I went to war last month.
For the last year and a half I remained unsettlingly neutral. Oh, sure, I had my own ideas about the "conflict", but I kept my thoughts to myself. I was spineless. I was lukewarm, and God vomited me from His mouth.
I finally allowed my male anatomy to descend. I took up the Microsoft banner and purchased an XBox, a memory card, an extra controller and a copy of "Mech Assault." It is official: I am an XBox man.
That is not a mere expansion of my home entertainment options, oh no, it is a statement that says, "I think your Playstation 2 is over-rated and your Gamecube is lame." This is because buying an XBox makes me a snob.
The "new generation" console wars have been virulent. Not since the Sega Genesis and the Super Nintendo clashed head-to-head have videogamers been so divided. Gamecube fans accuse the Playstation 2 of being a mere third-party game slut. Playstation 2 fans ream the XBox for having few games available. And XBox fans decry the Gamecube for being geared toward children.
All of those things are true. Each of the console machines has its own virtues and vices. I feel the Microsoft XBox will stand on the top of the hill once the smoke clears.
To begin with, the XBox has a slight edge over the other two machines in the hardware performance department. Historically, the console with the superior hardware eventually finishes on top. The Super Nintendo out-lasted the Genesis, the PS1 outlasted the Saturn and the N64 outlasted the PS1 (portable PS1 excluded).
I haven't purchased XBox Live (yet) but initial reports say that Microsoft has the first on-line console gaming system that is actually easy to use. The XBox also has a built-in hard drive that allows users to download new content. That feature is unheard of in the console market. It will allow XBox to compete with PC on-line gaming.
If my XBox could talk, it would say, "Choice selection, my good boy! I can't wait to relate to you tales of sophistication from my days spent studying at Oxford. Tea-time, is it? Talley-ho!"
The XBox also has at its disposal the entire library of Microsoft-owned PC games, should Microsoft need a shot in the arm of software sales. (Which, it hasn't needed, so far) Microsoft has the money behind it to take greater capital risks than the other two console manufacturers can afford to take. For that matter, Microsoft has the money to buy Uzbekistan.
While XBox's launch was a slow one, their software sales have out-performed Gamecube software sales every month since its existence, and console sales have out-performed Nintendo in the last four months (IGN.com).
In short, Microsoft could afford to plan for the future, they did, and it is beginning to pay off.
What of Playstation 2? The opiate of the masses, I say. A common-man's machine.
I've made my decision. All you Nintendo fanboys can come at me with your "shines" and Hyrulian shaded-cells, but it will be futile. If an 80-foot mech armed with four missile racks and a PPC cannon took on a dinky Italian plumber, who would come out on top? Uh-huh, that's right.
All hail Supreme Chancellor Gates!
<p>Write to Mouse at bbmcshane@bsu.edu
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