Newest game systems engage in battle for video control
by David Whiteman, reporter

    The latest advances in video game console systems appeared last month as Microsoft’s Xbox and Nintendo’s GameCube compete for superiority this holiday season.

    Every five years or so, a new video game system enters an already fiercely competitive market of hype and popularity.

    Like so many video game companies over the past decade, among the long-standing and highly popular competitors are Nintendo, Sony and Sega.

    This year, however, the world’s largest computer software company enters the market with the launch of Microsoft’s Xbox, but it may have a great deal of competition from Nintendo’s GameCube.

    The differences are numerous, and deciding on a winner may be as controversial as a presidential election.

    Many video game specialty retail stores as well as other retail stores expect both systems to fly quickly off the shelves.

    Stores such as GameStop and Toys R Us took reservations for the Xbox and worried if they could meet demands, much like the situation of last year’s Playstation 2 craze.

    “This store has 43 reservations for it, and we don’t know when the second shipment will come. We stopped taking reservations about six months ago. We didn’t want it to be like the Playstation 2 last year; we ended up having 113 reservations and weren’t able to meet demands,” Greg Schiestl, assistant manager at GameStop in Hurst and TCC NE student, said.

    Charles Kuhn, Toys R Us R-Zone manager, reported similar demands.

    “We took 46 reservations in two months for the Xbox, which was a little less than expected,” he said.

    The Xbox and GameCube are in close competition this holiday, and many differences between these two consoles cause much deliberation on which to buy.

    Not only is the Xbox the same price as last year’s Playstation 2,     but also it is $100 more than the GameCube.

    The variety of games for both systems is impressive, but the preference differs in what the customer enjoys.

    Since the GameCube is meant for a younger and family-oriented audience, the games keep with the trends of safe cartoonish themes with characters from Mario Bros. and Pokemon.

    The Xbox, however, seems to present itself as a more mature system and is aimed at an older audience with more violent themes from games like Dead or Alive 3 and Halo.

    Many people, including employees of retail stores, are pleased with the PS2.

    “The Nintendo GameCube has more availability than the Xbox and has a bigger selection. The Xbox is faster and more powerful, but the GameCube is able to meet demands. The GameCube is more of a family system whereas the Xbox is geared more for the 16-24 age group,” Kuhn said.

    The Xbox obviously has the most powerful graphics processor of any game system setting a new standard in video game graphics. It features an Intel 733 MHz processor, an internal 8-gigabyte hard drive and 64 megabytes of RAM.

    It also has four game controller ports, an Ethernet port for online playing, a multi-signal audio-video connector allowing easy television hookup, an NVIDIA graphics processing unit that delivers more than three times the performance of any console.

    In addition, it has a front-loading CD-ROM drive with DVD capability. However, the DVD playback kit is sold separately.

    The entire system retails for $299.99 not including extra peripherals and is available through some stores in a bundle consisting of three games, controllers and a carrying case that retails from $500 to $600.

    The highly anticipated Xbox is advertised with the slogan “Games will never be the same,” which may be true.

    The Xbox official web site (www.xbox.com) describes it as “Microsoft’s future-generation video game system that delivers the most powerful games experiences ever.”

    Xbox empowers game artists by giving them the technology to fulfill their creative visions with games that can blur the lines between fantasy and reality.

    Among the starting lineup of about 30 games are the top five anticipated games: Halo, Oddworld: Munch’s Oddysee, Dead or Alive 3, Project Gotham Racing and Madden 2002.

    Ed Fries, vice president of Microsoft Game Studios, has high expectations for the success of X-box.

    “There’s never been a better time to be a gamer. Whether you love sports, racing or action games, Xbox will deliver an awesome experience. Gamers will be blown away,” he said.

    In the other corner is Nintendo’s GameCube, very different in appearance from Xbox’s large black case with a green plastic gem.

    About the size of a child’s lunchbox and indigo or jet black in color, the GameCube takes a three-inch mini-disk that holds 1.5 GB of memory.

    This uniquely compact and stylish system is also portable enough to carry easily and suggests Nintendo’s idea of family fun.

    The GameCube contains a 485 MHz processor, 203 MHz Graphics chip by ATI, 40 Megabytes of RAM, and other future peripherals such as a 56K modem and broadband Internet adapters.
    Another special feature will include the availability of some games to utilize the Nintendo Gameboy Advance as an additional game screen and/or controller. The GameCube retails at $199.99.

    “What if everything you see is more than what you see—the person next to you is a warrior and the space that appears empty is a secret door to another world? Perhaps, it really is a doorway, and if you choose to go inside, you’ll find many unexpected things,” Shigeru Miyamoto, director/general manager of EAD, said in a GameCube information pamphlet.

    The top games for the GameCube include Luigi’s Mansion, Super Smash Bros. Melee, Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader, Wave Race: Bluestorm and Pikmin. The GameCube is advertised as “a world in which the player can enjoy the feeling of actually touching the world created by the software.”

    In an interview on www.nintendogamecube.com, hardware designer Ashida Kenichiro describes the ideas behind the GameCube.

    “I wanted to make the Nintendo GameCube fit well into a user-friendly environment. The cube shape gives the impression of being very compact, especially when you see it sitting on the floor. I believe we’ve created a design which is quite innovative,” he said.

Among the many popular games for both systems, the number one for GameCube is Super Smash Bros. Melee while the top choice for Xbox is Halo.
    “We’ve all been really looking forward to Halo. It has top-notch graphics and the system itself has really good capabilities. A lot of the games show promise,” Schiestl said.

    The December issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly, featuring a special 34-page guide on Xbox vs. GameCube, confirms one of the biggest video game wars since the first Sony Playstation appeared.

    This year’s video game war may seem like the others over the years as past systems like Sega Genesis, Nintendo 64, Sega Dreamcast and the original Playstation are thrown into video game oblivion.

    The only difference this time is the players. As Microsoft enters the competition in an already popular medium of entertainment, it may prove to be a powerful force in the industry.