC could be that some still find Nintendo a bit childish.

Any
> of these three super-consoles could succeed, but there is one other
> that will almost definitely do well – the GameBoy Advance. It has no
> real competition in the handheld market, is much cheaper and can be
> played on the move.

I’m not going to start saying which is the
> best console, because that argument has been going on for far too
> long. Nor am I going to say who will win this titanic struggle –
> I’ll let you decide…all right, I just don’t know. Who does? Each
> console has its own good points and bad points and equally deserves
> to do well. One thing’s for sure though: the healthy competition
> will mean that there is one true winner – the consumer. Yes, that’s
> you!

Why did you post it twice?

Where would we be without the console wars, eh? Yep, it’s that time again so buckle up and get ready for another round of ‘Who will win the next-gen console war?’

The battle now is obviously between the PlayStation2, Xbox and GameCube, with Sega now providing software support. I will highlight the main pros and cons of each console in turn, beginning with the PlayStation2.

The PS2 has the considerable advantage of being released long before the other two. It now has the chance to build up a good user base before the others are even on the market. Although it has made a poor start, with the pre-order fiasco and a lack of quality games, there is better to come. Killer app like Metal Gear Solid 2, Gran Turismo 3 and Final Fantasy 10 (yeah, they’re all sequels) will sell thousands of PS2s, as will new titles like The Getaway, Ico and Devil May Cry and an expected price drop will also be welcome. Also, it will soon have online capabilities.

Next up is the Xbox. Of the three, least is known about Microsoft’s first console, although already the signs are not good. There are fears that it may become too much like a PC (with the Pentium processor, etc), and it is notoriously hard for a non-Japanese console to crack the Japanese market (those Japs like to keep their own economy healthy). Still, we shouldn’t really pass judgement just yet, and it will certainly have strong financial backing from Mr. Gates.

Thirdly, and lastly, we have the GameCube, Nintendo’s 128-bit offering. It’s started off on the right foot with a projected selling price of £199 (and comes with four joypad ports, so no £30 MultiTaps here). Stunning titles like Luigi’s Mansion and Star Fox: Dinosaur Planet have already been unveiled, there will quite probably be games featuring Nintendo’s many other mascots, like Zelda, Donkey Kong and of course those annoying/cute (delete as applicable) Pokemon. And not forgetting Mario of course – Shigeru Miyamoto is rumoured to have been working on ‘100 Marios’ since he finished Mario 64. The only criticism of the GC could be that some still find Nintendo a bit childish.

Any of these three super-consoles could succeed, but there is one other that will almost definitely do well – the GameBoy Advance. It has no real competition in the handheld market, is much cheaper and can be played on the move.

I’m not going to start saying which is the best console, because that argument has been going on for far too long. Nor am I going to say who will win this titanic struggle – I’ll let you decide…all right, I just don’t know. Who does? Each console has its own good points and bad points and equally deserves to do well. One thing’s for sure though: the healthy competition will mean that there is one true winner – the consumer. Yes, that’s you!

Ps2 will not win even if it has sold 14 million then those people aren't gonna buy another.

And the people who now own one are probably the main amount of people who want one so not many more people are gonna buy one Except for the games.

Most people now have decided to wait for the cheaper GC or get the XBOX they are both far better and more powerful!

Enigamic is a plum!!

Straight off, PS2 will win.

Why?

Because it has already sold 14 million units worldwide, and with the recent price drop, and 3 1/2 months till the nearest competitor comes out it will have sold even more units. Thats an awful lot of ground to try and play catch-up. Even if the PS2 isn't looking to great, it will only improve, just like the PSone did.

If anything it's nearest competitor will be the Gamecube. This i can't explain but i feel that microsoft's Xbox has not caught the of a lot of people, and that they really don't belong in the console market.

