[Completly OT] Xbox or PS2?

[Shard O'Glase]

There was a huge amount of advance hype for the PS2. Everything else was pretty much unimportant. Sega was shouting "We have more games, better games, and a system that's much easier to program for" for the first year that the PS2 was out, and pretty much every video game magazine and web site agreed, while also saying that the Dreamcast was doomed.

Neither Nintendo nor Microsoft had to deal with that hype machine as much; they were aiming for #2 from the beginning. And both brought their own advantages to the table, in addition to the 'easier to code for' card that both had relative to the PS2. Nintendo had some very strong exclusive franchises, the Game Boy to rely on for cash, and a less expensive system. Microsoft brought the most powerful system to the table, relatively easy PC ports, and Microsoft's money to guarantee that they weren't going to give up.

That makes sense. It really is a pity I love my dreamcast and the games I have for it. Then again I really went on a shoping spree when the games droped to 10$ and below in price.

 

[Ristamar]

The Dreamcast wasn't exactly a failure. It simply wasn't enough of a success to keep Sega from their past mistakes. They needed PS2-like sales and support to dig themselves out of the grave, a grave formed by 3 big successive flops: Sega CD, 32X, and especially the Saturn, which the original PS obliterated with it's lower launch price and superior technology.

I like to think of a the Dreamcast as more of a grand 'Going Away' party. And a fine party it was, while it lasted.

 

[Ristamar]

Speaking of companies being in dire need, I find it somewhat amusing that after the passing of the N64, people point at Nintendo like some sort imminent disaster is looming directly overhead, waiting for the company to suddenly bow out of the industry and regress to developing only software.

Nintendo has never lost money on a console, save for, perhaps, the VirtualBoy, which was more of a side project than a true console.

And contrary to popular belief, regardless of the the PlayStation's rise to power, the N64 was a huge financial success, powered by seemingly infallible first party support, a few amazing offerings from Rare, and many of the best multiplayer games of that generation.

On top of that, the amount of money Nintendo made from the GameBoy (including Color and Pocket hybrids) is absurd, and the Gameboy Advance, now about 18 months old, is well on its way to following in its predecesors footsteps. Around the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, retailers sold 1 million GBA's over a period of ten days. It's difficult to imagine anyone even challenging, let alone usurping, the stranglehold Nintendo has on the handheld market.

Nintendo, being widely regarded as one of the leading businesses in Japan, is financially savvy and secure, sitting on a 9 billion dollar safety cushion. It can fail miserably and still have the ability to quickly recover, so it is unlikely for it to be leaving the console market any time in the near future.

 

[gariig]

I think next gen consoles are going to taek the X-Box approach with built in hard drives and online support(whether downloads and/or multiplayer action). Probably the last big thing going for PCs is the ability to use MODs. I mean, what is the number one multiplayer game out right now is Half-Life and it is how old?? 4 or 5 years I think, must be something to this MOD stuff. Another thing Sony has going for it is Evercrack(err Everquest), if it could get that onto console it would open up an even bigger market for that cash cow.

Also, lots of games are a good selling point for parents buy consoles for their kids. Recently at a Toys 'R Us a mom and a dad were sold on a PS2 for little "bobby and suzy" just because it had a huge library. Know what that means to mom and dad, they know their kids will like SOMETHING. Walk down the X-Box aisle and all you see are sports games(in comparison) and wonder what is wrong with it and worry that 8-9 year old bobby and suzy won't like those kind of games.

Gariig

Here is a link to Gamespy's stats..Half-Life is more then every other game combined(this doesn't include MMORPGs of course)

 

[Sir Edgar]

I guess I could sell all of this really easy on eBay (where I have a perfect rating of 62/62). But if someone can make me a good offer for the entire bundle and send a check ahead of shipment, I'd be willing to part with it here.

I have:

Sega Dreamcast Console
Sega Controller (original)
Sega Controller (blue)
Memory Cards (blue) x2
Mad Catz Extension Cord
Mad Catz Jump/Rumble Pack

Grandia II
Shenmue
Resident Evil: Code Veronica
Soul Calibur
Virtua Tennis
Crazy Taxi
Space Channel 5
Jet Grind Radio
Sonic Adventure
Sonic Shuffle
Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation

If you want to make an offer, please e-mail me at: specialedgar@netscape.net

I know I can get $100 credit towards a new console at Electronics Boutique and probably get about $150 in cash on eBay. So, please make a reasonable offer (including S&H).

