As far as the PS2/Gamecube/Xbox argument goes, here's my few cents' worth: I bought a PS2 a while back. There are boatloads of games for it, but I never found any that I liked on it, so I sold it on ebay.
I've tried the Xbox. Everybody raves about it, but the graphics and animation on my Gamecube are just as good. And though there are more games for the Xbox, there weren't any (other than Halo) that appealed to me. Pretty much any game that's worth getting is coming out for the Xbox and GC now, with the PS2 slowly being phased out.
As far as technology goes, an engineer at MicroSoft has stated that they believe that the only competition the Xbox has is the GC, as the PS2 is built on dated hardware. Sony, in fact, is planning to replace their aging technology within 2 years with a PS3. They'd be doing themselves a favor to release it sooner, though.
However, if you're looking for a DVD player, the GC won't do you any good. The PS2 isn't a great DVD player, but it is functional (unlike the Xbox, where you have to buy a separate remote control).
Just my thoughts on my experiences...
Just my thoughts, had to reply as I have quite lot of experience with consoles.
First argument can be bypassed just by mentioning GT3, GTA3, GTA:VC, FF series, Devil May Cry 1&2, MGS2 and a lot of other games. I've got experience of <>200 PS2 games atm, and there are more good games than there is time for one person. If one is for good rpg/adventure games, sadly not all PS2 games are released outside Japan, which is a shame. But for anyone else there should be more than enough selection of games.
About Halo, after the huge hype and waiting, we got a mediocre 3d shooter which is smacked on the floor by pretty much all 3d shooters on PC today. Biggest dissappointments together with Stuntman and State Of Emergency for past years. Halo is NOT a good game.
"with the PS2 slowly being phased out." I can only answer to see and check out current market status. It's not phasing out. And when PS2 has lost its final appeal PS3 will appear (in 2005 presumedly). XBox2 will be against impossible mission once again, and my quess is that Gamecube is no more then.
For DVD-playing one can get a specific dvd-player, which are cheap as hell these days. Dvd-players are for wathing dvd's, consoles are for playing.
One who has been able to play the same games on for example XBox and PS2 can safely say there are no significant differences, not always even graphically. So the only powerpoint has to be the amount and quality of games, in which PS2 wipes floors with XBox for now. I expect things to change in late 2003- early 2004.
ps. Still, nothing beats a deathmach of Worms DC, NOTHING :-)
