Great NY Times article comparing Microsoft's new Xbox to Nintendo's new Game Cube and trends among these makers and Sony Playstation. A really good primer into a big $ world I'm guessing most of us don't know anything about. We're talking $500 million budgeted for Xbox advertising alone over the next 18 months.

I gotta kick out of this portrait...
"The Xbox is a big, heavy machine that wants to be the most important piece of equipment in your home. About the size of a VCR and weighing considerably more, it is the behemoth of game consoles. Everything about it is big and luxurious, with thick connecting cables and an unusually large but comfortable game controller that seems suited only to adult hands. (A smaller one had to be designed for the Japanese market.) Black and solid, it contrasts markedly with the GameCube, a little purple box the size of a teapot. The Xbox says, admire me, adore me, plan your life around me; the GameCube says, toss me in a backpack and take me to a friend's house."