[Perfect Stu]

SF's rant was interesting...to me it sounded like one giant "BAH!" which would seem appropriate to what he was trying to convey.

I'm disappointed with both XBox and Gamecube so far...but that doesn't mean things can't change. For Xbox...Why ignore (maybe that's the wrong word?) Halo 2, Fable, Perfect Dark 2, etc. based on the system's past (which you call utterly disappointing, to which many will argue against)? Rare is on board, and they have a past of VERY high quality games. Microsoft is more than likely giving them more of an opportunity to fully utilize their creativity. "The sky's the limit"...well, apparently in Rare's fairly recent past, Nintendo's franchises/restrictions have been the limit. Conker was a step in the right direction (in some areas)...Possibly we'll see some newer, more original ideas?

As for Gamecube...it's hard to say. "One man's trash is another man's treasure." To some, many (if not most, if not *gasp* all) of Nintendo's efforts are considered instant classics. Others will disagree completely. I think the problem with the system is that it gets TOO close to limiting the consumer to the Nintendo brand, and the Nintendo brand only. 3rd parties, for the most part, have chosen to unleash their big dawgs on one of the other two systems (Resident Evil being the big exception). If your gaming interests are primarly >NINTENDO<, the system has delivered to a certain extent, and I'm sure will deliver in coming years. Most gamers want more variety (the whole 'mature games' crap has been beaten to death one too many times...I'll stay away from that) in their system.

Luckily, as all gamers will agree, there's something out there for everyone. Be it mostly XBox, mostly Gamecube, mostly PS2 or mostly PC...pick and choose the games that fit your gaming interests, and try not to think much about the ones that don't.