Yup. They came out today and I was standing in line. The local Fry's Electronics only got 100 of them in, so the line was long. They just came by and handed the first 100 people in line a pre-printed receipt. I bet the software was sold out within 15 minutes. People were pushing and shoving to get at the games. Fortunately, I have long arms and just reached over people.

Picked up Luigi's Mansion and Star Wars: Rogue Squadron. The graphics in Star Wars are unbelievable. I'm not downing any other system, but waiting for the Game Cube was definitely the right decision for me.

Now I just have to try and be patient and wait for Zelda... :(

Congrats Shakey. I am still playing Super Monkeyball on mine. It's a great machine.

You're right though. No need to talk crap about any of the three machines. I think they all have unique games already. I am glad that the Cube and X-Box are giving Sony a run for their money. Nothing like competition to raise the standards and quality. :)

How is Super Monkeyball? Only downside to the cube right now is the lack of games. That will change soon though. Can't wait for the remake of "Resident Evil". That was incredible on the PC and I am really looking forward to it with the graphics capabilities of the cube.

Super Monkeyball is a great game if you like action puzzles. It is however a short game with little replay value.

I am actually a little unhappy with the launch date lineup. The Star Wars game is great, but it is also completed very easily.

What bothers me more is looking at the future release plan. Only 12 new games planned before March 2002! Nine of them remakes of already existing PS2 games. The games that are out now simply doesn't have the depth to last until spring/summer 2002. I think the rushed release of GameCube could be a problem for the big N. Especially since Sony and Microsoft are churning out more good releases than we have time to play.

I sorta hoped that Nintendo had learned from their mistakes from N64. It is not about the console, but all about the games. There is no way that they can compete for real with a small exclusive selection of games. I hope GameCube owners stay patient unlike the many Dreamcast owners, who gave up on a potentially good machine, because of lack of games.

I don't understand the hype. The few good games are very short without much replay value. I would definitely wait before putting money into this system. The $100 price difference to PS2/XBox doesn't mean a thing if the games aren't there. :(

Yeah, Flix. Luigi's Mansion is kind of a fast play also. I have nearly completed it. Still a good game, just short. As far as the remakes go though, I am very much looking forward to two of them - "The World is not Enough" and "Resident Evil". Can't wait to see those two with updated graphics. Should be very sweet.

Which is better? A loaded top of the line PC or the cube? I have managed not to buy anything past the playstation. I refuse to. My son bought his playstation and 6 months later they start selling PS2. It makes the consoles and the games virutally worthless after such an investment. I won't buy games so my son is putting out $80 of his own money, finishes the game in a weekend and then what??? There has to be a better and cheaper way to be a gamer.

If I had to choose, I'd go with the fully loaded PC. If you really want to go console, I'd suggest PS2 if he wants a good game selection and proven quality (yes, I've finally accepted PS2 as a damn good system ;)). Gamecube's not gonna come out of it's shell as a top system til next year as it seems now.

Only reason I really want to get Gamecube is for Zelda which isn't out yet anyway, so I haven't gotten my cube yet...I'm in no real rush....

X-Box offers the nothing that you couldn't get on a PC, so I wouldn't bother... I know, I know, it's all about the games, blah blah blah....I just don't buy into newbies in the gaming department right away....and being that it's from Microsoft doesn't give it much leverage for me :p

I agree with Roem. Get a super PC system. As long as you know that unlike the Playstation which lasted 5 years before PS2 arrived, your PC will need upgrades at least once a year. That is a costly affair as well.

On the other hand - Your son can play all his old Playstation games on the PS2. As for the ridiculous price of games. I sometimes rent my games at Blockbuster before buying them. A lot of games can be completed in the five days that you have them.

It's a tough call either way. Although I invested in a GameCube and a XBOX myself - I wouldn't recommend any of them right now. There aren't enough games out there and it's hard to predict whether these systems will be around in a year or two.

Roem - There are lots of exclusive XBOX games. Actually more than on the GameCube right now. You should try Halo or Project Gotham Racing. I am surprised that XBOX hasn't been marketed as the true American alternative. Made in America by Americans. Now that's something to be proud of. :)

I bought my son a PS2 for Christmas. Someone told me that some of the old Playstaion games won't work on it. Does anyone know if this is true?

Since I see you all discussing prices, I paid $389 for the game system, a racing game, an 8MB memory card, and an extra controller. I also bought a game for $18.99. Sam's Club has Playstation games for $8.99, so I was wondering if I picked up a couple, would they work?

