As it stands right now, here' s how I see things for me:
The GameCube has been a system I' ve kept trying to get myself interested in. I' ve even come really close to forcing myself into getting one, but each and every time, I' d look at the rack of games available, and find that I was unable to locate more than one or two that I' d want to play. It just hasn' t been worth it, and although the GC is having a better lifespan than the atrocious N64, neither has come even close to the glory days of the SNES. On the good side, the new Zelda, Resident Evil 4, and Metroid Prime 2 all look very promising, and hopefully, that will be all I need to pick up my third console.
I bought my Xbox back in the August of 2002, and at first, I was mostly unimpressed. It was basically in the midst (or at the tail end) of the typical " rookie drought," and all I could find that I really wanted to play was Halo, DoA 3, and the surprisingly great sleeper hit, Deathrow. I couldn' t get into Morrowind to save my life. But due to my affinity for FPS, I held onto the system until it finally started to churn out some top titles. KotoR wasn' t for me either, but anyone could tell it was a top-quality game. Then you also had PGR 2, the Splinter Cells (two of my very favorite games of this gen., and certainly best played on Xbox), Ninja Gaiden, and Chronicles of Riddick. With Fable and Halo 2 coming up, I' m very glad I own an Xbox.
The PS2 remains my system of choice simply because of the range and diversity that it displays. I also think that it had one of the best years a console has ever had in video game history, in 2001. That year brought us Red Faction, Onimusha: Warlords, Devil May Cry, Soul Reaver 2, Twisted Metal: Black, ICO, Gran Turismo 3, Grand Theft Auto III, Silent Hill 2, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, and Final Fantasy X. I was in sheer heaven. For my RPG' s and the top exclusives I can' t get anywhere else (GT, FF, R&C, etc.), the PS2 remains my system of choice. And while it' s clear that the Xbox owned the first half of 2004 (PGR 2, NG, SC: PT, CoR), I think it' s also very clear that the PS2 could own the second half:
Gran Turismo 4
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
Suikoden IV
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Xenosaga: Episode II
God of War
Devil May Cry 3
Ratchet and Clank: Up Your Arsenal
Nothing comes close to touching this, IMO. Tie all of this in with the fact that I can play my 40 PSOne games on the PS2, including classics like Twisted Metal 2, Castlevania: SotN, Final Fantasy VII, Resident Evil 2, etc., and...well, it' s still a no-brainer for me.
But just for the record, I' ve spent most of the last two weeks playing on my SNES.