The PC is not considered a direct competitor to consoles. Exclusivity contracts do not apply to the PC, which is why you see PC ports of so-called exclusive titles. It happens with all of the consoles, not just Xbox. Look at Metal Gear Solid, Silent Hill, Grand Theft Auto (it finally got ported over to the Xbox, but that was after the exclusivity contract had expired) and the Final Fantasy games and the Tomb Raider franchise for just a few examples of PS and PS2 exclusive games that are released for the PC. Companies get special deals from the console manufacturer in exchange for exclusivity such as having to pay Sony, Nintendo or Microsoft lower royalties on sales. Since the console manufacturers do not see the PC games market as affecting the sales of the console market they do not require exclusivity to apply there. Therefore, the makers of high-profiles games will port to the PC even when bound by an exclusivity contract.
This probably happens a little more with Xbox than the others simply because the architectures are so similar that it takes relatively little time and money to port an Xbox game to the PC, but virtually all high profile games for the PS2 make it to the PC.
The thing I think is just damn funny is when someone refuses to like one of these systems. It's like saying I love Mercedes, and HATE BMW. It's one thing to say I like Mercedes more than BMW, but there's simply no justification for the polarity.
The Gamecube has only two things going for it. Nintendo software, and it's inspired controller. That's it. For me, that's a lot. Of all the systems Gamecube is the first one I owned (not counting a PS2 I managed to get my hands on and sell for $800 on ebay during the initial shortage). But look at all the Gamecube's shortcomings. RPGs are virtually non-existant (I know, I know, they finally have one). Publishers of games appealing to adults practically ignore the console. Online play? Don't make me laugh. I bought a broadband adapter almost two years ago and haven't used it one time because I never got Phantasy Star Online. I assumed that other games would take advantage of it, but in two years not even a single game has used it. Nintendo made the thing and not even they have made a single game that takes advantage of it. Totally unacceptable. Still, it's by far the least expensive system and is more powerful than PS2, and being the platform that Nintendo games play on is not insignificant.
The Xbox, while you have to pay for it, has by far the most comprehensive online game service (and it looks like EA is finally going to start supporting it). It is the only console capable of Dolby Digital 5.1 surround in games. 99% of multiplatform games, look and play (framerate is paramount to gameplay) the best on the Xbox. That's important. Most of the great games are multiplatform. Splinter Cell, Prince of Persia, Madden, Tony Hawk, Soul Caliber, etc. Exclusives are important, but don't discount the multiplatforms. It's the only platform that supports high definition. Hell, PS2 doesn't even support progressive scan output. Speaking of online play, Xbox is the only platform that comes with a broadband adapter built into the box, which is why so many games are online enabled. It also has a hard drive, virtually eliminating the need for memory cards and opening up all kinds of possibilities in addition to ripping music. Most of all, though, the hackability of the Xbox allows it to do SOOOOOO many more things than PS2 and Gamecube. How about taking your Xbox to a friend's house and having 50 games on the hard drive that can play directly from the hard drive without ever putting in a disk. If you get tired of playing games you also happen to have your entire music collection, or a couple seasons of the Sopranos or West Wing or Southpark or Porno
sitting on the hard drive. Don't want to keep it all on the hard drive? No problem, it's fully networkable so you can stream that stuff straight from your PC in another room or stream radio right from the internet. MP3, Mpeg 2, Divx, Xvid....it'll play practically anything. And once again, there is a totally respectable number of great exclusive games for the platform. There really are a few things to like about the "assbox"
And last, there's PS2. This one's easy. Crappiest hardware, best overall library of games. More of everything. More great games. More good games. More crap. The overall library beats Xbox or Gamecube hands down (though any game that appears on multiple systems will look and play better on either of the other systems).
You're only shooting yourself in the foot with your boycot. The extra cost of an Xbox goes a LONG way. Ask yourself why you pay so damn much for a PS2. That's a much better question. It's the oldest and least powerful system, meaning that it uses the least expensive technology so can be manufactured for the lowest cost. Due to the shear quantities Sony has sold they have the greatest economies of scale available to them that should further reduce production costs. PS2 also does not include much of the hardware that Xbox has, like the network adapter and the hard drive. Think about that when you talk about the Xbox being too expensive.
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Topic: XBOX price drop (Read 5359 times)
