Which is better the X-Box or Playstation?

[gracious]

Been thinking about getting either an X-Box or a Playstation II, but am not sure which would be better. I have heard good things about both but I want to get something that is worth the money...Anyone know about these two and have used them and can give me some info?

[saphalline]

First of all, heads up on new things with the PS2! Currently, there are "sales" on PS2 units in stores. This is because Sony is releasing an updated version with an improved optical laser (plays DVD's better) and bundled online adapter (I think the broadband unit). The sales on the PS2 are for the older version as the newer one will be a bit more money. Keep that in mind if you decide on a PS2.

Although I'm strictly a PC gamer/user, I'm not entirely blind to the consoles. In terms of hardware, the XBox is far superior - better specs across the board, especially the hard drive. 8GB may be puny to a computer, but it's absolute heaven for a console! Under normal use, you'd never need to buy an XBox memory card because the internal hard drive can store millions of "blocks" of memory! The PS2 on the other hand has expensive memory cards that hold a whole 8MB - whoopee. :rolleyes:

The XBox hard drive can also be used to rip CD music and play your own tracks with many games. Ever wondered what a racing game would sound like to the tune of Beethoven? Well, maybe not :p, but it could be done with the XBox!

Also, in a never-ending quest to understand all things graphical, I've studied the video capabilities of all modern consoles. Technically speaking, even the kiddie-approved Gamecube can produce better visuals than the PS2. The XBox has even more power with its NVidia graphics chip that was designed around the GF3 GPU. That means full vertex-shading goodness! :cool: So far, XBox games haven't been all that impressive compared to their PS2 counterparts, but that's only because the PS2 is older and so game developers have a solid grasp of how to squeeze more performance out of it. The XBox has tons of room to grow in that area, as the games look better and better every year.

On the games side, yeah, the PS2 has more (again because it's a year older than the GC and XBox). And many popular games are exclusive to the PS2. But Microsoft's raw muscle in everything software has ensured that a good many games are XBox-only, and a recent deal secured several sports games with their online portions being unique to XBox Live. You should have no problem finding great games for the XBox.

I also read an article last year on game developers' ideas of the latest consoles. One was quoted as basically saying that the PS2's architecture was too complicated and that most developers will likely stop making games for it as soon as possible. Both the GC and XBox have much simpler architectures that don't require fluency in ancient glyphs to work with!

That's my ideas on the whole PS2 vs XBox thing. Not that I can afford either one, but my opinion is based on cold, hard specs and not a religious affiliation with one company or another. :p I do love Sony's SOE for Everquest and the upcoming EQ2! With my PC's power, I may be one of only 100 players on EQ2 when it comes out! ;)

[gracious]

WOW!

I am not sure I understood everything you said but I do get the gist of it. The Xbox seems closer to a pc, and the only thing is with the Xbox, you have to buy the DVD remote something or other separately. My husband and I have our puters networked but there aren't alot of games out there that allow spawning like you can with StarCraft...so we thought we would get either an Xbox or PS2 so we can distroy each other:D LOL.

Thanks for the input Saph! ;)

[killercow]

PLAYSTATION2!!!!! ... however Xbox will be the only console to hold new future games and playstation2 will be left in the dust. THEN PSX WILL COME OUT!!!! AND RULE THE WORLD!!!! also what will they call the new xbox? zbox? ebox i think sounds better. xbox2? doesn't sound good. Playstation also has MANY more good-excellent titles. Xbox has 1 title ...... THAT BLOWS ANY OTHER CONSOLE GAME AWAY ... HALO AND HALO 2. Not to mention marvel vs. capcom 2 is pretty cool.

[gracious]

Killer, do you have playstation II? If so, how long have you had it and what the heck is psx? Have you tried the Xbox? Are you saying that the Xbox only has 2 games????? How lame!

[killercow]

I have had a playstation 2 for a year and a half now. PSX is just the name for the new playstation in development. It prolly won't be called PSX though. For example, the game cube was called dolphin or something like that in development. The Xbox was called project or operation X. I personally have played around 4 games on Xbox that I thought were great games and 1 EXCELLENT. I think an improvement they could make is make stuff smaller. It was just plain BIG, the controllers, the console...everything. I do, however, like having built in memory in the console.

[pentachris]

As an aside, psx was also a nickname for the original Playstation. It started out as a joint venture development between Sony & Nintendo, and they called it the Playstation X in development. When the gaming media & community found out about it, they started calling it psx. Nintendo bailed out before its release, and Sony decided to shorten it to Playstation when they released it. But the psx nickname stuck.

