New Xbox game console holds more than its own

Microsoft is the baby of the bunch. This is their first foray into the videogame console wars, while GameCube is No. 8 on Nintendo's family tree.

However, those consoles are long gone, and all that matters now is how the new machines work and what software will be available.

In those areas, the Xbox can more than hold its own.

Visually, the Xbox is a behemoth compared to the sprightly GameCube. It's about the size of a DVD player and weighs a ton (actually about 9 pounds). It's stuffed with top-quality components like an 8-gigabyte hard drive for speedy loading times and Intel 733 MHz chip for the CPU to drive its fantastic images and game play. The GameCube features a slower IBM 485 MHz CPU, and its tiny 3-inch software has about a third the capacity of the 5-inch DVDs used by Sony and Microsoft.

Microsoft also has wooed an army of third-party developers to whip up games for the Xbox, while Nintendo is looking inside for many of its products.

One area of controversy has already surfaced. The bulky Xbox controller has been criticized for being overly large and possibly too hard for kiddie hands to use.

I found it to be an excellent device, easy to handle, with a solid feel and a simple-to-use button and control stick layout. GameCube's controller is smaller, looks more like a PlayStation 2 item and is probably easier to use for smaller hands.

That, of course, is why there are aftermarket companies.

The controller features a snap connector which keeps you from jerking the console off whatever it's sitting on when you trip over the cord.

The bottom line, as always, is the games. There will be 15 to 20 titles available on launch day.

With a library of hundreds of games available, PlayStation 2 has a clear, immediate advantage over both newcomers. Nintendo's price is attractive, but will it have the software to battle Sony? Microsoft's power is amazing, but the price is steep and the collection of titles will initially be small.<