how does the xbox compare to playstation?
I forgot to point out that I’m talking about playstation 2, not the original.
Here is how it breaks down, in what I understand to believe the general consensus.
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Playstation 2- DVD player and game console. Good graphics, extremely wide game selection, with many high quality games. Good controller, but only comes with 2 controller ports(you can buy a cheap splitter to use four). Very nice, simple machine that doesn’t break too often and is easy to hook up.
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Xbox- No DVD player, but you can get an adaptor to make it play DVD’s. Better system in terms of graphics and overall “power”, but has the lowest game selection of all three consoles. There are some good games, however. Controller that comes with the system is not very popular, but you can adjust. Easy to hook up. It’s rather large, but it includes a harddrive to store saved games and such. Best system for going online with. Microsoft runs the online aspect of the system, something Nintendo and Sony do not do.
Both are $199
If you don’t know much about systems, I say go with the Playstation 2. Unless you really want specific games that are exclusive to the Xbox(Halo, for example), buy the PS2.
I will add one thing.
My recommendation for most people is to buy the PS2. This is the system for the average gamer who is just interested in finding a wide selection of games. After that, I actually recommend the Gamecube before I recommend the Xbox. The Cube has a game selection nearly equaling the PS2, but is not a dvd player. It does cost $50 less than the other systems and comes with one great game.
Only buy the Xbox if definately know what games you want before you buy it. If you know exactly what you want, then it is worth it. I have found most people who just buy the Xbox on a whim get let down when they see how many games are released for the other two systems that they wish they had. This is less common for buyers of the other consoles.
Here’s a discussion from a while back you may find interesting:
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=164761
I’ve got all three consoles. Basically, it breaks down like this:
PS2: The most games. Some of them are very good, most aren’t.
GameCube: Fewer games, but they’re generally better quality.
X-Box: Very few really good games, but absolutely the best hadware on the market.
Overall, I like my GameCube the best, because of what I can play on it (Zelda, Metroid, Eternal Darkness). That’s three games that I consider to be almost perfect. I can only think of one X-Box title of that calibur (Halo) and two on PS2 (Vice City and Ico) And really, Vice City could have been done better.
See, I agree. I like the Cube the best, but usually recommend the PS2 for people who are unfamiliar with the gaming world. It has a mass appeal that the Cube doesn’t offer.
I have all three systems as well and the Xbox is by far my favorite. I think the PS2’s graphics are hard to look at once you have a cube or Xbox and the only people who will tell you how “good” the PS2’s graphics are are fanboys living in denial. Any game that is on all three systems is, in my experience, always best on the Xbox. And before people start complaining about the controller you can go buy an adapter for like 6 bucks that lets you use PS controllers on your Xbox if it bothers you that much.
A common misconception. A quick look at amazon.com shows the Xbox with 276 games and the 'Cube in a close third at 239 games. Admitedly, both numbers include games that haven’t been released yet, but you get the picture.
If by “nearly equaling” you mean “considerably less than half” then you are correct.
I have an XBox and PS/2. I like my XBox, but there are very few must-have, must-play games out for it right now. My PS/2 sees a lot more use. I think the XBox is GOING to have some good games in the future, but I’d wait 6 months to a year before picking one up to make sure all those games actually ship.
XBox really only has about 4 games that are worth buying. The rest (IMHO) are crap. They have Halo, Panzer Dragoon Orta (eye candy but its a rail shooter. Who can complain with that?), Splinter Cell (but it is being ported soon. Not exclusive, so I am being kind to Microsoft by adding it here) and Steel Batalion (granted, the game costs as much as they system. But man…talk about awesome). But beyond that, you get a bunch of crap. (Once again, IMHO)
PS2 is worth it if you never had a PS1 and you want to catch up on some oldies but goodies. I got one specificly so I could FINALLY play Final Fantasy VII. If you count all the PS1 games along with the PS2, definately go for it. You have all the FF games (7,8,9,10,Tactics, the soon to be released X-2, and the infamous MMORPG XI), some of the best fighters you can think of (Virtua Fighter 4), Grand Theft Auto, GTA:Vice City, Amplitude, Rez, Shinobi…oy, I could go on and on. Lota good games for the PS2
Yet, even with all those games, I highly sudgest a GameCube. (whhhhhhha?! you say?) Unless you are a hardcore RPG fan, I say go with Nintendo cause you cant go wrong. You have a lot of excelent games. It has its share of crap, but not quite near the list as XBox or PS2. You have Zelda:WW (plus OoT with the bundle), Metroid Prime, Mario Sunshine (which beyond the dopey name is actually REALLY fun), Eternal Darkness, Super Smahs Bro’s Melee, Resident Evil(s), Ikaruga, Animal Crossing (which trust me. If you get this game, you will NEVER leave your house. Graphics bite the big one, but is so incredibly in depth that it will scare you), etc… Then you have all the games that are soon to come out. Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles, Soul Calibur 2 (this one has Link though…for that reason alone is it worth getting.). P.N 03 looks amazing, as does Viewtiful Joe (which is suposed to go back to fighting games roots), Killer 7 probobly is the biggest game I am looking forward to just because of its grittyness and very unique look to it.
