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Unlike the Nintendo 64, the GameCube has a lot going for it right now. Maybe it is just a twist of fate or maybe it is just learning from their past but Nintendo seems to be headed right for the number one spot. Here is my system by system overview of the whole next-gen war.

Playstation 2: I call it the biggest video game flop of 2000. They disappointed gamers by not even being able to produce enough systems to meet thier demand. Also they have been around about seven months and they still have no great, high selling games. Mario 64 has sold millions by this point on the N64. Now thier move to become a personal computer/gaming machine . . . say goodbye to Playstation, probably not for good, but their tactics remind me of Sega a few years ago when they had a new addon everytime you turn around. The Playstation (1) had a good hold of the market in it's time. It was simple, cheap, had decent graphics and many many games to choose from. This drastic change for Playstation 2 is going to cost them dearly.

X-Box: The only new system that can compete with GameCube. X-Box and GameCube each have thier good and bad points its like an eye for an eye. On one hand you have better support for graphics but its harder to program for and it has more hardware problems to worry about. X-Box has many other weaknesses though that may hurt it. It has no original games to the system like Mario is to Nintendo and Crash Bandicoot was to Playstation (I still think its pretty hilarious that thier mascot left them . . .) X-Box also lacks the users base which Nintendo and PS have already but being new in the field it has niether.

GameCube: It's stats most closely match Playstation 2's. If you dont already know Nintendo learned from its mistakes from the N64 and fixed their problems entirely for their new system. No more cartridges, you know though i always liked cartridges I always have this fear of ruining CD's . . . Also it is much MUCH easier to program for. Infact developers have said it is the absolute easiest and it shows even in the first generation of games such as Luigi's Mansion and Star Wars Rogue Leader: Rogue Squadron 2. The difference between first wave of games and the last for a system is an immense difference. For example look at Super Mario 64 and compare it entirely to Conker's Bad Fur Day. Conker will win in almost every field of comparason, mainly because there have been 5 years between the two games and developers know almost everything they can do with the system by then. So by looking at games like Luigi's Mansion and Rogue Squadron the future has some very good games in store.

All in all this is going to be a very complex but yet interesting console wars and I give Nintendo the first point because of thier phenomenal showing at E3. Myself being a Nintendo fan for quite a while was very suprised to see what they have had hidden. My bet is though, we may only have one or a couple more console wars to see after this one, because like it has been said video game quality has almost reached its limit on the resoloution of a TV and once that happens just like anything else video games will have to evolve. Though the next dimension of gaming (4-D) is still a while off there has to be a stepping stone and like its said "Only the strongest survive and the weakest will get devouered"

-PCM