Selling up?... Advice on other consoles wanted (Gamecube / X-Box / PS2).

Well you know i\'ve had problems with my PS2 for the past month or so and that i\'ve finally well semi got them sorted. I\'ve enjoyed playing Silent Hill 2 and Tony Hawks 3.

However looking at the release schedule for us Europeans the two most wanted titles MGS 2 and FFX aren\'t out until March / July respectivily. Also other than these titles the line up isn\'t so great. I\'ve yet to play Pro Evolution Soccor, Baulders Gate, Airblade, Jax and Dexter etc so I feel my PS2 does have life left in it.

However i\'ve been offered £120 for the console alone. With games and christmas money I can afford a new console.

Namely the Gamecube but prehaps the X-Box if my cash will stretch.

Ill have to buy one of the American machines from the likes of Ebay but im not complaining I should have really originally got an American PS2, quicker launched games and 60Hz is a lot better.

Gamecubes are £200 roughly with games and memory cards from Ebay so that is very very cheap. X-Box\'s are more expensive.

Im not a fanboy of anyone company I like games, I want to continue enjoying games. The question is which is going to give me more gaming goodness for the next year or so.

The gamecube is new but I have worries (and for some reason the cheap price doesn\'t help) that this is a poor-man\'s X-Box. I mean most people consider the next gen war between X-Box and Ps2 and completly forget about the Gamecube, and lets face it the N64 wasn\'t really a good console.

The X-Box seems like a beast, the graphics outshine the PS2 but the Ps2 by far has the better games lineup. In my opinion I would rather be playing PS2 games than X-Box but my mind could be changed. It seems that X-Box is going for a more original games plan with the likes of Halo. It is more costly but it seems good.

Finally I could just keep the PS2. Sony have messed me around but I feel the console I have at the moment is well ok. Not too many games until the MGS 2 launch and FFX euro launch which I want. However ill be playing past games.

So what do you guys think?

Cheap Gamecube - the games should be good right ? Not very costly ? Even with this options I could resell the Gamecube and reget a PS2 at a later date ?

Expensive X-Box - really if I got an X-Box this will be the console for the next 5 years. I need to consider it carefully. Is it really going to be good?

Stick with Sony - I already have the machine. However ill be most likely playing past games. Ok the recent releases were good but I can only really chose about 4 games from the first half of 2002 which I like. Prehaps this is enough but two of them (state of emergency and wipeout fusion) could be rubbish. Theres maybe more than 4 if some original titles turn out to be good but theres definatly more than 4 good games on a new console to own.

Share your honest opinions on X-Box and especially Gamecube please.

EDIT - Just been reading some reviews prehaps I might stick with PS2. I think it was the fact that Gamecubes were so cheap that made me write this post.

I\'d either stick with the PS2 or buy an Xbox, but that\'s just me. Nintendo\'s game lineup may intrigue you more than me, but it seems as though Xbox has more potential to deliver the types of games I\'d want to play. However, even after a strong launch.. the Xbox\'s future is still littered with ??\'s. There\'s really just no way to tell at this point. The PS2 on the otherhand is a sure bet and will no doubt both survive and thrive in the comming years.

If you can hold out through the drougt, then stick with the PS2. If you want some good games and don\'t mind the potential risk, then get an Xbox. OR, you could just sell your PS2 and get the Xbox.. then buy a new PS2 once you have the extra cash coupled with a price drop. Actually, that seems like the better way from game playing perspective because you\'ll end up with 2 consoles, have fresh content constantly, and will spend considerably less than if you were to just save and buy an Xbox.

Yeah i thought it was very bad the way you got treated by sony, you would have thought that they made sure, that the replacement console they were giving you was working properly.

Anyway i just got an Xbox and i love it, the games are fun, and the line up in the next couple of months looks really really good.
I have Halo, Project Gotham racing and Amped, and i have no trouble going back to play these games each time, i don\'t really get bored of them.
And alot of the games coming out in the next few months are new games, not sequals and not ports, which has got me really excited about the games.

My Bro got a GC he has Star wars, smash brothers and Thps3, we played star wars the other day through his surround sound, and it was amazing, you really felt like you was in the game.
Also the graphics look amazing.
THSP3 it just the same as PS2 but i like Tony\'s games so it is good. But smash brother\'s looks good but isn\'t my type of game.
But the GC is a good little:D  machine.

Now i have two PS2\'s a UK one and US, because of my US one i have played all the good games like MGS2, i had Devil may cry months before it came out in the UK,and the other games, so apart from GTA3 that is all that is keeping me intrested in my PS2\'s,since i finshed the other games, and don\'t really want to play them agian, i think it will start to collect dust soon(nearly finshed GTA3).
I don\'t think i can keep buying games like Gran Turismo 4 as i need new games.

It must be hard trying to choose because i love all 3 machines, i love gaming in general and i don\'t care what game the console is on i will play it, and i think it is great that you are looking at all your options.
But don\'t rush into making your choice as all 3 systems has it\'s advantages.
So what i would say is check out the games out and coming out for all 3 systems, go to http://www.teamxbox.com check out what people have to say about Xbox, good points and Bad, and maybe look at Ign for the GC boards and do the same, or some where else. You know the good things and bad things about PS2, so just do your homework on the consoles, and you will know what to go with.
Make sure you let us know what you decided to do dude!:D

Thanks for 2 very well thought out and interesting posts.

Ethan: You bought an American PS2. Im interested, how easy is it too get games ? I understand that i\'ll have to purchase games from UK import shop\'s websites or prehaps American game store websites ? I\'ve heard this can be cheaper but really once you get down to it, with p&p and hassle is it much cheaper than going down to your local HMV ?

Do you need a RGB compatable TV to play an American console (like you would if you played American imports on a PAL PS1 / PS2) ?

Really considering this year alone the American PS2 is a worth while choice. Ill be able to play all PS2 games I originally wanted (Baulders Gate, Jax & Dexter etc) except ill also be able to play the likes of MGS 2 and FFX. Not only that I think the PS2 does have future and ill always behead of the crippled PAL gaming comunity, which lets face it isn\'t improving at all. If it was going to improve we would have seen more than 4 games with 50 / 60 Hz option!

Whilst I think X-Box definatly has a future ahead of it, the Gamecube lineup doesn\'t intregue me. Infact I would say the Gamecube games being released for the first quater of 2002 are pathetic.

So really this is between PS2 and X-Box and at this moment in time I think I should go for a new PS2. I don\'t want to risk having problems like buying a new console on launch. Also when X-Box has started to get a library of games to compare with PS2s I can then get an X-Box at probably a lot cheaper price.

So now is the question of English PS2 vs American PS2. I can sell my PS2 now and probably upgrade for the cost of £80. I think this is worth it but the fact that I can then never get games from a English shop or play my English DVDs is worrysome. Im not sure that DVD Region X has been released in American and I think there is incompatability issues between NTSC going to PAL for DVD movies.

The games are not cheaper, not if you buy them over here, they will probably cost you about 49.99 to 59.99, but then you do get most of the games months ahead.
I use an RGB scart, i carn\'t use anything else because it improves the graphics so much.
But i am more happy with my US PS2, but i am abit dissapointed with the PS2 in general, the games are not what was promised, not for me anyway.
I am really enjoying my Xbox at the moment,i can go back to the games all the time, and i can\'t wait to get wreckless in feb and jet set future.