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As most people in this forum know, I am a PS2 owner. At present there is no doubt in my mind that the PS2 console is a good console to own. In the past I have failed to resist temptation and ended up owning more than one console in a single generation (N64 and PSone together). However, this time I intend to stick to one platform, and as I own a PS2 already, that would seem the logical choice.
This could change though. If I can find a good enough reason why another console in this three way battle is significantly better than the PS2, then I may be forced to save up even more pennies, and spend them on a new console. For now, I will ignore the GameCube, and examine the X-Box, as that is due to arrive first. To convince me to buy an X-Box, there will have to be a fairly large incentive, as the current price of an X-Box would allow me to buy 8 PS2 games.
A visit to a local computer games store in town only a few days ago led to an interesting experience. I had intended to pick up a free demo disk as I had heard they were offering a "Sega Trilogy" featuring Ecco, Rez and Headhunter, but while I was there, I noticed a large black cabinet over by the counter, and inside it, an X-Box. Curious, I wandered over, and as there was no queue, began a few little trials.
First up was Amped, a snowboarding title. Now, as a big SSX fan, its possible my views could be a little biased, however, I consider myself quite capable of looking at a game from a completely fresh perspective, and that is what I tried to do. Graphically, I was quite impressed, as everything ran quite fast and smoothly, and I particularly liked the snow spray effects as the board turned. However, the graphics seemed as far as the game would go, as the gameplay was more akin to Shaun Palmers snowboarding, which heads for a more realistic... and sadly less interesting ride than the more arcade style thrills of a game like SSX. This is not to say the game was bad, only that I myself didn`t like it.
Second on the list was Project Gotham. By this time the shop assistand had come over to see if I needed help (i.e. to check I wasn`t breaking things) and had this annoying wish to tell me about the X-Box. Not wanting to disappoint him, I let him ramble on, though sadly he told me nothing of use, other than that Halo was good, but then I already new that. Anyway, continuing on with Project Gotham, I`d have to say that I was again disappointed. It looked "shinier" than Gran Turismo 3, but didn`t have quite the depth and texture to the looks. When I looked at the cars, they seemed hollow in comparison to those in GT3. Similarly the handling was more arcadey than GT3, which is something I dislike in racing games. Considering its a launch game, it does look very good, but arriving nearly a year after GT3, it should be a lot better.
I had no interest in any of the other playable demos, but there was a rolling demo of Halo to be seen. I started it off, and was able to watch a few moments of it before the console reset itself (I still don`t know why, and the shop keeper didn`t either). This point aside, the game did look very fine. Graphically, it was superior to any first person shooter I have seen, and that includes my beloved TimeSplitters (whose graphics weren`t its strong point anyway). Obviously there was no chance to get a feel for its gameplay, but it looked to me like a cross between Half Life, and several other FPS elements, mixed with a little Deus Ex perhaps. This is not a bad thing though, as it seemed to take the best of each. This does look to be a good game, but to be honest I will be quite happy to wait for TimeSplitters 2, and settle for that, even if it is slightly less good (which we don`t know yet).
Overall, I was quite impressed with the X-Box, and can see that it will pose a significant threat. Its launch price could cause problems, as many won`t want to spend the full £300 . This tactic worked for Sony with the PS2, but that was in a market empty of competition. Things are different now. However, X-Box`s strength is in its looks, and whilst PS2s specs may be open ended, allowing a lot more progress later on, most people who wander into a shop will look straight at the CPU and think "Ooh thats the best one, pointing at X-Box". On top of that, games such as DOA3 do look quite fantastic (though if it plays like DOA2, I`m not interested) which means the tv screens of X-Box will be the most customer friendly.
My decision based on what I already know is that I will not be getting an X-Box at launch, or even this year. Should the price drop by a large amount later on, then things may change, but for now, there is nothing that makes *me* want an X-Box. It will be popular, and it will be good, but I have quite enough to look at and use with the PS2. I await 2003 with an open mind though, but until then, no thanks Microsoft.
