"From an Nintendo Gamer's Perspective"

Sometimes the best perspective is to, like Atticus Finch from To Kill a Mockingbird said, consider things from his point of view... 'til you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it. This is kind of what this review is about: a critique of the Xbox from a Nintendo’s fan perspective. Though I like to think myself unbiased when it comes to games, the sheer fact that I grew up on Nintendo has definitely distorted my view of what gaming is all about. Microsoft has been the principle antagonist of geeks for years, now the gaming community, namely Nintendo fans, have come to despise Microsoft. With that aside, is the Xbox really a viable system or just another pawn in Microsoft’s grand plan?

It has been over two years since the Xbox and Gamecube were released. Both have had time to amass a sizable library. The real-life in-store selection advantage handedly goes to the Xbox. Maybe the Gamecube has a few less games then the Xbox, or stores don’t seem confident enough in Gameube software to stock a large GCN selection. To be brutally honest: there seems to be more crap games on the Xbox. The amount of quality titles for the Xbox and Gamecube, though, seem about the same. Both systems are vastly inferior to the Playstation 2 in terms of in-store gaming selection, but the savvy gamer knows that Barbie’s Fun Time Adventure (it is not a real title, but it is not an exaggeration of the truth either) shouldn’t be considered a game anyway. In summation: The Playstation 2 has the largest selection, then the Xbox, and finally the Gamecube, but all three have around the same amount of purchase-worthy games.

Since the Xbox and Gamecube’s release, both have had considerable price drops. The little cube with a handle has fallen from 199 bucks to 99 bucks (with similar drops in other territories); the black monolith has gone from a big 299 bucks to 179 bucks. Their prices are still in just about the same proportion as they were in 2001. For 179 dollars, the Xbox is probably the best value of all three systems. The Xbox comes with 2 [or three depending on the deal] free games, though they aren’t that great titles, and two months of free Xbox Live internet service.
Out of the box, the Xbox has the ability to rip music and save games onto it’s hard drive and has an Ethernet adapter that allows for instant LAN play. The only extra expenses to worry about are controllers and the DVD playback kit, which is the only way to unlock DVD playback capabilities on the Xbox. I personally find the ‘playback kit’, that is only a remote, to be a little bit on the extortion side of things, but I remind myself that the money I might have spent on memory cards if it wasn’t for the HD has just went to another feature. Still, when it comes to out-of-the-box features, the Xbox is king.

Though in 2001, the anti-Xbox pundits called the Xbox halobox; it has evolved into much more. Halo is still the pinnacle of Xbox gaming, but there are a full crew of supporting cast out there. The Xbox has become the console of choice for PC ports, and some developers have opted to release titles on the Xbox first then later on the PC. The Xbox has a reputation as an FPS console, but it is surprising that two of the best RPGs this generation are on the Xbox: Marrowind and Knights of the Old Republic. Actually, the Xbox has a great balance of titles from shooters to racing to RPGs to sports, which is no-doubt thanks to a great following of third-party developers. I imagine that Microsoft’s strengthening of their internal gaming studio will come to bare fruit soon. With Bungie releasing Halo 2 this year and Rare at least having something up their sleeves, 2004 stands to be a great year for the Xbox.

Superior technology is Microsoft’s most touted point about the Xbox. The end-results seem largely marginal. Yes, Halo looks darn good…but it isn’t impressively blowing any Gamecube effort out of the water. The PS2 is showing some technological age, but the Gamecube and Xbox seem to be in a dead heat in terms capabilities. Of course, the Xbox supports a slightly higher screen resolution then GCN (720p) and has Dolby 5.1 (while the GCN has only Pro Logic). The real difference seems to be load time, where the Gamecube has an advantage. I think Gamecube developers, which are often helped by Nintendo programmers, have found ways to better mask load time then Xbox developers. Maybe if Microsoft would hand out tips on how to disguise load times, then that would be a non-issue.

The X factor, believe me: no pun intended, which was meant to separate the Xbox from the competition is Xbox Live. It is the most feature-filled online service available. It cost some money, but it covers almost all XBL capable games. Phantasy Star Online is the only online Xbox game that I can immediately think of that cost a little extra dinero to play. Considering that the Playstation and Gamecube online plans are either non-existent or under-developed, the Xbox is an obvious choice for the online gamer.

I’ve rambled on for a while, but I’m sure the question most of you are really interest in is whether I would pick the Xbox or Gamecube first if I had to do it all over again. That is hard question to answer…both have their intangibles. The Gamecube has all those classic Nintendo games I love, but the Xbox has an ungodly amount of features. I imagine I would have still gotten the Gamecube first, but I would have definitely opened my mind to the Xbox a lot early than I did.

Verdict
The Xbox is a perfect choice for those who want a little bit more then just a game system. Microsoft has easily aligned their system in direct competition with Sony for the all-in-one home entertainment center market. Will this battle be Nintendo's demise? Lets leave that discuss for another day. 9/10

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 01/22/04