Look out for an Xbox under Christmas tree

By PETER GRIFFIN

Parents of video-game-loving children, be warned.

The marketing blitz for Microsoft's games console the Xbox is about to hit and when it does, you can guarantee your little darlings will let you know they want one for Christmas.

The new kid on the block (behind Sony's PlayStation 2 and Nintendo's Gamecube), Xbox will draw strong interest among gamers this summer. And priced to match the PSII at $499 it will be a compelling buy.

Prices are likely to go even lower as Microsoft seeks to rack up some decent Xbox sales before Christmas and Sony and Nintendo respond with their own price cuts.

At the least, you can expect to get a bit more for your buck - maybe a game thrown in with a console purchase or a free memory card. Take advantage while the generosity lasts.

Xbox brings the promise of real-time multi-player games over the internet with a built-in ethernet port for high-speed online gaming, but Sony and Nintendo have ports for high-speed add-ons. Such connectivity, when it arrives, will change the face of gaming forever, but more on that later.

The holy trinity of consoles

The belated arrival of the Xbox (due around October 3) will spice up console gaming. More choice is good, especially when PlayStation has been the no-brainer purchase for so long.

The Xbox will arrive as technically the most powerful console, though you'll need a good TV to appreciate the superb graphics.

Importantly in this age of multimedia, Xbox, like the PSII, is capable of playing DVDs and audio CDs, catering to everyone's entertainment needs.

Not so the Gamecube, a Machine that doesn't aspire to be a DVD player or makeshift computer, just a good games machine. The fact that it's the size of a lunch box, $100 cheaper than its rivals and not quite as multi-talented doesn't necessarily mean it's inferior.

In fact, while appearing under-powered on paper, the Gamecube has fast loading times and crisp graphics.

The firefights in Xbox's sci-fi role-player Halo are very impressive, but so too are martial arts bouts in Virtua Fighter 4. For the sharp-eyed, the Xbox seems to have an edge on the PSII depending on which game you pop in the drive. The gap can only widen as more Xbox games come on the market.

The Xbox can also cache game levels on its 8GB (gigabyte) hard drive, meaning you can return to levels more quickly because the information does not have to read from the disk every time. Load some music CDs on to its hard drive to create a digital jukebox. PSII uses can buy a hard drive separately.

In the end it will also partly come down to aesthetics - do you want a big black box gathering dust alongside the Sky decoder on the top of the TV or a lunch-box-sized bundle of joy you can hide easily from the kids at homework time?

The Nintendo game controller is the most comfortable to hold, despite its gaudy looks. Microsoft spent a lot of time designing the Xbox controller, but if you have small hands you'll find it a struggle to hold. Luckily a smaller version is now on the market, but even the standard PSII controller is easier to hold. A good hardware comparison can be found at the Xbox website.

A bit on the side

There's one big catch when it comes to buying a games console. Whichever one you settle on, a number of add-ons will be needed to complete your gaming experience. Don't think you'll be able to fire your babysitter and leave the kids to their own devices for a meagre $500.

The console makers don't actually make any money on the boxes they sell. The real money lies in the peripherals the customer is coaxed into buying - and the games themselves, of course.

An extra controller, a little plastic mould to make sure your PSII doesn't fall over when you stand it upright, memory cards, steering wheels for those racing games, advanced AV packs - the list of peripherals goes on and on.

As an Xbox owner you'll have to invest in a DVD infra-red module and remote control ($69.95) before you can watch movies. While the Xbox hard drive cuts out the need to buy memory cards, you'll need to pick one up if you want to play your saved games on a friend's Xbox.

And the Gamecube, like the Xbox, may come with a generous four controller ports, but a stingy single controller. Watch the kids fight over that.

Going soft

Sony clearly wins when it comes to game titles, and lets face it, what lies under the hood is irrelevant if the games don't light your fire. Sony has about 2000 titles available - more than Xbox and Gamecube combined and all playable on the PSII console.

The PSII range of games is huge, but you can't go past World War II battlefest, Medal of Honour: Frontline. If only we could figure out how to fight our way off that beach at Normandy. Gran Turismo 3 and World Rally Championship are other greats.

And the PlayStation games market for the budget buyer is thriving. Classic titles such as Driver, Tekken and Dead or Alive are now in the budget bin at most department stores. Video rental shops will often have clearance sales to get rid of old game rentals and friends with year-old PSIIs will have stacks of titles they've played inside out.

Newcomer Xbox, however, has some great titles coming out, the product both of Microsoft's games development lab and third-party software houses.

Microsoft's PC roots shine through on some of the titles which have been huge sellers in the PC gaming space.

Around 80 Xbox titles will be available at launch and 150 by Christmas (many of them currently available back-catalogue games that will be converted for the Xbox platform).

They will range in price from $90 to $130. Role player Halo, snow boarding game Amped and Gotham Racer, the Xbox answer to Gran Turismo, are early stars.

With Super Mario and Pokemon as entrenched titles, you'd be forgiven for thinking Nintendo caters to the kids only. But have a crack at new Gamecube release Resident Evil. The R16 rating is there for a reason - the walking dead take delight in trying to kill you. Have a good look at the respective gaming catalogues before you invest in the hardware is the best advice.

A plug too far?

In the future you won't have to invite your friend over to humiliate him in a game of Slam Tennis. Such duels will take place over the web.

None of the console vendors can give a date on when their online gaming strategies will take shape for New Zealand, so don't fret about buying an internet-ready machine - the next model will be out before you have a chance to venture online.

The launch of online gaming services depends on the uptake of broadband internet in New Zealand homes which is very low at present.

Microsoft will launch Xbox Live in the US in November, at a cost of US$49.95 for an initial year's subscription, supporting a number of titles including NFL Fever 2003 and Unreal Championship.

Sony is slightly ahead in the game with PSII owners equipped with a network adaptor (US$40) already able to play Socom: US Navy Seals and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 online.

The online gaming concept is old hat to PC users. The disturbingly realistic CounterStrike has amassed a huge following of bloodthirsty gamers armed with broadband connections who gather on gaming servers to battle each other in cyberspace.

Games such as Quake Arena and Return to Castle Wolfenstein show just what potential there is for consoles to go follow PC gaming online.

The broadband connections will allow nifty applications. Eventually you will buy new characters and game levels online rather than wait for the next version of your favourite game to hit the shop shelves - something known as "episodic gaming". The levels will be downloaded to the hard drive and activated when you run the disk you originally bought.

Xbox Live will feature Gamertag, an online ID for players which allows friends to search for each other online and invite them into a game, much as Microsoft has already done on the PC with MSN Messenger.

Game Commander will allow Xbox users all over the world to talk to each other as they play - something that so far has been a big disappointment for PC users.

Turn the Gamecube upside down and a few plastic covers hide a high speed port which eventually will connect to a removable hard drive and two serial ports, and they will connect to broadband adaptors for online stuff.

Games developers such as Sega are keen to bring online gaming to the Gamecube, but when it will get here is unclear.

RATINGS

Sony PlayStation 2 - game titles galore, DVD player out of the box, fits nicely on my bookshelf when you stand it on its side but no hard drive built in, less processing power than Xbox 8/10

Microsoft Xbox - slick graphics, audio jukebox on the hard drive, built with an eye to the future but have to buy a DVD remote, old PlayStation games incompatible 7/10

Nintendo Gamecube - small and compact, lush, fast-loading games, the cheapest box on the market but no DVD and CD playback, less variety of games 6/10

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