LET THE FANBOY DEBAUCHERY BEGIN!
Console Price:
Price is well not that much of factor now as it was a year ago (when the PS2 and the xbox were $299)
all three major consoles are under $200 today
Graphics Quality/Speed:
graphics quality not much of a factor, yeah you can be picky and spout out a bunch of stats and numbers that no one (especially myself) cares about
Available Games/Game Quality
This is what a console should be judged by, what games you can play with it. each console has their flagship titles that hold it up
xbox-Halo, what else I dont know
ps2-Final fantasy series, Madden 2002-?
Gamecube-Zelda, Mario, Metroid
a lot of people argue that the gamecube has too many "kiddy" games, I grow tired of these comments and pity people who have to resort to making such shortsighted comments to justify their positions.
for sheer numbers it would go to the PS2, this can be just because it has been out longer than the other two consoles. and maybe because it has great third party support.
xbox-i dont know much about the games in this console, halo? meh.
game prices-
not much of a factor as almost games when they are released are 49.99
Fun factor-
the fun factor depends on the user, I might have more fun on the game
ikaruga than the other joe shmo video gamer next door.
Other features.
controller:
I would have to say the PS2 controller is superior to the other 2 as it is effective for all types of gaming: fighting, rpg, etc. the gamecube controller is only weak for fighting games. as for the xbox, from experience i found this the most difficult to use small, oddly placed buttons.
of course the controller problem can be easily solved by a 3rd party controller or an adapter.
online
clearly the xbox is leading in this category for having the most titles available and the built in ethernet port. but quickly the rift between the xbox and both ps2 and gc is closing, as all the next EA sports games (madden, Tiger woods golf etc) are being released with online support and will probably be the most popular online games (especially madden).
oh yeah I'm a proud owner of a Gamecube.