So like I said, unless you are a major RPG head, get the cube. You wont regret it.
I think this topic has a million messages in the newsgroups…you could buy all of them used & make your own decision captainQwark.
e.g.
overstock.com has the refurbished Xbox for $139.99 - $10 coupon = $129.99, $2.95 shipping. search for xbox (techbargains.com)
I think that ebgames has the GC used, for $89.00
Both of those places should have a ps2 used too.
Sorry if I was unclear. I am aware that the Xbox has many games, far more than the Cube. What I meant is that the availablity of “must have” or “huge hit” games is signifigantly lower than the PS2 or Cube.
I define “must have” games as games that, “anyone who is anyone has heard of and have received wide acclaim from fans and critics as classics.”
Remember, I said right away that the Xbox is the best system in terms of performance. It is similar to the Macintosh(feel the irony, Microsoft). Great systems, the Mac and the Xbox, poor selection. But everyone who actually has one loves it.
I, in no way, am anti-Xbox. I just wouldn’t recommend it to someone who is a curious new gamer.
I’ll weigh in here with my thoughts, since I recently had to choose between buying either a PS2 or Xbox to complement my 'Cube.
I went with the Xbox, for a few reasons. First and foremost, it’s the most powerful console by far, and it shows. Looks at Splinter Cell, typically considered the most technologically taxing game out there. Now try to find something on the PS2 that compares. Hint: Good freakin’ luck.
Of course, pretty pictures do not a great game make, and if the Xbox was full of lovely turds, MS wouldn’t have gotten my money. But the Xbox has a lot of exclusive games that are just damned cool. Panzer Dragoon Orta is wonderful, if not terribly deep. Jet Set Radio Future is a trip. Dead or Alive 3 is a great fighting game (a nice mix of realism and fantasy, for those who don’t care for the extremes of Street Fighter and Virtua Fighter), DOA Volleyball is just plain fun, and a great party game, even if it’s not 4-player. Halo is first-person shooter nirvana. Morrowind is 100 hours of wonderment (and unlike anything you could hope to find on a console without a hard drive), for those who don’t do PC gaming. And Knights of the Old Republic looks dreamy. Ditto Ninja Gaiden.
Of course, that’s not to say the PS2 doesn’t have a plethora of wonderful games (and a bigger plethora of utter crap). And truth be told, it probably has more, in terms of raw numbers. But I’m a grown-up now, with a job and a wife and a life, and I just don’t have the time to play every game on every system. So for me, the choice was thus: Do I want to play a lot of great games with so-so graphics, or do I want to play a lot of great games with beautiful graphics? Not a hard choice to make.
One caveat: Every system but the PS2 suffers from a serious dearth of RPGs, so if that’s your genre of choice, then go with the PS2. Me, I went with MS’s 50 lb behemoth, and I’m loving every minute of it.
Whatever you choose, though, happy gaming.
Jeff
One other thing:
If you have a good audio set-up, the Xbox supports DD 5.1 audio, which is pretty sweet. I don’t think the PS2 supports it, though someone please correct me if I’m wrong. The 'Cube has Dolby Pro Logic II, which is a nice attempt at surround (and better than nothing), but nothing beats 5.1. Seriously. I’m playing Morrowind currently, and hearing people talk from all angles around, or hearing something creep up from somewhere behind you in a dark and dank dungeon is 12 shades of bad-ass.
