Is a switch to PS1 ->PS2 justified?

Amos, SimonBradley has put it very well - mostly. If you want to preserve your investment in PS1 games (with better graphics rendering), then PS2 is a good way to go. It is coming down in price and perhaps Sony is the only company that can take Microsoft on in the long term.

But make no mistake; XBox will take a large market chunk. I foresee PS2 gamers having both boxes and some genius will, possibly, find a way of online gaming between different boxes for the same game. The XBox is, so far as I have been able to ascertain, based on an Intel Pentium chip and games have been developed on specified PC configurations under Windows 2000.

I'm hoping that making backups in a PC environment will be easier than for PS2; also this damn cartel that prevents US games from playing in Europe etc OUGHT to be defeated if it's PC based - although those evil b*st*rds who carve up the market like this might have modified the final product (XBox) in some way as per PS2. Yet to find out.

So those who invested in PS2 will look at XBox with interest; thjose who still have the choice, also have the dilemma. Games will abound for XBox at release although Gems like GT3 don't come to mind here.

So, I'd rather not advise you which to buy - just provide some thinking material to help your own decision process.

Lety us know what you decide.