Well the playstation came out to a brilliant response and there was a lot of hype but it was well deserved. The playstation came with some mega games such as the ff series and mgs. The psx does lack quality games though releasing alot of rubbish games that no one buys e.g. Rise of the robots etc. But this particular console had quality games, fmv, sequences, gameplay and 3-d worlds, which made it totally original from the past consoles. Later on in the life of the psx games like Sony hawks 1 + 2 gave it a massive boost in the market and a little respurt but its life still goes on with the psone screen to play in car has attracted alot of younger players who’s parents don’t wanna buy a ps2. The games are quite a sensible price, which even though the graphics are worst helped it try to conquer the n64.
Ps2.
There was a lot of stipulation of the pricing scheme for this console, but it doesn’t take anything away from it and is looking sharp! The console in its self is £300 but it is probably worth it if you are a Sony fan, but not all are of course. There has been a lot of arguments about this console and if it is worth buying or not but with some of the best games around e.g. Time splitters and zone of enders it is going to be able to stand up to the cube and Xbox even though it has been released earlier but that gives it a slight disadvantage. Sony a lucky in a way getting games like crazy taxi from Sega which will help it along a bit but Sega are also giving games to Nintendo and Microsoft. There is now the bouncer which is looks really cool like a kind of streets of rage game where you wonder through the 3-d platform world kicking butt!!
Dreamcast:
Well this got absolutely no hype and no respect straight from the start and I cant understand why. The 128-bit system is lush the gameplay is smooth and the Internet is the icing on the cake really aint it! Ok so the Internet is not free in the UK, which is disappointing, as the USA get it free but hopefully that will change soon. With games like phantasy star online to spend evenings on at a time and play against people you don’t know to team up or go against to decide the adventure. The online gaming gives it an edge as Sony haven’t given it to the ps2 yet but the offline gaming is just as smooth anyway. Games like quake 3 offer a massive offline game and then a brilliant online game to add to it makes the dc a worthy opponents to the future consoles. But why was it never acknowledged as a decent enemy to the other consoles and was just dissed and if you had one you was gay. But despite what anyone said I got one and is pleased as hell with it today and I wont sell it ever, with so many decent sequels coming out in the next year alone it still has a minor chance but most people don’t know what the Dreamcast has to offer, and think it is dodgy so go off to the ps2 which is an equally good choice.
N64:
With 64 bit graphics it easily cleared out the psx no problem… or did it? The graphics were twice as good but the psx still managed to pull in front and become even more popular. But with games like Pd and Goldeneye it rose to the top in my opinion even though the psx had the ff series. But with Banjo tooie out it has rekindled the old flame the n64 once had and has set it off again. The n64 is releasing a few games this year, for example The first mage, dr. Mario 64 and Indiana Jones which should keep us fans busy until the Gamecube comes out, which will team with Sega temporarily to make a top RPG which they are releasing no secrets about.

So what console is the best well it can be disputed and in my opinion is the dreamcast, as it is has some brilliant online and offline games, which are nice to look at and play, with a contrast of realism and fantasy this console should have been more of a seller, but it means more games for us other DC fans. With the os2, Gcube nd Xbox getting 63 sega games altogether an the DC 65 we have a lot to look forward to.

Cheers,

Time_Warp

The truth is that there will be almost no console wars as we have known it in the past, because each console is aimed very specifically, apart from the PS2

Sony brought gaming to the masses, and therefore their reputation will also make it successful with a wider range of people than any other console. It will appeal to the "average gamer", if one exists, because of two reasons;

1) Its out now
2) The PSOne was a success

It is a common fact that people will buy stuff from a company that they have bought from before, if the item was worth it.

The relatively early launch of the PS2 will work against it, when the hype about X-Box and Gamecube appear, nearer to their respective launch dates, and so the PS2 will be forgotton by all, except those who already own one.

The X-Box is aimed at those who already own a PC, and/or have experience, but would like to get more into gaming. It will be liable to face criticism from both PC and console camps, because PC owners may frown upon it as a "toy", while console owners, generally younger, may be weary of it being too much like a PC. It should however succeed, because of good publisher support, and keeping quality relatively high, much like Sony did with the PSOne.

The Gamecube however, will ultimately appeal to younger gamers, who would relish the chance to play Mario and Pokemon. There are many people that say that Nintendo is not aimed at younger gamers, although the current saturation of the Gameboy market suggests that there will be many Pokemon games on the GC, as it would be stupid for Nintendo not to cash in on such a multi-billion pound gimmick.

Each console will do reasonably well, each are taking risks:

The X-Box faces criticism from both PC and console markets.
The GC relies on the continuing lack of taste in the UK's younger gamers, so as not to get tired of more Pokemon games, renamed with differing colours
The PS2 may have been released too early, and may be shunned out of the market with the close release dates of the X-Box and GC, unless huge games like GT3 just happen to coincide with the release of them

Right on!

I dont think the x-box will do well at all. The thing is doomend to failure.

You shut up! what do you thinkk!