A lot of my friends bought XBOXs when the UK price tag dropped below £100. It's an ugly piece of technology - a hotch potch of components which lacks the design focus of the Gamecube, however it is still a very good console and there are some quality games available for it. I initially turned my nose up at the controller, which looks clumsy and unwieldly. When I actually picked one up I found it very comfortable and easy to use. You're never straining to reach a button.

I don't know anyone who owns a Gamecube so I can't comment on it. The platform hasn't really been supported in the UK.

The PS2 must be coming to the end of its life and it's definitely lagging behind the other two systems in terms of its capabilities. I've heard rumours that the new slimline station has been suffering from overheating problems.

If I could afford one of the three play-at-home consoles, I would probably go for the XBOX.

I own a GBA which is currently my only gaming platform. Ideally I'd like another console for home use and the GBA as a supplemental thing that I could play in bed or on the train. That's not a criticism of the GBA, which is a wonderful, well designed system. It's just that sometimes I do hanker after nicer graphics and broader gameplay.

There are certain things that the GBA doesn't do very well such as first person shooters. Where it excels are in the inventive, playful titles that tend to creep out of Japan - games like Wario Ware; tactical games such as Advance Wars 1&2, which are both superb, and roleplaying titles like Golden Sun and Final Fantasy Tactics. The two Metroid games that came out on this system are both excellent - totally revived my interest in side scrollers. The GBA has also become a repository for titles that were hits on older gaming consoles.

One possible drawback with the GBA is that you may begin to see the more inventive games beginning to come out on the superior, but slightly less portable, Nintendo DS, as software houses shift their priorities over to the new system.


Related Links:


digitaldawg's review of the original GBA

ZOD's review of the GBA SP

allan1's review of the Gamecube

Rob's assessment of the Nintendo DS

Mighty ZOD reviews an XBOX

digitaldawg's impressions of the XBOX