Of the 128bit era, which are your favorite systems in order and why?

Here is mine:

1. Dreamcast
It was a pioneer in this era. The VMU can still be considered unique. It was the first console to emphasize online usage, had a small but quality library, and there was a little bit of everything, including the more colorful and fun games that I usually enjoy.

2. Gamecube
While it didn't have a strong emphasis in online play, it had many dreamcast ports and other good exclusive games, despite being among the least popular consoles of the era. The controller was comfortable to my hands, the system was colorful, and the mini-discs were not only adorable but, for the better, set a storage limit to keep the games from being too long. The accessories such as the GB player and GBA connectivity were interesting. But in general I thought the games were more accessible and addictive on this console.

3. Xbox
It's not just that it was easy to mod, but, like the GCN and DC, the exclusive games generally stood out very well on it (mostly Sega games for me). Also, it gets points for its multiplatform games being able to outdo their respective PS2 (and often the GCN) versions whenever a multiplatform release happened, even if its version was the least popular (Psychonauts, Turok Evolution, and the GTA games for instance were better on XBOX).

4. PS2
My least favorite of the era and probably the most overrated. Of course it too had its gems, but considering the size of the library, there should've been more quality titles. Too many generic and mediocre games in most genres (especially action and RPG). I still prefer the PS1's library better.

These are my personal opinions from looking over the masterlists of each system and having played various games for each, so it may be more or less accurate, but that's my take.

Good thread!

I only own a Dreamcast and Xbox...

1. Dreamcast - 9.9.99 you had to be there. What a terrific console. The difference between the Dreamcast and the original Playstation is night and day, and the Dreamcast wowed everyone way back then. I can still remember being blown away the first time I played Sonic Adventure back at Best Buy before launch. And Tokyo Xtreme Racer looked photo realistic at the time. Nothing else has ever blown me away quite like Sega's last stand.

2. Xbox - Halo and Rallisport Challenge were the reasons I got an Xbox (and the Dreamcast had died). Rallisport still looks impressive today, pop it in the 360 if you don't believe me. We also had 4 xbox, 16-player Halo lan parties. Online play will never match our 16 player Halo parties. Every Saturday for a year and a half. CTF, no radar, Sidewinder. Nothing else will ever come close.

Yeap, got to go with the "Dreamcast" as well...
....

The Xbox has a 32-bit CPU.

The Gamecube has a 64-bit CPU, with a 32-bit address bus.

;)

http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.aspx?i=1566&p=2

There's no such thing as a "128bit era" as there aren't any 128 bit systems and never have been. The XBox used a standard 32 bit Intel P3, the GameCube used a standard 32 bit IBM PPC G3, the Dreamcast used a standard 32 bit SH4, and the PS2 used a custom 64 bit MIPS processor. Only one of the four was 64 bit, much less 128 bit. :p

Out of them, the XBox was the clear loser, having barely more then bad ports of Windows games. It never made MS a single cent. The PS2 was the clear winner, having the largest number of great games (and bombs, too). Sure it was overrated, but it still lived up to most of the hype. The GameCube was probably more overrated, and Nintendo abandoned it almost as fast as SEGA did the Dreamcast. SEGA dropping the Dreamcast was probably the biggest shame of the era. It was a great little console, but next to Nintendo and Sony, they simply couldn't convince the suits they could compete. :(

Nope, Dreamcast, X-box, and GC all have 32-bit CPUs (32-bit ALU, FPU and vector stuff is another story), I'm pretty sure the GC has a 64-bit data bus for the CPU, same for DC, and I'm positive the X-box has a 128-bit data bus shared between the CPU and GPU (dualchannel DDR, so it's 128-bit in the same way the Atari Jaguar is 64-bit, more or less, except the CPU has access to the full bus, opposed to only the blitter and object processor using all 64-bits on the Jag)
The PS2 has a 64-bit CPU (ALU wise) and I think a 64-bit data-bus. (not sure about graphics)

Wii, like GC has a 32-bit CPU, PS3 and 360 both use 64-bit cores Power PC based. (ALU wise, FPU and other stuff is another matter) I think both use 128-bit external busses as well.

The Strong point of the x-box is the GPU though, CPU is arguably the weakest.


I was more impressed with the GC and Xbox's output than PS2 in general, it rubbed me the wrong way, kind of like the PS1. What did frustrate me about the Xbox was how a lot of games ended up primarily on it, with PC ports a good bit later, if at all, and sometimes downgraded. (and at very least, requiring a good bit more horsepower than the xbox did -Halo bing a prime example)
And the DVD functionality meant nothing as we'd gotten a DVD drive and media player for our PC (hooked up to TV via S-video) back around '98/99.


Edit: I forgot to mention the DC, definitely the most impressive at launch, too bad it died early.

I was a bit surprised and dissapointed when I found out M$ was not extending the xbox architecture with the 360, moreso with the releases turning to a trickle (along with GC, though tere were still plenty of games to be had, just not new releaese in either case). It all added insult to injury with the 360s massive reliability problems, compared to the pretty solid Xbox.
And of course, it's laughably ironic that MS made the PPC choice around the same time Apple switched to x86. :D heh

Out of this mythical "128-bit Era", I only own an Xbox and a Dreamcast.

They rate like this:

Xbox - Stole my heart. I got it in late 2005 and it was still getting releases for it then. It reminded me of what it was like to own a system where new games could still be found in retail stores. Custom soundtracks are so beyond "jawusum" that a new word might have to be created.44 games in my Xbox collection, 2nd largest game collection I own (Genesis being first).

Dreamcast - I spent a good year trying to find that one game that totally justifies my owning this, I found it in "Powerstone 2". Unfortunately that is the only game I actually enjoy playing on the system. I have *8* games in my DC collection and half of those are "Beats of Rage" remixes & collections.

