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"It does exactly what it says on the tin... or does it?"

Sony have built their massive success on a simple but effectively-named product:

PlayStation

A combination of two words...

'Play', meaning 'to occupy oneself in amusement, sport, or other recreation'

...and...

'Station', meaning 'a place or position where a person or thing stands or is assigned to stand'.

So, the opposite of a WorkStation, the name means 'a place to play', and that's exactly what it is. Simple and obvious, just as an effective product name should be. Read that name, and even the simplest among us will pretty much know what it's for.

Nintendo have tried to follow Sony's example:

Gamecube

Again, a simple combination of two words...

'Game', meaning 'an activity providing entertainment or amusement'

...and...

'Cube', meaning 'a regular solid having six congruent square faces'.

So the name means 'entertainment cube', or 'a cube which provides entertainment and amusement'. It's not quite as obvious as Sony's "PlayStation", but it's still pretty obvious what it is and what it does.

So far so good.

But then we have Microsoft's 'Xbox'.

What the hell is up wit' dat?!

Fine, it's generally box-shaped and it has a big X on the top, but what does it actually DO? With that big green thing in the middle, it looks like some fancy fly-catcher, like the pretty blue lights up on the wall behind Tesco's fresh meat counter.

Or maybe it's the head of Dai-X, the big robot thing from the old series Star Fleet; that had a big X across it (check out http://www.bigdaix.com/), and God knows it's big enough to house a pilot.

I mean, goddamit, what were the MS boys thinking when they came up with that, eh? I imagine the meeting was a bit like that Billy Connolly advert for Lotto...

"What shall we call this thing then, guys?"

"Well, it's kinda boxy, and it runs on DirectX... how about 'Xbox'?"

"True, but it's kinda cryptic... anyone got any better ideas?"

"Hmmm... erm... nah, not really."

"Okay. Everyone happy with 'Xbox'?"

"Yeah, fine."

"Okay, Xbox it is then. Who fancies a pint?"

"Oooh, yeah, okay, let's go!"

And that slogan - 'Play more'. Well, there's your first clue as to what it actually does. But what does it play? Videos? 12-inch vinyl records (it's big enough). Well, it connects to the TV, so it could be videos; but no, the slot isn't big enough. DVD's? Well... no, it tells me I have to buy something to do that... could it be games?

Aha! Yes! It's used to play videogames. Great! But... play more of WHAT exactly? You haven't released any goddam games since the thing was released.

But they want me to play more.

Only one thing for it, then... I'll have to get one of those other systems.

Or†ega wrote:
> This is what it says to me...(yes, the xbox talks to me)

Seek help!

i agree xbox is crap and soo is fony playstation poo, gamecube is the best console ever and everything elso is rubbish.

-----------------------------------------

It's like the new name for the lottery:

"What shall we call it?"
"XBOX"
"Great! Now who's up for a pint!"

This is what it says to me...(yes, the xbox talks to me)

X usually used in maths as a random variable. So sort of showing that the xbox has unlimited capabilities.

it wont tell me what the box bit is about.

Please note that the previous post was attempted humour, and anyone flaming me will have their butt slapped with a leather-clad kipper.

Sony have built their massive success on a simple but effectively-named product:

PlayStation

A combination of two words...

'Play', meaning 'to occupy oneself in amusement, sport, or other recreation'

...and...

'Station', meaning 'a place or position where a person or thing stands or is assigned to stand'.

So, the opposite of a WorkStation, the name means 'a place to play', and that's exactly what it is. Simple and obvious, just as an effective product name should be. Read that name, and even the simplest among us will pretty much know what it's for.

Nintendo have tried to follow Sony's example:

Gamecube

Again, a simple combination of two words...

'Game', meaning 'an activity providing entertainment or amusement'

...and...

'Cube', meaning 'a regular solid having six congruent square faces'.

So the name means 'entertainment cube', or 'a cube which provides entertainment and amusement'. It's not quite as obvious as Sony's "PlayStation", but it's still pretty obvious what it is and what it does.

So far so good.

But then we have Microsoft's 'Xbox'.

What the hell is up wit' dat?!

Fine, it's generally box-shaped and it has a big X on the top, but what does it actually DO? With that big green thing in the middle, it looks like some fancy fly-catcher, like the pretty blue lights up on the wall behind Tesco's fresh meat counter.

Or maybe it's the head of Dai-X, the big robot thing from the old series Star Fleet; that had a big X across it (check out http://www.bigdaix.com/), and God knows it's big enough to house a pilot.

I mean, goddamit, what were the MS boys thinking when they came up with that, eh? I imagine the meeting was a bit like that Billy Connolly advert for Lotto...

"What shall we call this thing then, guys?"

"Well, it's kinda boxy, and it runs on DirectX... how about 'Xbox'?"

"True, but it's kinda cryptic... anyone got any better ideas?"

"Hmmm... erm... nah, not really."

"Okay. Everyone happy with 'Xbox'?"

"Yeah, fine."

"Okay, Xbox it is then. Who fancies a pint?"

"Oooh, yeah, okay, let's go!"

And that slogan - 'Play more'. Well, there's your first clue as to what it actually does. But what does it play? Videos? 12-inch vinyl records (it's big enough). Well, it connects to the TV, so it could be videos; but no, the slot isn't big enough. DVD's? Well... no, it tells me I have to buy something to do that... could it be games?

Aha! Yes! It's used to play videogames. Great! But... play more of WHAT exactly? You haven't released any goddam games since the thing was released.

But they want me to play more.

Only one thing for it, then... I'll have to get one of those other systems.