This could change though. If I can find a good enough reason why another console in this three way battle is significantly better than the PS2, then I may be forced to save up even more pennies, and spend them on a new console. For now, I will ignore the GameCube, and examine the X-Box, as that is due to arrive first. To convince me to buy an X-Box, there will have to be a fairly large incentive, as the current price of an X-Box would allow me to buy 8 PS2 games.
A visit to a local computer games store in town only a few days ago led to an interesting experience. I had intended to pick up a free demo disk as I had heard they were offering a "Sega Trilogy" featuring Ecco, Rez and Headhunter, but while I was there, I noticed a large black cabinet over by the counter, and inside it, an X-Box. Curious, I wandered over, and as there was no queue, began a few little trials.
First up was Amped, a snowboarding title. Now, as a big SSX fan, its possible my views could be a little biased, however, I consider myself quite capable of looking at a game from a completely fresh perspective, and that is what I tried to do. Graphically, I was quite impressed, as everything ran quite fast and smoothly, and I particularly liked the snow spray effects as the board turned. However, the graphics seemed as far as the game would go, as the gameplay was more akin to Shaun Palmers snowboarding, which heads for a more realistic... and sadly less interesting ride than the more arcade style thrills of a game like SSX. This is not to say the game was bad, only that I myself didn`t like it.
Second on the list was Project Gotham. By this time the shop assistand had come over to see if I needed help (i.e. to check I wasn`t breaking things) and had this annoying wish to tell me about the X-Box. Not wanting to disappoint him, I let him ramble on, though sadly he told me nothing of use, other than that Halo was good, but then I already new that. Anyway, continuing on with Project Gotham, I`d have to say that I was again disappointed. It looked "shinier" than Gran Turismo 3, but didn`t have quite the depth and texture to the looks. When I looked at the cars, they seemed hollow in comparison to those in GT3. Similarly the handling was more arcadey than GT3, which is something I dislike in racing games. Considering its a launch game, it does look very good, but arriving nearly a year after GT3, it should be a lot better.
I had no interest in any of the other playable demos, but there was a rolling demo of Halo to be seen. I started it off, and was able to watch a few moments of it before the console reset itself (I still don`t know why, and the shop keeper didn`t either). This point aside, the game did look very fine. Graphically, it was superior to any first person shooter I have seen, and that includes my beloved TimeSplitters (whose graphics weren`t its strong point anyway). Obviously there was no chance to get a feel for its gameplay, but it looked to me like a cross between Half Life, and several other FPS elements, mixed with a little Deus Ex perhaps. This is not a bad thing though, as it seemed to take the best of each. This does look to be a good game, but to be honest I will be quite happy to wait for TimeSplitters 2, and settle for that, even if it is slightly less good (which we don`t know yet).
Overall, I was quite impressed with the X-Box, and can see that it will pose a significant threat. Its launch price could cause problems, as many won`t want to spend the full £300 . This tactic worked for Sony with the PS2, but that was in a market empty of competition. Things are different now. However, X-Box`s strength is in its looks, and whilst PS2s specs may be open ended, allowing a lot more progress later on, most people who wander into a shop will look straight at the CPU and think "Ooh thats the best one, pointing at X-Box". On top of that, games such as DOA3 do look quite fantastic (though if it plays like DOA2, I`m not interested) which means the tv screens of X-Box will be the most customer friendly.
My decision based on what I already know is that I will not be getting an X-Box at launch, or even this year. Should the price drop by a large amount later on, then things may change, but for now, there is nothing that makes *me* want an X-Box. It will be popular, and it will be good, but I have quite enough to look at and use with the PS2. I await 2003 with an open mind though, but until then, no thanks Microsoft.
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Ok thanks for that. Now if only my local shops would get their acts together and get some Xbox pods!
I might get it when it is £199, depends what my financial situatation is like, if not I will take your advice and wait until its cheaper.
I might get it when it is £199, depends what my financial situatation is like, if not I will take your advice and wait until its cheaper.
TomUK wrote:
So were you actually impressed ssxpro?
> Do you reakon it warrents a £199 purchase. (I already got the feeling you
> don't think its worth £300).