If you guys think I should just do one of these two things, then let me know, too. Thanks again for all the advice and looking at my stuff!

 

[Sir Edgar]

Oh, yeah and everything is in excellent condition as far as I know (no visible scratches, etc). I am almost certain that I even have all of the original boxes, cases, manuals, etc (even for the console, controllers, and memory cards!) Some of these games I have only played a couple of times and they all work perfectly. Nothing is more than a year or so old and most of the games were bought only months ago (all in brand new condition when purchased). That's a lot of information, but there it is!

 

[Mallus]

I never understood why no-one gave the dreamcast a chance. My guess is related to my nintendo screw up problem. they went with "inferior" tech like the what was it a GD instead of DVD, processing pwoer, everything was subpar compared to the PS2 coming out next year.

Couldn't the same be said of the market-leading PS2, which is behind the Gamecube and XBox technology-wise?

I there's a tendency to overstate the importance of cutting-edge hardware when discussing console gaming. If technology was really the deciding factor, then the Xbox would be ahead of the PS2 in sales...

And what happened with the Dremacast was due to several factors: lack of certain key third-party support {curse you, EA}, Sega limited reasources {Sega was operating on such a thin margin, they needed lots of immediate revenue from the DC, they simply couldn't wait for it to gradually build a user-base}, and the fact that their rival Sony had an incredibly powerful brand with the Playstation. Consumers aren't strictly rational creatures. What they {we} believe about a product or producer is often as important, if not more, than the objective truth.

The Dreamcast was and is a great game system. I'm not selling mine.

And the PS2 is a great system, despite its "inferior tech" {compared to the Cube and the Box}, because of the support its market share garauntees.

And while I'm at it, I'm sure the Xbox will be a great system. Microsoft can keep supporting it --and buying new support-- until the Sun up and dies-- giving it time to build a user-base...

 

[Shapermc]

Speaking of companies being in dire need, . . .(snip)
Nintendo has never lost money on a console,. . .(snip)
And contrary . . .(snip)

I couldent agree with you more. Actually I think the exact oposite of what most people do. The Big N will back out of making games and just 'whore' out their consoles to the highest bidder. This is the exact oposite of what SEGA did. The reasons? Well Zelda was sold off to be made by another company, F-Zero, Metroid, and even (gasp) Mario. If you look at it that way they cant lose.

Orig. Post by Sir Edgar
I know I can get $100 credit towards a new console at Electronics Boutique and probably get about $150 in cash on eBay. So, please make a reasonable offer (including S&H).[/b]

I am not sure that EB would give you that $100 towards and if you did you would be getting ripped off. My best recomendation is to save all that stuff and have a gameing legend, but I'll send you an email instead Do you accept paypal?

 

[Shapermc]

Couldn't the same be said of the market-leading PS2, which is behind the Gamecube and XBox technology-wise?

...(snip)

Sony's overconfidence with the Playstation name will be their downfall. They seem to have the mindframe that they can wrap up a peice of hard doggie poo and slap on the word Playstation and it will succced. Mark me they will have a down fall and this will be it.

 

[Ristamar]

I couldent agree with you more. Actually I think the exact oposite of what most people do. The Big N will back out of making games and just 'whore' out their consoles to the highest bidder. This is the exact oposite of what SEGA did. The reasons? Well Zelda was sold off to be made by another company, F-Zero, Metroid, and even (gasp) Mario. If you look at it that way they cant lose.

Yeah, a lot of people are surprised to find out Mario Party 4 isn't even made by Nintendo. Hudson, maker of the Bomberman series, has developed all the Mario Party titles. There's a few others that are outsourced, as well.

F-Zero is being handled by Sega now, and from what I've seen of it, it looks really sweet. Can't wait for that one, in arcades and on the GC.

Namco is currently developing StarFox Armada, reminiscent of the original StarFox and StarFox 64, also for arcades and GC.

The peerless Shigeru Miyamoto overlooked Mario Sunshine and the new Zelda, as usual, though I don't know how much programming personnel has changed since the Mario 64 and Ocarina of Time staff was around, and both are still in-house Nintendo products.

And of course, Nintendo owned Retro Studios worked extremely closely with in-house Nintendo staff to develop Metroid Prime. Talk about an impressive first outing...