Why get an Xbox in the first place?

Kelly McNeill writes: “I have seen the future for Microsoft’s game console and it is not pretty. The reasons are many and not always obvious, but lately the signs are all pointing in the same direction. The console has only little going for it despite the impressive hardware and the line-up of developers Microsoft has been shouting about lately. By the time Xbox is released, Sony’s PlayStation 2 will be firmly entrenched in the market for next-generation game consoles, with a number of killer games. So, it’s my prediction that a lot of console-gaming developers will not give the Xbox a second look.”