I found some of the games to be quite visually impressive, though nothing better than GT3 or MGS2. Considering they were launch titles though, it did show the X-Box has potential. However, you are right, I don`t think it quite justifies the price at the moment. I think £200 max, though I would still wait for it to go down a little more.
So were you actually impressed ssxpro?
> Do you reakon it warrents a £199 purchase. (I already got the feeling you
> don't think its worth £300).
I found some of the games to be quite visually impressive, though nothing better than GT3 or MGS2. Considering they were launch titles though, it did show the X-Box has potential. However, you are right, I don`t think it quite justifies the price at the moment. I think £200 max, though I would still wait for it to go down a little more.
At the moment I am planning on getting an Xbox when it gets down to £199. This will also mean the console will have had time to establish itself before I buy it.
As of yet I havn't managed to play an Xbox, as none of the local shops near my have one. But from what I have heard, a lot of people were disappointed. None of the launch titles seem to impress me, so I need to know what the future will be like for the Xbox before I splash out. If the future ain't great, I'll just get a GC instead. I suppose thats one good thing about having three consoles in the running.
So were you actually impressed ssxpro? Do you reakon it warrents a £199 purchase. (I already got the feeling you don't think its worth £300).
As of yet I havn't managed to play an Xbox, as none of the local shops near my have one. But from what I have heard, a lot of people were disappointed. None of the launch titles seem to impress me, so I need to know what the future will be like for the Xbox before I splash out. If the future ain't great, I'll just get a GC instead. I suppose thats one good thing about having three consoles in the running.
So were you actually impressed ssxpro? Do you reakon it warrents a £199 purchase. (I already got the feeling you don't think its worth £300).
Good post there mate!
Totally agree as many others will, personally i have nothing at all against the xbox it looks a fantastic machine, games such as Halo and WWF RAW appeal to me, but like you said it has a £300 price tag slapped on it, it is a lot of money considering i have just spent that little over a year ago on my PS2 and many cannot afford to splash out another £300 for an xbox. For me i have opted for the Gamecube, why? because many of the games appeal to me on that system, i can enjoy gaming on both my Gamecube and my PS2, eventually i will own all 3 consoles, but the xbox will be the last i get for the simple reason that i think its expensive, as soon as the price drops to £200 then i will buy one, so i can hold out for that, and i can look carefully at how well the xbox does and then base a final decision on that. but for now i will focus my main attentions on my Cube and PS2.
Totally agree as many others will, personally i have nothing at all against the xbox it looks a fantastic machine, games such as Halo and WWF RAW appeal to me, but like you said it has a £300 price tag slapped on it, it is a lot of money considering i have just spent that little over a year ago on my PS2 and many cannot afford to splash out another £300 for an xbox. For me i have opted for the Gamecube, why? because many of the games appeal to me on that system, i can enjoy gaming on both my Gamecube and my PS2, eventually i will own all 3 consoles, but the xbox will be the last i get for the simple reason that i think its expensive, as soon as the price drops to £200 then i will buy one, so i can hold out for that, and i can look carefully at how well the xbox does and then base a final decision on that. but for now i will focus my main attentions on my Cube and PS2.
I think you`ve hit on exactly the point I`m making there Ortega! Its done what PS2 did... slightly over priced, with only 1 or 2 really good launch titles, which is unacceptable when the competition is so hot.
Good round up there.
Personally I dont feel the X-box launch games warrant a £300 purchase. Halo is the only game worth owning in my Opinion. I have only played on Project Gotham racing though, which was very dissapointing. I found it very boring, and so incredibly slow. After playing GT3 again Recently there really is no comparision.
I was planning on getting an X-box, but after playing on one I have real doubts. I think Halo is the only Launch game to score 9 or above. Not worth it for just one game hey? And the console itself was actually Bigger than I imagined. I really would have trouble finding a home for it in my house.
I'm gonna leave X-box well alone until it is at least half its current price. And I urge all of you to try before you buy this console.