Please Help!! I should mention that we have none of these updated systems, yet. We have a SuperNintendo, a Sega, and an Atari with like 60 games. (No, hubby refuses to sell it! ;))

Gonna have to agree with the others. If I had to chose between a console or PC for gaming, I would go with a good PC. Consoles cannot be upgraded to keep pace with the times. Computers can. Plus, I think in general that they have a better selection of games.

Sorry, Val. Nearly forgot. I thought that I had read somewhere that the PS2 was backwards-compatible with PS games. Not 100% positive of that though. Your best bet would be to ask someone at the store.

Originally posted by ValJ:
<STRONG>We have a SuperNintendo, a Sega, and an Atari with like 60 games. (No, hubby refuses to sell it! ;))</STRONG>

Fluck. :D *LOL*

About the backward compatibility of PS2...generally, this console was designed to play also the PS One Discs (Sony have renamed it here together with the new smaller design). It was reported that some games won´t run or crash while gaming, but this could maybe a problem with the different hardware versions (we have the PAL system here which also needs a different steering software). Check it out, if iw won´t run, bring it back to the dealer.
By the way, you are also owning a DVD-player now - just in case you didn´t know. ;)

About the PC vs. Consoles - I always thought that consoles and games were way too expensive here in Germany (I´ve posted in another thread that the XBox will be sold here for about 470$). Plus adding the average 30 - 75$ for a game...nah, thanks.
Besides, the consoles won´t offer my favourite genre, strategics. I simply can´t imagine how games like C&C or Sudden Strike run on a console.
The advantage of the console is that you don´t need to boot up the system, just a switch of the flick and voilá - instant fun. ;)

The Playstation games are 100% compatible with the PS2. I have around 200 Playstation games and they all run great on the PS2. You can not save Playstation games on a PS2 memory card, so you would need to hang on to your original Playstation memory card.

PC Games might be $5-10 cheaper, but that money would have to be spent on upgrades to your PC anyways. No console needs upgrading. It's just "plug in and play".

Good choice on the PS2. It's an excellent machine with a lot of good games.

Thanx for the input, y'all. Unfortunately, my son doesn't have a Playstation, so would I have to buy a memory card for him if I get those games? See, this is why I stuck my head under a rock instead of in a computer book! Grrr!! LOL

I don't think so. You said you had already bought a memory card. One should be enough to get him started. The memory shouldn't be specific to the PS1 or PS2 games. It would be specific to the game console. If they are 100% backwards compatible like the others have said, then you shoul djust be able to buy the games, pop them in and start playing.

Guys. Correct me if I am wrong. Not a PS owner.

One more time: You will need a regular old Playstation memory card to save your old Playstation games on your PS2.

The reason for this is that the old Playstation partitioned memory into blocks. A regular memory card for the Playstation has 15 blocks. On the back of each game you can see how many blocks it will take to save a game. The PS2 memory card is working differently. It does not partition the memory, so you can not save your old Playstation games on a PS2 memory card. A Playstation memory card costs $7-8, so it isn't that bad.

But all the Playstation games are compatible with the PS2 with or without the memory card. For saving games - You will need the old memory card. I hope this was helpful.

Thank you, Shakey, and Flix!! I deeply appreciate your input here. I know for someone who knows a lot about this stuff, trying to explain it to someone like myself must be highly frustrating! Thanx for your patience. I think I have it now, Flix, thanx so much!! :) :)

No problem at all, Val. I just wanted to make sure that the info you needed didn't get lost in the different posts.

It's a jungle and the many different systems run so differently that it is hard for everyone to understand. I actually sold my own Playstation memory cards with my Playstation, because I thought I could use the new cards with the old games. Little did I know.

Anyways, you're gonna be mother of the year in your house. The racing game that came with the PS2 is awesome. :)

Thanx, Flix. I hope so. I don't know what I did to deserve this kid, but I hope I keep doing it. He has been so strong and so helpful whenever I've needed him this year, and I want to give him one day where Mommy isn't his main concern. I want him to open his presents and think: 'OMG, I WAS SOOOO GOOD THIS YEAR!! Let's play!' Is that too sappy? It's late....

Thanks for the input Roem, Shakey and Flix (100 games you are the man :)!) We have been trying to reason with him for ages that we'd rather build him a kickass system then pay for another console.

Val you get the best mom of the year award :)

Think Flix was more help on this one since I don't have a PS2. But you are welcome none the less. :)