There’s a battle brewing — and video-game fans ultimately will decide who wins.
Recently at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles, Microsoft and Nintendo unveiled their new consoles, Xbox and GameCube, for the first time. They’ll hit stores in November and will compete against Sony’s PlayStation 2 for gamers’ hearts — and dollars.
Each console provides a pretty amazing gaming experience at comparable prices, making it hard for industry analysts to pick a clear winner.
That’s why many predict the games will determine which unit comes out on top. “Ultimately, it is the games that sell the consoles,” said Guinn Marker, communications director for the third-party game developer Sega. “Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft all make great consoles, but they all need killer apps to sell them.”
With this in mind, we fought our way through the crowds at E3 to test-drive the hottest titles. Here’s what we found.
– Nintendo’s long history gives it a long list of top-notch exclusive titles to unleash at launch. We were impressed by “Luigi’s Mansion,” “Super Smash Bros. Melee,” “Metroid Prime,” “Star Fox Adventures: Dinosaur Planet” and “Wave Race: Blue Storm.” There also is a rumor of a new Mario game.
– Totally new to the video-game biz, Microsoft doesn’t have the established titles that Nintendo or PlayStation does. But it does have big bucks. To assure a strong launch lineup, the software giant has purchased numerous gaming companies. The best Xbox-exclusive titles are “Oddworld: Munch’s Oddysee” and “Halo.” Other titles expected at launch include “Amped: Freestyling Snowboarding,” “Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2x,” “Dead or Alive 3,” “Mad Dash Racing” and “Jet Set Radio Future.”
– Sony is releasing its second-generation titles for PS2 — and its strongest to date. The game that should be a mega-hit is “Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty.” Other PS2-exclusive titles include “Final Fantasy X,” “Devil May Cry” and “Silent Hill 2” and “Jak and Daxster.”
Meanwhile, third-party developers are spreading their bets across consoles. For example, gamers can expect top-selling football games — “Madden 2002” from Electronic Arts and NFL2K2 from Sega — to battle it out on all three consoles.
By the numbers
MICROSOFT’S XBOX
Launch Date: Nov. 5, 2001
Price: $299
Game price: To be announced
Plays DVDs
Internet compatible
Internal hard drive, for storing gaming
information
NINTENDO’S GAMECUBE
Launch Date: Nov. 5, 2001
Price: $199
Game price: $49
Does not play DVDs
Internet capabilities
to be announced
No hard drive
SONY’S PLAYSTATION 2
Launched last year
Price: $299 (but price is expected to drop before November)
Game price:$50
Plays DVDs
Internet adapter to be sold separately for $40, beginning in November
Hard drive to be sold separately; release date and price to be announced