Personally I dont feel the X-box launch games warrant a £300 purchase. Halo is the only game worth owning in my Opinion. I have only played on Project Gotham racing though, which was very dissapointing. I found it very boring, and so incredibly slow. After playing GT3 again Recently there really is no comparision.
I was planning on getting an X-box, but after playing on one I have real doubts. I think Halo is the only Launch game to score 9 or above. Not worth it for just one game hey? And the console itself was actually Bigger than I imagined. I really would have trouble finding a home for it in my house.
I'm gonna leave X-box well alone until it is at least half its current price. And I urge all of you to try before you buy this console.
As most people in this forum know, I am a PS2 owner. At present there is no doubt in my mind that the PS2 console is a good console to own. In the past I have failed to resist temptation and ended up owning more than one console in a single generation (N64 and PSone together). However, this time I intend to stick to one platform, and as I own a PS2 already, that would seem the logical choice.
This could change though. If I can find a good enough reason why another console in this three way battle is significantly better than the PS2, then I may be forced to save up even more pennies, and spend them on a new console. For now, I will ignore the GameCube, and examine the X-Box, as that is due to arrive first. To convince me to buy an X-Box, there will have to be a fairly large incentive, as the current price of an X-Box would allow me to buy 8 PS2 games.
A visit to a local computer games store in town only a few days ago led to an interesting experience. I had intended to pick up a free demo disk as I had heard they were offering a "Sega Trilogy" featuring Ecco, Rez and Headhunter, but while I was there, I noticed a large black cabinet over by the counter, and inside it, an X-Box. Curious, I wandered over, and as there was no queue, began a few little trials.
First up was Amped, a snowboarding title. Now, as a big SSX fan, its possible my views could be a little biased, however, I consider myself quite capable of looking at a game from a completely fresh perspective, and that is what I tried to do. Graphically, I was quite impressed, as everything ran quite fast and smoothly, and I particularly liked the snow spray effects as the board turned. However, the graphics seemed as far as the game would go, as the gameplay was more akin to Shaun Palmers snowboarding, which heads for a more realistic... and sadly less interesting ride than the more arcade style thrills of a game like SSX. This is not to say the game was bad, only that I myself didn`t like it.
Second on the list was Project Gotham. By this time the shop assistand had come over to see if I needed help (i.e. to check I wasn`t breaking things) and had this annoying wish to tell me about the X-Box. Not wanting to disappoint him, I let him ramble on, though sadly he told me nothing of use, other than that Halo was good, but then I already new that. Anyway, continuing on with Project Gotham, I`d have to say that I was again disappointed. It looked "shinier" than Gran Turismo 3, but didn`t have quite the depth and texture to the looks. When I looked at the cars, they seemed hollow in comparison to those in GT3. Similarly the handling was more arcadey than GT3, which is something I dislike in racing games. Considering its a launch game, it does look very good, but arriving nearly a year after GT3, it should be a lot better.
I had no interest in any of the other playable demos, but there was a rolling demo of Halo to be seen. I started it off, and was able to watch a few moments of it before the console reset itself (I still don`t know why, and the shop keeper didn`t either). This point aside, the game did look very fine. Graphically, it was superior to any first person shooter I have seen, and that includes my beloved TimeSplitters (whose graphics weren`t its strong point anyway). Obviously there was no chance to get a feel for its gameplay, but it looked to me like a cross between Half Life, and several other FPS elements, mixed with a little Deus Ex perhaps. This is not a bad thing though, as it seemed to take the best of each. This does look to be a good game, but to be honest I will be quite happy to wait for TimeSplitters 2, and settle for that, even if it is slightly less good (which we don`t know yet).
Overall, I was quite impressed with the X-Box, and can see that it will pose a significant threat. Its launch price could cause problems, as many won`t want to spend the full £300 . This tactic worked for Sony with the PS2, but that was in a market empty of competition. Things are different now. However, X-Box`s strength is in its looks, and whilst PS2s specs may be open ended, allowing a lot more progress later on, most people who wander into a shop will look straight at the CPU and think "Ooh thats the best one, pointing at X-Box". On top of that, games such as DOA3 do look quite fantastic (though if it plays like DOA2, I`m not interested) which means the tv screens of X-Box will be the most customer friendly.
