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"Gamecube's as good as the xbox (or better) HERE'S THE PROOF"

The X-Box was always going to be the foremost contender for Nintendo-basher of the year. What with Sony quietly slipping away, and Sega finally giving up the ghost, the battlefield has been left clear for the most intense console war that you may ever see. The thing is, Microsoft is not experienced in the console market, and it's already beginning to show. The control pad, as expected, is uninspiring, looking remarkably similar to a Dreamcast pad.

But that was expected, right? The word Microsoft isn't exactly synonymous with innovation - more like borrowing and improving, or to be more accurate, cunningly creating an exclusive mass market. Mr Gates has no idea what Nintendo are up to, and this has forced him to have a dig at Gamecube's specifications. On the X-Box official web-site, you can view the X-box's all-important numbers compared directly to Gamecube and PS2. Here is an example of the statistics for you to look at;

X-box
CPU – 733MHz
Graphics Processor – 250MHz
Total Memory – 64MB
Memory Bandwidth – 6.4GB/sec
Polygon Performance – 125M/sec

PS2
CPU – 294.912MHz
Graphics Processor – 147.465MHz
Total Memory – 32MB
Memory Bandwidth – 3.2GB/sec
Polygon Performance – 66M/sec

Gamecube
CPU – 405 MHz Power PC
Graphics Processor – 202.5MHz
Total Memory – 40MB
Memory Bandwidth – 3.2GB/sec
Polygon Performance – 6-12M/sec

As you can see, it doesn't look good for Nintendo, but it wouldn't if any of it was based on in-game comparisons. Every machine works differently, so the fact that one console has a larger number than the other means nothing. As it happens, the Gamecube's CPU is based on the Power PC architecture, which works in a totally different way to a standard PC CPU. Putting the two numbers next to each other is just plain ignorance. Maybe they think that nobody will notice? In actual fact, one major developer has said, that Gamecube's CPU is easily equivalent to a 733MHz CPU. One down, several other misleading facts to go!

X-box supposedly has 21MB more memory than Gamecube. This is actually true, but Gamecube uses highly advanced texture-compression techniques. It doesn't need all that memory, and if you take into account all that extra space available after compression, Gamecube has tons more virtual memory than X-Box.

The most misleading and downright stupid looking comparison of all is in the polygon performance. What's that? X-Box is 11 times more powerful than Gamecube? Nintendo doesn't stand a chance. On the contrary, Nintendo has learned a valuable lesson - this time round, it's being realistic with its figures. The N64 had some awe-inspiring, polygon-pushing numbers when it was first announced, but it never came close. According to this data, the PS2 can push 66 million polygons per. second. So why is it that Ridge Racer V never goes above three million/sec? The cold light of day is that these figures are only true if there are no effects. Once you have a bunch of light sources, textures, and a decent framerate, that number immediately goes down to under 1/10th! This puts Microsoft's machine at around 12 million/sec. With EA Canada announcing that in benchmark tests (on Gamecube) they were achieving in the region of 15 million/sec with multiple effects and light sources, everything suddenly looks rosy again. 125 million polygons/second indeed!

Ok, so I’ve pretty much proven that technically, the Gamecube can more than hold its own in the coming console wars, but that’s only part of the battle. The console market is now full of huge publishers, whose games will more than likely be of the multi-format variety. So what is to stop Joe Bloggs buying an X-Box instead of a Gamecube? That’s where the exclusive software comes in. Nintendo is without doubt home to some of the most talented designers and programmers in the world. Its two main in-house teams, EAD and HAL Laboratory are responsible for franchises such as Pokémon, Mario, Zelda and Metroid, and that’s only to mention a few. Rest assured, there won’t be a shortage of awesome titles available from Nintendo themselves.

Then there’s the 2nd Parties, the developers in which Nintendo has a financial stake. Due to the financial tie, these developers will develop only for Nintendo’s consoles. At the moment, the list includes Rare, Silicon Knights, Left Field, NSTC and Retro Studios.
Last of all are the 3rd-Party developers. Microsoft recently released a list of 150 3rd-Party developers who it claimed were developing for its console. Many of these are also developing for Gamecube, Activision, Infogrames, Namco, Acclaim, 3DO, Konami and Capcom to name just a few.
As you can see, there are more than enough quality development studios working on Gamecube software, but whereas Microsoft is actively showing off what its machine can do, Nintendo has slammed Non Disclosure Agreements on everyone so that they can’t say a word until May. Roll on E3!

Xbox
140.01GFLOPS

Gamecube
13 GFLOPS

PS2
6.2 GFLOPS

Is that so?
Surely then X box should be reaching photo quality at lighting quick speeds. it would be wiping the floor wiv the GC.

If so, then why doesnt it?!?!?!? If it claims to be that good, theyre not exactly making use of it. its like someone buying a F50 and using it to go do the shopping in.

As far as im concerned far, GC equals X box.

And PS2 better than GC?
Ha, yeah. Who ever said that should go in to the entertainment business. They would be a bitchin comedian.

I think that the games for the X-Box are simply excellent. Halo is all people seem to talk about at the moment, i haven't played it yet but with the reviews it has got you can't say it is rubbish. Dead or Alive 3 is simply the best game out on all the consoles at the moment, i spent 3 hours in my local SR shop playing it :D The games for the PS2 have dried up at the moment but are soon to shine. I haven't played on a Game Cube yet so i can't say anything about the games or the console but what i have heard about Luigi's Mansion is that it is really short. The person that told me this is a great gamer, he completed Zelda:Ocarina of time in a day so that means that i am unsure about the length of the game. The only games i really want to play on the GCube is Super Smash Bros. Melee and Perfect Dark 2.

hasn't the xbox got good games then

This is true, that's why I own a PS2 and a GC and didn't get an Xbox, it's all about the games :D

Bonus wrote:
> Xbox
> 140.01GFLOPS
>
> Gamecube
> 13 GFLOPS
>
> PS2
> 6.2 GFLOPS
>
> http://www.impactsites2000.com/gamereviews/hardware_main.htm
>
> That's the site it's taken from and it explains the differences.
>
> It also says that the PS2 is more powerful than the Gamecube, read it
> and see.

Maybe so....but Xbox has poor games, that are mostly unimaginative, or just sport & fighing. Gamecube has games for the whole family and for all age groups. Xbox is a good machine gone to waste by poor games.

Xbox
140.01GFLOPS

Gamecube
13 GFLOPS

PS2
6.2 GFLOPS

http://www.impactsites2000.com/gamereviews/hardware_main.htm

That's the site it's taken from and it explains the differences.

It also says that the PS2 is more powerful than the Gamecube, read it and see.

Right, that post had all the technical info you could need, but the person writing the thing doesn't understand about hardware at all.

You cannot directly compare the Gamecube, Xbox and PS2 by the numbers that the manufacturers spurt out of their big mouths. The technical aspects and figure quoted are misleading and designed to attract people who don;t actually know what they mean. If you want to look at console performance comparisons, you need to find benchmark results. It is very easy to find the figures that would give a direct comparison of the consoles, so I'll have a hunt around and find them for you.

Very well written....You have just killed away all my worries about GAMECUBE. I definetly gonna get one now...

Quinty wrote:
> jees you lot take gaming to seriously.

Listen to this man, he speaks sense!!!

Anyway it isn't the technical doodars and memory watsits that matter it's the games.

jees you lot take gaming to seriously.