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Originally Posted by kool kitty89

Nope, Dreamcast, X-box, and GC all have 32-bit CPUs (32-bit ALU, FPU and vector stuff is another story), I'm pretty sure the GC has a 64-bit data bus for the CPU, same for DC, and I'm positive the X-box has a 128-bit data bus shared between the CPU and GPU (dualchannel DDR, so it's 128-bit in the same way the Atari Jaguar is 64-bit, more or less, except the CPU has access to the full bus, opposed to only the blitter and object processor using all 64-bits on the Jag)
The PS2 has a 64-bit CPU (ALU wise) and I think a 64-bit data-bus. (not sure about graphics)

Wii, like GC has a 32-bit CPU, PS3 and 360 both use 64-bit cores Power PC based. (ALU wise, FPU and other stuff is another matter) I think both use 128-bit external busses as well.

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The Power PC CPU in the GC is 64-bit. See my post above. ;)

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The Strong point of the x-box is the GPU though, CPU is arguably the weakest.

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The Xbox GPU was pretty much an enchanced GeForce 3.

Last generation I had a Gamecube, and I have to say that I enjoyed it quite a bit, it had the best controller IMO for 3d games, and had quite a lot of exlusives that made it worth owning like Metroid Prime, Paper Mario, Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem just to name a few.

Funny thing is, at the time I'd get bullied a lot just because I owned a Gamecube and not a PS2 or a Xbox. Holy crap am I ever glad to get out of that hick town and into a place where everyone is at leas trying to live in the real world :p

I haven't played much of the PS2 or Xbox, but I like them quite a bit, I just haven't really played them enough to really appreciate them like the Game Cube. Maybe I'll pick up some Xbox games if I get a chance to go to Game Crazy tomorrow.

The Xbox had a few firsts in video gaming; 5.1 sound (in almost ALL games) and high definition graphics. The 5.1 sound was really a huge step forward in games. Most games supported 480p and many supported 16:9. Online gaming also became kind of standard late in the console's life with Xbox Live. If there was a multiplatform game, it would almost always be best on the Xbox. Had a few great exclusives as well.

The Dreamcast was very loud and had extremely noisy disc access. The controllers were awful and a step backwards from the Saturn. It had a dial-up modem that was eventually used in a few games. Most games supported 480p (though a VGA connection) and a few supported 16:9. Stereo sound only, usually very compressed. The Dreamcast was Sega's least appealing console, at least to me. Still, it had Shenmue 1 and 2, and that is awesome.

The Gamecube was very bare-bones, but what it did, it did pretty well. Comfortable controllers but with awkward button placement (Nintendo hasn't used a conventional controller design since the SNES for God knows whatever reason). The machine was fairly quiet and very quick. Unfortunately the games couldn't be much larger than Dreamcast games due to the similarly sized disc space restrictions. Many games supported 480p and quite a few supported 16:9. Component output did not offer sound so you had to use two sets of cables which is just stupid. Digital audio was delivered to the component output port, but never utilized. Stereo sound only, just like the Wii. Had Monkey Ball and F-Zero. WTF more do you need? No other system could do Monkey Ball as well. Only a couple of shitty Phantasy Star Online games supported online. Oh, and Mario Kart had a LAN mode.

The Playstation 2 seemed to be the weakest of them all, well maybe a bit stronger than the Dreamcast, but it did offer some HDTV capabilities late in its life. Most games were 480i which is unacceptable. It did offer a digital audio output which was cool. Most games were in stereo, but a few were DTS 4-channel and a few games like Metal Gear had 5.1 Dolby Digital audio, but only for the cut scenes. Gameplay would drop back into stereo. Multi-platform games were usually worst on the PS2. Had some weak online capabilities, but stronger than that of the Dreamcast and Gamecube.



So what do you all think about the systems of the current 256-bit generation?

PS2 - Lot of good games, spent a lot of time with it.
Dreamcast - Same thing, only to a slightly lesser extent.
GameCube - Wanted to like it, still see no real reason to.
Xbox - Irrelevant POS.

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Originally Posted by Joe Redifer

So what do you all think about the systems of the current 256-bit generation?

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They've been decent... I guess. Not really looking forward to the 512 though.

I still have my GC, but I wouldn't have purchased it back then. Got it free. Only bought 2 games for it, which was: Super Monkey Ball & Mortal Kombat Deadly Revenge or something like that. The latter was the shittiest shit i've played in my life, and the first was actually quite entertaining. I did borrow some games from my younger brother to play on it, but never got around to it "properly" as I was glued to my pc-monitor.

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Originally Posted by Dunn

Mortal Kombat Deadly Revenge or something like that. The latter was the shittiest shit i've played in my life,

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Deadly Alliance? Yeah, I have that game still sealed from five or so years back... and just for that comment, it can stay in shrink wrap for another five years.

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Originally Posted by WarmSignal

Deadly Alliance? Yeah, I have that game still sealed from five or so years back... and just for that comment, it can stay in shrink wrap for another five years.

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yeh, that's the one! I remember being VERY annoyed by the fact that the only way to move was the damn cross.. seemed like a bad port

Of the four, I've only owned two, the Gamecube and the Playstation 2...

Shoot me, I do intend to own a Dreamcast at some point, perhaps when I can actually afford one. :p

Even then, my library for both consoles was small, so I am a little biased.

I only have Melee and XD: Gale of Darkness for the Gamecube, which really does not help my choices there either, while my library on the PS2 is larger... but the only game I've played extensively is Final Fantasy X.

I can't form an opinion, my active library for both is just too small.

I do prefer the Gamecubes controller however, but the PS2 does make more sense in terms of it's D-pad (Making anything that'd normally need a D-pad actually make sense, doesn't save it from being a terrible D-pad :|).