My decision based on what I already know is that I will not be getting an X-Box at launch, or even this year. Should the price drop by a large amount later on, then things may change, but for now, there is nothing that makes *me* want an X-Box. It will be popular, and it will be good, but I have quite enough to look at and use with the PS2. I await 2003 with an open mind though, but until then, no thanks Microsoft.
This could change though. If I can find a good enough reason why another console in this three way battle is significantly better than the PS2, then I may be forced to save up even more pennies, and spend them on a new console. For now, I will ignore the GameCube, and examine the X-Box, as that is due to arrive first. To convince me to buy an X-Box, there will have to be a fairly large incentive, as the current price of an X-Box would allow me to buy 8 PS2 games.
A visit to a local computer games store in town only a few days ago led to an interesting experience. I had intended to pick up a free demo disk as I had heard they were offering a "Sega Trilogy" featuring Ecco, Rez and Headhunter, but while I was there, I noticed a large black cabinet over by the counter, and inside it, an X-Box. Curious, I wandered over, and as there was no queue, began a few little trials.
First up was Amped, a snowboarding title. Now, as a big SSX fan, its possible my views could be a little biased, however, I consider myself quite capable of looking at a game from a completely fresh perspective, and that is what I tried to do. Graphically, I was quite impressed, as everything ran quite fast and smoothly, and I particularly liked the snow spray effects as the board turned. However, the graphics seemed as far as the game would go, as the gameplay was more akin to Shaun Palmers snowboarding, which heads for a more realistic... and sadly less interesting ride than the more arcade style thrills of a game like SSX. This is not to say the game was bad, only that I myself didn`t like it.
Second on the list was Project Gotham. By this time the shop assistand had come over to see if I needed help (i.e. to check I wasn`t breaking things) and had this annoying wish to tell me about the X-Box. Not wanting to disappoint him, I let him ramble on, though sadly he told me nothing of use, other than that Halo was good, but then I already new that. Anyway, continuing on with Project Gotham, I`d have to say that I was again disappointed. It looked "shinier" than Gran Turismo 3, but didn`t have quite the depth and texture to the looks. When I looked at the cars, they seemed hollow in comparison to those in GT3. Similarly the handling was more arcadey than GT3, which is something I dislike in racing games. Considering its a launch game, it does look very good, but arriving nearly a year after GT3, it should be a lot better.
I had no interest in any of the other playable demos, but there was a rolling demo of Halo to be seen. I started it off, and was able to watch a few moments of it before the console reset itself (I still don`t know why, and the shop keeper didn`t either). This point aside, the game did look very fine. Graphically, it was superior to any first person shooter I have seen, and that includes my beloved TimeSplitters (whose graphics weren`t its strong point anyway). Obviously there was no chance to get a feel for its gameplay, but it looked to me like a cross between Half Life, and several other FPS elements, mixed with a little Deus Ex perhaps. This is not a bad thing though, as it seemed to take the best of each. This does look to be a good game, but to be honest I will be quite happy to wait for TimeSplitters 2, and settle for that, even if it is slightly less good (which we don`t know yet).
Overall, I was quite impressed with the X-Box, and can see that it will pose a significant threat. Its launch price could cause problems, as many won`t want to spend the full £300 . This tactic worked for Sony with the PS2, but that was in a market empty of competition. Things are different now. However, X-Box`s strength is in its looks, and whilst PS2s specs may be open ended, allowing a lot more progress later on, most people who wander into a shop will look straight at the CPU and think "Ooh thats the best one, pointing at X-Box". On top of that, games such as DOA3 do look quite fantastic (though if it plays like DOA2, I`m not interested) which means the tv screens of X-Box will be the most customer friendly.
My decision based on what I already know is that I will not be getting an X-Box at launch, or even this year. Should the price drop by a large amount later on, then things may change, but for now, there is nothing that makes *me* want an X-Box. It will be popular, and it will be good, but I have quite enough to look at and use with the PS2. I await 2003 with an open mind though, but until then, no thanks Microsoft.
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