Some positive vibes for Jordan...

[BGSUfanatUT]

PS2 > Xbox

[hammb]

hammb, I'm upgrading my gaming system from a seldom used playstation. Should I go with the PS2 or an Xbox?

Dude, I'm so biased its not even funny. Not sure if I'm the best to ask but I'll try to give ya an answer. Let me just preface it by saying that I'm not an XBox fan in the least and love my PS2. That said both systems definitely have advantages and disadvantages that I'll try to outline for ya a little bit.

Xbox is more powerful. A lot. Its a damn computer that plays video games, comlete with a harddrive and built in network card. Playstation is way behind in the pure hardware power standpoint. The hard drive for PS2 is an add on that comes with and is only used for the one final fantasy game. The network adaptor is an add on that will cost you about $30-40 (although many of them now are a package deal with the online adaptor with it). PS2 still requires the use of old school memory cards whereas the XBox uses its HDD for that purpose. The memory cards can get expensive if you're going to buy a bunch of them, and that's a definite drawback. The HDD is the single best part of the XBox, IMO, because it also allows you to put CD's on it and have your own music in your games as opposed to the music that's pre-programmed. Beyond that with all this added power you'd expect XBox games to blow away their PS2 counterparts, right? Not so. For the most part the graphics on the two systems are virtually interchangeable. Probably 90% or more games nowadays are made on both systems, and typically first programmed for PS2 (has the most users) and then ported to XBox. As a result these multi-platform games have very few graphical improvements on the XBox over PS2. Where the XBox does make use of this extra computing power is load times. The XBox's load times are MUCH faster than those on the PS2. If you hate to wait for a game to load this could be a major selling point.

Beyond just the computing power you should also look at the controller. This is my #1 sticking point. I hate the XBox controller. The original XBox controller was like lifting weights it was so big and unwieldly. They have since come out with a smaller 2nd generation controller, but I still prefer the PS2 controller. I like the PS2 controller having 4 trigger buttons compared to 3. This is especially useful in football games since the extra button allows you to decide which direction to juke as opposed to the XBox having a "juke button" that doesn't allow you to choose the direction. Beyond that my hand is just much more comfortable in the PS2 controllers. Others feel the exact opposite about them. I would suggest trying them out in the stores first. Remember if you get addicted to a game you could be holding that controller for 2-3 hours at a time, you want it to be comfortable to you. Of course you could by other shaped 3rd party controllers but even the best 3rd party controllers are generally less reliable than the ones put out by the console manufacturer.

The next thing to think about is online model. Online gaming is where its at nowadays. Many games are coming out putting more time into their online mode than the single player. The 2 consoles have very different online models. XBox has XBox Live which costs about $50 a year to play (unlimited) and has MS controlling the servers for all games. The plus side is that every online capable game has the reliability of MS servers and they're always there. The downside is it will cost you $50 a year. XBox Live is also only playable with a broadband connection. Conversely PS2's online model puts everything in the hands of the gamemakers. There is no subscription fee, and the adaptor will work with phone or broadband connection (of course many games are broadband only, and obviously performance is much better w/ broadband). The nice thing here is that you never have to pay, but you don't get the centrally located servers either, its up to the game manufacturers to keep the servers up. I mostly play EA games which is a huge company so this isn't a major issue with them. However, EA will discontinue online support for a game when its new version comes out (for instance you can no longer play NCAA 2004 online). Of course that's not terrible because generally when the new version comes out there would be very few players on the old version anyways.

Probably the single biggest question to think about is the games themselves. Throughout history consoles have been judged by the quality of their library. In this department XBox is no competition for PS2. PS2 has sold about 5 times as many systems as XBox and the developers know this. As I said earlier 90% (or more) of the games are available on all systems and are not noticeably better on one or the other. Its the exclusive titles that make a system. XBox has Halo & Halo2. Both are fantastic games if you're a fan of the first person shooter genre. Beyond that the XBox exclusive library is pretty crappy. A couple hits, but Halo is the only truly stand out title. PS2, OTOH, has an extensive game library headlined by the Grand Theft Auto Series. The current deal has GTA as an exclusive on PS2 for a year before they can be ported to XBox, so the latest in the series is usually a PS2 only item. There are also titles such as Gran Turismo, Metal Gear Solid, Ratchet & Clank, Jak & Daxter, Final Fantasy, and countless others depending on your choice of genres. Even the most staunch XBox supporter will tell you that PS2 has a better selection of games, and a better selection of quality games.

Those are the major issues to think about when comparing the systems, IMO. XBox does also offer a greater variety of surround sound modes for its games, not sure how big of a deal that is to ya. In the end my scorecard is:

Power - Xbox
Controller - PS2
Online - PS2
Games - PS2

Other people may score that differently as the controller & online model are opinion. You cannot argue that the XBox has more power, and you cannot argue that the XBox has fewer games (although Halo is very nearly a title good enough to purchase the system for just that).

Hope this helps ya make a decision, its an important one. Although remember that PS3 and XBox2 will likely be coming out within the next 2 years now

[FlagCityFalcon]

Gotta give Perry some love...he played better this weekend...