It's short, but the trip is such a spectacular ride that it'd be a crime not to take it.

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Any input on the matter?

Here are two separate posts that he has made about it:

1)i test the xbox and i would say that the best console out right now is the ps2. the xbox has poor graphics, a hard to hold/configure controller and to this point is just like every other microsoft product that the hype will be bigger than the actual product. i have not played the gamecube so i cant comment on that but for sure the xbox is not better than the ps2. ive tested it on 6 occassions now, 5 times of which games were due to be in the initial releases of the xbox. i am not of liberty to give specific titles or genres of games i have played but i have played a diff games ranging from sports to adventure and have been highly disappointed. the best bang for your buck is the ps2 but i am curious to see the gamecube as well. if you have a premium graphics card in your pc currently you will be greatly disappointed with the xbox!

2) im telling ya exactly first hand what this thing is like but in typical microshaft fashion people are slaves into beleiving that the xbox is gonna own based on this, that and the other thing. the xbox is a cross section of all the other current gaming consoles on the market. the dvd stuff is taken from the ps2, the controller is an overblown version of the DC shape, DC memory card (exactly the same), 2 triggers at the top ala the DC, joystick features of the ps2 and the button configuration of its own. if you want to honestly beleive that the graphics are the quality of the G3 you better pass whatever you are smoking around to the rest of the community because you are being fooled into marketing lies and information that is just not accurate. the graphics quality are average at best. im not going to say they are all bad because i played a basketball game that had some decent graphics but was the exact same thing that was already on the market and was nothing to write home about. i have no vested interest in my opinions, they are purely based on first hand testing that i have done myself and based on the focus groups i have been a part of over at microsoft. the bottom line is that microsoft is going to be releasing a mixture of every console on the market and is going to be bringing absolutely nothing new to the table that is worth sinking $300 or more into that they will be asking for! i have not seen anything about the gamecube but i cant imagine it being anything worse than is being thought of being released to the public by microsoft. im just posting my opinion here based on my 1st hand experiences and im hoping to help people avoid being screwed by overpaying for this poorly designed product that is going to be released! if you dont beleive me and live in the seattle metro area and want to sign up to be part of a playtest or focus group please go to http://www.microsoft.com/playtest for more information. they are always looking for new peeps and im sure they would love to have ya. have your allegiances or what have you, but do your research before purchasing anything because if you think the xbox is gonna be the end all of consoles you are in for a huge ego hit!

The Dude Abides!

BTW, the Xbox has a modified GeForce3 :)

Vlad said: if you have a premium graphics card in your pc currently you will be greatly disappointed with the xbox!

You know, if you are disappointed with that, you will be miserably disappointed with the other consoles especially considering the Xbox specs OWN the other consoles in every category on specs.

http://www.planetxbox.com/hardware/system/
http://www.xbox.com/Hardware/consoles/xbox.htm

I think the controller fits Very well. It may just take some getting used to? Its shaped very much like the Dreamcast controllers. (I have a Dreamcast)

All in all I think the xbox is pretty incredible and if you want to check out some in-game footage and screenshots go here..
http://www.xbox.com/Games/
These are games which are about to be released. For announced works in progress look here..
http://www.planetxbox.com/games2/

However, specs don't mean anything without good game developers. I've seen the Halo commercial and it didn't knock my socks off. The framerate seemed rather abysmal, but maybe it was just how they photographed it for the commercial.

I fiddled with the latest Oddworld game and was pretty disappointed in the total package. Granted, that probably isn't the best title to show off the capabilities of the XBox.

I've read reviews and seen screenshots of some pretty cool XBox titles though. I've no doubt that if Developer X made the same game for the PS2 and the XBox, the XBox version would be marginally better... BUT, PS2 developers have had the advantage of being able to get comfortable with the system for a while now. And, to be honest, the games I was *expecting* to play when I first got the PS2 are just now coming out.

I was actually pretty disappointed with the games available for the PS2 and would get labelled as a PS2 basher on usenet because I would say so. I was just being honest.

I'm a sucker for racing games. I bought the best racing game available about a year ago (Ridge Racer V) and, while I was fairly impressed with certain aspects of the game, I was rather dissatisfied with the overall gaming experience.