Anyway, not a huge reason to go with the Xbox in and of itself, but if you’re on the fence, it’s something to keep in mind.
Jeff
XBox really only has about 4 games that are worth buying. The rest (IMHO) are crap. They have Halo, Panzer Dragoon Orta (eye candy but its a rail shooter. Who can complain with that?), Splinter Cell (but it is being ported soon. Not exclusive, so I am being kind to Microsoft by adding it here) and Steel Batalion (granted, the game costs as much as they system. But man…talk about awesome). But beyond that, you get a bunch of crap. (Once again, IMHO)
PS2 is worth it if you never had a PS1 and you want to catch up on some oldies but goodies. I got one specificly so I could FINALLY play Final Fantasy VII. If you count all the PS1 games along with the PS2, definately go for it. You have all the FF games (7,8,9,10,Tactics, the soon to be released X-2, and the infamous MMORPG XI), some of the best fighters you can think of (Virtua Fighter 4), Grand Theft Auto, GTA:Vice City, Amplitude, Rez, Shinobi…oy, I could go on and on. Lota good games for the PS2
Yet, even with all those games, I highly sudgest a GameCube. (whhhhhhha?! you say?) Unless you are a hardcore RPG fan, I say go with Nintendo cause you cant go wrong. You have a lot of excelent games. It has its share of crap, but not quite near the list as XBox or PS2. You have Zelda:WW (plus OoT with the bundle), Metroid Prime, Mario Sunshine (which beyond the dopey name is actually REALLY fun), Eternal Darkness, Super Smahs Bro’s Melee, Resident Evil(s), Ikaruga, Animal Crossing (which trust me. If you get this game, you will NEVER leave your house. Graphics bite the big one, but is so incredibly in depth that it will scare you), etc… Then you have all the games that are soon to come out. Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles, Soul Calibur 2 (this one has Link though…for that reason alone is it worth getting.). P.N 03 looks amazing, as does Viewtiful Joe (which is suposed to go back to fighting games roots), Killer 7 probobly is the biggest game I am looking forward to just because of its grittyness and very unique look to it.
So like I said, unless you are a major RPG head, get the cube. You wont regret it.
Fable! Fable! Fable! Fable! Fable!
The PS2 is really only worth it if you’re a casual gamer. GTA:VC is something that I never spend more than fifteen minutes on (just enough time to get the military on my ass, ditch 'em for a while, and then finally get killed), although The Getaway is pretty damned cool.
Xbox has much shorter load times, better graphics (for games that are on all three consoles, like Hitman 2), and frankly, the fact that it’s the size of a small bus should only matter if you live in a phone booth. The controller, in my opinion, is wonderful… it feels like something meaty, whereas the PS2 controller feels like I should be using tweezers.
Halo is astounding… unless you’re allergic to good games, you’ll like it. Morrowind is great if you don’t have a good PC (at least 1.5 ghz with GeForce-3 and a big ol’ chunk of RAM), even if you can’t mod it or use plugins, simply because it runs so goddamned smoothly. Mechassault is good cheap gaming, quick and fast with lots of action (online play is dreamy). Splinter Cell will make you crap your pants… not only is it visually stunning, but there’s just SO MUCH you can possibly do.
Frankly, there’s very little of PS2 that gets my blood boiling… the GTA games were interesting, but quickly lost their novelty aside from occasional 15-minute sessions (I still spend an hour or so every now and then playing through a level or two of Halo).
Now, Gamecube looks interesting… it took them a while to get their Must-Haves (Zelda and Metroid, in my opinion), but then there’s still Super Smash Bros. Melee and Mario Sunshine, plus the Sonic Adventure games are, apparently, interesting.
I found a list on the net &
the ps2 has 2,612 games & the xbox has 830 games. The ps2 has more games because they have Japanese games, european & american games.
I maintain that you cannot go wrong with either an XBox or a PS2. Both have their advantages. I prefer the XBox, but that’s just me; if the PS2 appeals, go for it.
thanks for yall’s replies. I own a PS2 but I was curious about the xbox. I don’t really won’t an xbox since it seems to have mainly sports and shooting games which are not my thing.