[jmjones162]

I think you have to look at the two major differences in these consoles and see which is more important to you. I have both so I've seen them at the same time. If you want overall quality and amazing online performance, you'd have to go with the X-Box. With all it's bells and whistles, the X-Box is unbeatable. The PS2 on the other hand is not as good in the hardware side of it, but it has many more quality games. That alone is the X-Box's major drawback. The question you need to ask yourself is whether you want a system that comes fully loaded but is a little behind on games, or vice-versa. I'd have to pick the X-Box, no questions, if I were you, for the online performance alone.

[TravisVW]

I own a PS2, and have never played an X-box. I have heard many times that X-box blows PS2 away for hardware and graphics, but their game selection is limited.

If you are majorly into sports games, go with the PS2, if you like, well, just about anything else, like FP shooters, action, adventure, and RPG games, the X-box is better. X-box also has better online gaming, and has many online games. PS2 doesnt have many online games.

[killercow]

Also Xbox is much better for modding. If I may give an example my friend took his Xbox and added a new BIOS chip in which allowed him to install something like an OS. This allowed him to watch DVD's without purchasing the remote and a lot of other stuff. He also added a 200GB hard drive in which he can copy games to the hard drive. I will not specify on any of these (due to not knowing the legality:rolleyes: )

[Maryn]

PS2 games are pretty expensive unless you get them from the NEt, but I presume X Box games aren't cheap either. PS2 can be used to listen to CDs and watch DVD movies as well as playing games which I think is a pretty good reason to buy one!!!! Lots of fun and never crashes!:D

[masterleous]

PS2 ,
Because it has more features than X-Box, But X-Box is now becoming a future part.
Make choice ru self.

[akif]

Where does PC stands for games?

[Whyzman]

My son is the console gamer in the family so I may need to add his personal comments later as he's still snoozing this morning. :p

He has all the systems except for the X-Box and other than to secure to have a "complete set" I don't think he's that interested right now.

For him, I would say, it comes down to the games. He's primarly into Role Playing Games. When the X-Box was first released it appeared to be concentrating on an age demographic in the 18 to 24 year olds.

Thus, I seem to recall the initial games were primarly sports oriented.

The X-Box certainly has some impressive specs, however setting that aside for a moment, I'll defer back to the games.

Nintendo's GameBoy comes to mind when it comes to the importance of games. When other folks came at them with backlit color screens and TV Tuner adapters, GameBoys sales didn't even seem to be affected. Kids were putting little "squirrely" lights and all sorts of cumbersome features on their GBs trying to see the screen if the ambient light wasn't nearly perfect. It was all about the games!

What I'm going to suggest might seem a bit strange coming from someone what has "pandered" to his kids and stood in line to purchase the latest and greatest, oft times putting a gaping hole in my wallet!

Firstly, I would consider the current gaming likes in your family. Waiting for the next round of consoles and their usually limited initial games releases, I'd focus on the hear and now.

Secondly, prices are falling (have fallen) on the X-Box and PS2. So, purchasing new might be the way to go...However, what about checking at a Pawn Shop??

We had a relative who was dying to get his hands on an N64 and wanted one for his birthday. I wasn't going to shell out the $100.00 for a new one for a birthday. I went to a local Pawn Shop and picked one up for $25...Which came with 2 controllers and Nintendos Joy Stick.

He was excited, needless to say! And, I think it came with a 30 day exchange or money back guarantee if it bombed! :)

My input, then from what I think my son would say..."It's all about the games!" ;)

[saphalline]

Where does PC stands for games?Any game that can be played better with a mouse usually does better on the PC. Also, games that are huge or need huge save files work better on the PC's massive hard drive. However, that could change soon because the XBox has a nice 8GB HDD and Sony's upcoming PSX (official name now) is a PS2 with more multimedia features and a whopping 120GB HDD!! :eek:

I think we've seen the last of the non-hard drive equipped consoles with the PS2 and Gamecube. This alone will break down a lot of barriers that consoles have traditionally had (*cough* load times *cough*).

The PC shouldn't be discounted entirely, tho. Upcoming core/bus designs for the PC look to eschew many limitations (mostly by dumping legacy stuff that's been a millstone around the PC's neck). I'm still a PC gamer, but that doesn't mean a few of the console games don't make me drool! It does mean that I can only afford one gaming system, tho. :D PC's are still so expensive that you can't invest in other gaming systems without giving up something else (like a car or food).

I must say that the main reason I play PC games is for the easiest cheating ever! I can cheat at any game I own, either by using built-in cheat codes or by hacking the saved files (I love hex-editors! :D). Until someone makes a hex-editor for a console, I'll stick to PC games.