Seven months (and much hype) later, Gran Turismo 3 comes out. I had my copy reserved for over a month, as did many other PS2 owners, hoping this was going to be the PS2's real "killer app." I have to say, this was the beginning of something new for me and my PS2. Sure, prior games had taken advantage of the PS2's hardware to a certain extent, but I had never seen such a synthesis of design and engineering in a game prior to GT3. This game pushes the envelope in gameplay, graphics, and sound. Is it perfect? No. I really would have liked to see more tracks.

Before I purchased GT3, I read a debate on usenet about GT3 vs. Project Gotham Racing. XBox fans were really blowing GT3 away and making claims like, "PGR does real-time true environment reflection mapping on the cars. GT3 does not!" Well, the original PS1 GT games did not map the environment to the cars, it used repeating bitmaps for reflections. For the PS1, it still looked great, but it wasn't "real." GT3 does true environment reflection mapping without any framerate hit, so that argument and many others that XBox fans made in those posts turned out to be untrue, much to my pleasant surprise when I peeled the wrapper off my shiny new copy of GT3.

More recently, three games have made my jaw drop in terms of graphical realism and atmosphere: ICO, Silent Hill 2, and Ace Combat 4.

As I said before, ICO just owns. Period. I really didn't know what to expect when I rented it, but I swear, my eyes and ears soaked up the aesthetically rich atmosphere. It's so rich, that you end up playing it in a near dream-like trance.

Silent Hill 2 starts out pretty slow. The graphics look fuzzy and there's just too much fog, but once you get into the meat of the first big puzzle (the apartment buildings), it starts unleashing some serious eye-kicking effects. The flashlight you're carrying around cuts amazing swaths of light around the rooms and hallways... I've never seen shadows this articulated before in any game. The creatures are just plain FREAKISH with their shiny, moist flesh. Your flashlight creates glints of light on them in the distance before their horrific figures come into clear view.

In the credits of Ace Combat 4 is a Japanese satellite imaging company... What more can I say? The terrains are breathtaking and the gameplay is just-enough-sim and just-enough-arcade to keep me happy. How did they make the jet engine sound effects so dead-on???

These few games have redefined what I expect in any console game, or any game at all for that matter. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty is out now and based on how blown away I was by the demo, I'll be playing that one into the wee hours of the morn.

-Thel

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BTW, the latest Oddworld game, um no thanks. As you go through the game, it is somewhat fun, but alot of times it seems like there is no objective..kinda like you are just running through the world, just on a hiking trip or something.

Thelbane said: X-Box and Gamecube specs are impressive and (naturally) deliver more horsepower than the PS2. One would hope so since the PS2 has been out for a year already.

Also thought I would mention that Xbox was annoucned March 2000 and Gamecube (rumored as the Dolphin) was announced as well. This is long before PS2 was released. The specs and work on Xbox had been annoucnced early and easily gave Sony a chance to kick in some more power to their creation. With that in mind, Sony still shot for an early release hoping to rack in many sells by releasing before the others (which they did get their wish) Now they can only sit and watch as these two new platforms are being released and racking in the sells. A CEO for the Sony PS2 division recently stated that he hoped that there would be Xbox and Gamecube shortages so that maybe PS2 could get some sells this Christmas. LOL, I'm not making that up, I just didnt quote it cause I cant find where i read that. Well I gotta go at the moment...tune into tommorow's show hehe.

Not to sound like flame bait, but I don't agree with your evaluation of the system development timeline issue. Sony's supply fell short last Christmas. If they had gone back to the drawing board upon hearing news of Microsoft's and Nintendo's upcoming platforms, they would be in the same boat as them. What boat am I talking about? The "S.S. A Day Late and a Dollar Short."

I have to say for all the hype and screenshots, I still get the impression that the *technical* quality of Gamecube and XBox games will only be marginally better than the PS2's, but the PS2 was first out of the gate and has quite a large following. I don't think it would have been wise for Sony to wait another year to release a slightly better system. Their timing was right and folks camped out just to get their hands on one. That's smart marketing.

But in the end, the games are what really make or break a system. Dreamcast was technically superior to any system available for a period of time. The PS1 couldn't hold a candle to the capabilities of the DC, but it continued to dominate the games market because it had 1) a huge user base and 2) awesome developers... and the DC died a quiet, unfortunate death along with its few good titles.

Personally, I hope the XBox, Gamecube, and PS2 generate some serious competition among game developers. I actually think it's already happening. I'm starting to see games that are actually *fun* and not just technically beautiful. If I wanted something nice to look at, I'd buy a painting.

Here's to some healthy competition.

-Thel

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