The Games

Game superiority ultimately decides who wins the battle in the video game console industry. You could design a machine with 10 times more power and speed than the Xbox, but, if the games stink, you can forget about selling it. Having better games is what vaulted Sony over Nintendo in the late 1990s. Like the PS2, the Xbox uses proprietary 4.7-GB DVD games. Microsoft has signed deals with more than 150 video game makers who have committed themselves to developing games for Microsoft's Xbox game console. These game developers include id Software, maker of the popular Quake series, and Eidos Interactive, which makes the Tomb Raider games featuring Lara Croft. Other Xbox game manufacturers include Bandai, Capcom, Hudson, Soft, Konami, Midway Home Entertainment, Namco, Sierra Studios, THQ and Ubi Soft. Microsoft, itself a PC game publisher, is producing about 30 percent of Xbox's games. One of the most impressive qualities of the Xbox is its realistic environments. For example, characters cast shadows on each other, making for some pretty realistic scenes. The momentum of the PS2 might be too much for the Xbox to overcome -- but then again, in 1995, no one thought that Sony would surpass Nintendo in popularity.