Which aging console is most worth the money?

[atenlaugh]

I've found the XBOX hardware to be somewhat lacking, especially in the earlier-built consoles. The drives, especially, can be very problematic (for example, if I try to play certain games, no matter how new or clean, it will give me "can't read" errors all over the place). The drive also wouldn't open for the longest time, until I forced it open a few times. These are all very common problems; or, at least, too common. Obviously, having games on your drive would circumvent these issues. So, my heirarchy:

Xbox modded > PS2 > Xbox

[rocknrolf77]

It depends of the type of games you like. I think the x-box controller is superior when you are playing driving games. I have yet to see a car with an on/off accelarator. You can get more feel to the driving. With games like forza.

[MonkeyBoy]

Without doubt it is the Dreamcast. The high street opinion is that the console has been dead for years but a quick google will find you loads of cool things for it. There are some linux distros for it (not good ones yet but check this link).
http://linuxdc.sourceforge.net/

Also there are quite a lot of homebrew games for download. http://www.dcevolution.net/index.php

you can pick up a dreamcast for next to nothing these days and the original games are quite cheap too. I have played a lot of different consoles over the years, and sold them on afterwards, but nothing would make me sell my dreamcast.

[Steggy]

I vote the XBox. So many great titles, including plenty of PC titles for people who don't run their computer as a high-end gaming machine (people like me.)

I've owned all three of the "last-gen" consoles, and I have to say I've been nothing but disappointed with PS2. There are some really nice games, the console itself has been hassle after hassle.

My first annoyance, though the least important, is that I extremely dislike the controller (for my money, the current XBox controller [not the original] is the best controller ever made.)

Secondly, I hate the memory card system. I simply can't stand it. The XBox comes with a built in harddrive, so you save money there if nothing else (to balance this, if you wish to use your XBox to play movies, you will have to buy a DVD playback kit.)

Thirdly, soon after I bought the console, the DVD playback functionality began to wear out. It would be a rare movie that wouldn't skip at some point; every once in a while the PS2 would simply not read a movie at all, while my computer, my XBox and other DVD players I tested it in read it fine.

Next, I would get many "Disc Read Errors" when trying to play my games, no matter what I tried. If I'd wait an hour or so, suddenly the PS2 would be able to read it as if by magic. Not likely to be a problem with the disc.

A few years into owning the system, it quite suddenly stopped reading ANY discs. Not a single one. Not a movie, not a PS2 game, not a PSX game. I ended up trading it into EB Games for another XBox controller.

Meanwhile, both my Gamecube and XBox, purchased within a few months of the PS2 and each other, are still running fine. The last time I got a "Can't Read Disc" error on my XBox was when I accidentily tried putting a PC game in it.

Now your experience and other people's experience may and likely will differ from mine, but all I can report is what I have seen myself.

[happy-and-lost]

SNES or Sega Mega Drive every time

[simplyw00x]

N64, or save your money for a WII. Any game you really want to play for those 2 consoles is available for PC or Gamecube anyway, and it'd be a bad plan to buy one of the cosoles you mentioned at current (sstill substantial) prices.

[hizaguchi]

N64, or save your money for a WII. Any game you really want to play for those 2 consoles is available for PC or Gamecube anyway, and it'd be a bad plan to buy one of the cosoles you mentioned at current (sstill substantial) prices.

Well, PS2 has God of War, Devil May Cry, Okami, God Hand, and Shinobi that are not available anywhere else. Meanwhile, Xbox has Ninja Gaiden Black, Otogi 1 and 2, Panzer Dragoon Orta, and Unreal Championship 2 as exclusive titles that I still drool over. Add to this a slew of other games I've missed out on due to Gamecube ownership and there's a really strong case for picking up another console.

Sure, I could wait until I save up $400+ of man-toy money for a next gen console, but this generation has been around for 5 years and I'm just now able to afford another of its consoles. At that rate, it is extremely likely that by the time I purchase a 360 or PS3 I will be unable to find these great games anywhere. I'd rather grab them now while I can and take another look at the next gen consoles a few years down the road when they are half the current prices.

And as for Wii, no way. I've been regretting buying a Gamecube because the best games of the generation have been exclusive to other consoles or have just not been ported to the cube. I'm not going to buy another console (one that is essentially Gamecube hardware, beefed up and stuck in a prettier box) that further alienates itself from the type of games I enjoy through hardware limitations and funky controls.

[Anonii]

Why would you regret a GameCube purchase. Have you tried:

Metroid Prime
Super Mario: Sunshine
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
Killer 07
Super Smash Bros: Melee
Tales of Symphonia
Baten Kaitos


Eh? Have you? Have you tried a 4player sensation of Mario Kart? of SSBM?
Eh? Have you?

[hizaguchi]

^ Yes, except the RPGs. I don't enjoy such slow games unless they are incredibly good. Metroid, Zelda, and Mario are very good games, but don't hold a candle to games like God of War. And where multiplayer is concerned, there are much better games than the Gamecube Mario Kart... and especially better than SSBM.

I regret the Gamecube because I havn't played through Otogi, San Andreas, Ninja Gaiden, Enclave, KOTOR, Halo, Psi Ops, Darkwatch, Metal Gear Solid 3, Ratchet and Clank, Jak, Shadow of the Colossus, Gran Turismo 4, Okami, Forza Motorsport, Destroy All Humans, Mercenaries, Tomb Raider Legend, Devil May Cry, Stubbs the Zombie, Conker, Total Overdose, Just Cause, Burnout Revenge, Guitar Hero, Fight Night Round 3, later parts of the Kain series, Psychonauts, Onimusha, Katamari Damacy, and Ico.

Now sure, there are some Gamecube exclusive titles that I've really enjoyed. Mario Sunshine was pretty decent (but no Mario 64), and Wind Waker was actually my favorite Zelda yet (even with the 2 days of Triforce fishing). And I got to play RE4 a few months before my friends. Other than that, there's not a single Gamecube exclusive I couldn't have passed up without feeling like I'd missed something.

Anyhow, that's a really long way of saying, "I already own a Gamecube, so there's not much point in telling me there are some good Gamecube games available."

[chadk]

I use my xbox to play movies and music streams from the internet as well as xbox games. I dump my games to my 250 gig hard drive that I installed in the xbox so I don't have to worry about scratched or dirty disc errors ever again. Also it's nice because Media Center will play just about any format of movie you can throw at it. No more DIVX codec issues. Just click the movie and it plays. Big screen goodness. You can dump movies to your xbox hard drive as well.