Playstation 2 vs. Xbox: A Relapse
May 11 '02
The Bottom Line Choose wisely my friend...
The console wars are definitely over for us hardcore gamers.
The decision was indeed a tough one. Xbox or Playstation 2?
I know that you are asking "but what about Gamecube?". Well, the answer is that Gamecube sure does have the stuff to stay competitive, but it is quite different from the other two systems to compare. The Gamecube is again trying to split from the war and settle for what it does best: games. No DVD, so CD's, but 8cm optical disks. Plus Gamecube is way cheaper.
Back to the subject.
E3 is just around the corner, and many people are anticipating a price cut for both the PS2 and the Xbox. Many of the more patient gamers are waiting until now to conflict what would be the better buy. A very, very small mini-war is upon us as the coolheaded gamers make their way to their local electronics store to get their hands on some next gen goodness.
Hardware
When you are fighting to be Number 1 in the console gaming biz, the first thing people look at is how beefed up the system is. They want graphics and features to be clogged up inside the machine; to get the most they possibly can for a sane price.
Playstation 2
Both the Playstation 2 and the Xbox have a pretty killer hardware setup. Playstation 2 features both DVD and CD compatibility. Not only can you play music on your Playstation 2, but you can also plug in a DVD and enjoy better image quality on your TV. The Playstation 2 also includes a parental lockout feature that parents can use to stop their children from watching movies they aren’t allowed to watch. Playstation 2 also has the advantage of a predecessor that the PS2 in backward compatible with. The PS2 also has a phone jack so you can plug in your modem and hook up online. It has an extra drive to slip in a hard drive or any other peripheral that comes out. The guts of the PS2 are definitely on the bottom of the barrel of the big 3 systems out there. The price of coming out earlier than everyone else is that everyone else can get the jump on you and you can’t do a thing. The PS2 gets a lower processing speed and polygon count than its rivals. The standard controllers are very comfortable and easy to work with, and have an extra pressure-sensitive feature to them that some PS2 games, like Metal Gear Solid 2, are starting to use. You can also use the PS1 Dual shocks with the PS2 if the game allows it.
Xbox
The Xbox is king in the hardware realm. It has a graphics and processing system far superior to either the PS2 or the Gamecube. The Xbox also supports DVD and CD compatibility. The catch with the Xbox is that you have to buy a $40 remote control to play any DVD movies. However, people start drooling once we get into the Xbox’s juicy features that other systems only have as add-ons. The Xbox includes a whopping 10 gigabyte hard drive, eliminating the need for a memory card. Some games also allow you to rip music off your CD’s onto the hard drive and allow you to play them back during gameplay. The Xbox also includes a built-in broadband connector that will allow for lighting fast online play once the Xbox is ready for it. As a one-up to the PS2’s DVD movie lockout feature, the Xbox will include a game lockout feature, so parents who don’t want their children getting their hands on Silent Hill 2 can stop them. The Xbox’s controller is nothing to brag about. It’s huge and very uncomfortable. This isn’t much of a problem as it was earlier, however, because third party companies are coming out with better controllers for the Xbox. Despite rather bogus rumors, the Xbox does not play back PC games (how would that work anyway?).
The Games
Good hardware means nothing if you’ve got crap games coming out. It doesn’t matter how good a game looks. If it sucks, it’s junk.
Playstation 2
Getting a year’s head start on the competition has allowed the Playstation 2 to get a rather deep and varied software library. Plus, it has the added advantage of playing back PS1 games, giving the system countless games it can play. On top of that, the PS2 has some really killer games on the market. It’s library includes Grand Theft Auto 3, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, Devil May Cry, Final Fantasy X, SSX Tricky, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3, as well as a ton of awesome sports games and RPGs. There are much, much more good ones out there too. The PS2 is definitelty the top dog in games so far.
Xbox
Owners of the Xbox are still complaining that they haven’t gotten a very good fill of quality gaming with their Xbox yet. The Xbox’s current list of games fall into the mediocre and bad range, with only a few good ones to keep it from being a truly dead system. The top games for the Xbox thus far are Halo, Max Payne, Jet Set Radio Future, and a few good sports games. The Xbox has yet to materialize an RPG, and many Xbox owners are starving for one. There is hope though. Grand Theft Auto 3 and Unreal Championship, accompanied by a few impressive looking games may pull the Xbox out of the slog of bad games.
Peripherals
No matter how good a system is, companies are always going to come up with stuff to make the system better. However, peripherals cost money, and after purchasing a $300 system people aren’t very enthusiastic about chugging up more money for the system.
Playstation 2
The Playstation 2 is getting a ton of add-ons for itself to jack it up into a hardcore gaming machine. It will be getting a network and broadband adapter to surf the net with. It also is going to be getting an LCD screen, a mouse and keyboard, and a 40 gigabyte hard drive. Buy all these and your PS2 may end up slowly transforming into a computer.
Xbox
Not much stuff will be added for the Xbox, at least for now. There will be a 56k adapter for the system when the system goes online and people won’t be willing to spend 50 bucks a month for broadband internet. The Xbox doesn’t have any plans for a keyboard or mouse, but it will probably get those once it goes online.
Rumors and Facts
With any new systems coming out on the market, there are bound to be some narrow-minded fools who are going to spread horrible rumors around the internet or to their friends. But it takes an even narrower minded fool to believe them.
Playstation 2
The Playstation 2 is having a few hardware troubles, especially when trying to read blue-bottomed game discs (CDs). The following information I got from Gamepro: The Playstation 2 uses magnets to hold discs in place while the system reads them. DVD’s don’t have a problem because DVDs are thick and won’t be subject to being thrown around and getting scratched up by the lens. CD’s, however, will. Because they are thinner, the PS2 will likely toss it around and scratch up the disk. Setting the PS2 up in the vertical position worsens the problem dramatically. Sony should have checked a lot more carefully. You might be safer to just play PS1 games on a PS1 if you didn’t throw it away yet.
Xbox
The Xbox has a much smaller list of problems. Unfortunately, they are BAD problems. First, the not so bad. The Xbox is big and heavy. There. Now the bad part. Some people have been saying that their Xbox, for whatever reason, are simply refusing to work. No one is quite sure what the problem is yet, but they had better figure it out quick.
Overall
The decision is as hard now as it was then. Buy the Playstation 2 if you want to be absolutely sure that you don’t care about any jacked up hardware, or are willing to pay mucho cash for costly add-ons. Buy the Xbox if you absolutely have to be the best of the best in terms of hardware, and really want to play Halo, which is the only must-have game for the Xbox so far.
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steakphish
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Member: kyle bullis
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