Gamecube wipes the floor with competition in Today Show test

[Anonymous]

The Today Show on NBC conducted a public "Toy Test 2000" test of video games on all three consoles. The testers were kids and adults (seemed to be a lack of single adults and older teens tho, at least among the testers shown on TV -- most seemed to be parents and kids on the cusp of adolescence). After 20 minutes of gameplay per game, the testers rated each game based on various factors.

The GameCube totally wiped out the competition, taking four of the five top slots. Here's the top fifteen (the letter at the end of each entry is the maturity rating):

1. Metroid Prime GameCube T
2. Super Mario Sunshine GameCube E
*3. ML Baseball Slugfest 20-03 GameCube E
*4. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 4 Xbox T
5. Mario Party 4 GameCube E
6. Star Fox Adventures GameCube T
7. Star Wars: The Clone Wars GameCube T
*8. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 4 PS2 T
8. Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus PS2 E
9. Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee GameCube T
9. Tekken 4 PS2 T
10. Kingdom Hearts PS2 E
11. Crazy Taxi 3: High Roller Xbox T
*12. NHL Hitz 20-03 GameCube E
*13. Need for Speed Hot Pursuit 2 PS2 E
14. Super Monkey Ball 2 GameCube E
*14. TransWorld Snowboarding Xbox T
15. Burnout 2: Point of Impact PS2 E
*15. Spider-Man PS2 E
* - title is available on at least one other game system


I don't know what this means, just reporting what I saw.

Here's a link to the source: http://msnbc.com/news/837095.asp

[Tyjenks]

Hrmmm...No GTA3 or Vice City. No M games were included.

And are not teens and single young adults the largest purchasers of videogames. I guess this test may work more as a Holday Family Buying guide. Not complaining. Family guides are handy, too.

[sellthekids]

After 20 minutes of gameplay per game, the testers rated each game based on various factors.

20 min? is that enough time to make a decision?

i am totally confused how TH4 is both #4 & #8...aren't they essentially the same (minus the Xbox's cheapass no live support)? what is the point of the asterik if you rank the same game on multiple consoles?

[Mark Asher]

Yeah, it does look like M rated games were left out, which would tend to skew results towards Nintendo, the kiddie console.

[Tyjenks]

I believe it is safe to say that this 'Toy Test' is worthless morning show fluff.

They needed to do this test and simultaneously debut the new console adventure game: 'Where in the World is Matt Lauer?' and 'Katie Couric's BMX PG-13'.

[Bub, Andrew]

I disagree. The results came out well and even accurately... if you consider the Today show audience.

[Mark Asher]

What is the Today show audience?

[Tyjenks]

People who enjoy their live in the plaza Phill Collins concerts.

[Anonymous]

Tyjinks is correct. Add to that: it's an audience who will watch a half-hour televised discussion of Michael Jackson's fitness for parenthood.

[Anonymous]

The show polled a bunch of kids (none older than 14, I don't think), most around 8 to 10. So no surprise Gamecube wins.

[voltaic]

Phil Collins kicks ass.

Anyways, the Today show is watched by parents. So I tihnk it's pretty obvious that the show isn't going to include GTA and BMXXX for review. And incidently, if excluding M titles leads to "well of course the Cube wins!" then that only shows that their demographics are working. Nintendo wants the younger ones, Sony and MS want the older ones. Noone here shouldbe surprised or have any angst about this at all, IMHO.

[Tyjenks]

The show polled a bunch of kids (none older than 14, I don't think), most around 8 to 10.

Wow. Are they O.K.? Is there a video of that, too?

[Anonymous]

Sure, I think Pee Wee Herman has a copy of it.

[Fussbett]

I don't know what this means, just reporting what I saw.
...and capping it off with an inflammatory headline!

Yeah, it does look like M rated games were left out, which would tend to skew results towards Nintendo, the kiddie console.
Poor Nintendo. All that money to secure an exclusive and gore-filled Resident Evil 0, plus the restraint to not censor BMX XXX unlike Sony, and still no respect. Is it the purple shell that does it? The creamy center? The fact that it's got lots of fun games? Poor Nintendo.

In other news, I assume all the games were tested with 20 minutes of single player playtime. That's a big disservice to all the sports/fighting/party games in that list. Still, it doesn't explain how as a single player game the mash-tastic Godzilla game got to number 9.

Kids are stupid. When are we going to stop listening to them? They'd eat ice cream for dinner if you let them. THAT DOESN'T MAKE IT RIGHT.

[Union Carbide]

Kids are stupid. When are we going to stop listening to them? They'd eat ice cream for dinner if you let them. THAT DOESN'T MAKE IT RIGHT.

But. . . but. . . CHILDREN ARE OUR FUTURE!

[Anonymous]

To be fair to the Today Show, at the end of the test report, they showed all three systems, and the reporter who conducted the test explained that all three were great systems depending on what you want them for. He explained that the Nintendo had certain popular characters for kids, that the XBox had the best graphics and online play (that was his opinion; I haven't tried XBox live), and that the PS2 has the sheer number of games going for it.

So, their report wasn't as sensationalistically pro-Nintendo as the rankings above may seem.

[Brad Grenz]

Well, on the other end Lewis Black did a Back in Black segment on the Daily Show about BMX XXX and DOA: Extreme Vollyball. He so funny!

[sellthekids]

Well, on the other end Lewis Black did a Back in Black segment on the Daily Show about BMX XXX and DOA: Extreme Vollyball. He so funny!

early this week John Stewart had Ja Rule on and they spent about 3 min (of a 9 min interview) talking about the Xbox, Dead To Rights and Hitman2. i think John Stewart is a closet gamer.

[Brad Grenz]

Closet? He talks about games all the time. I understand he likes Soul Calibur quite a bit. My sister just got me Stewart's book for my birthday. Naked Pictures of Famous People. It's pretty entertaining. I'm thinking of converting to the New Judaism.

[Mike Cathcart]

Closet? He talks about games all the time. I understand he likes Soul Calibur quite a bit. My sister just got me Stewart's book for my birthday. Naked Pictures of Famous People. It's pretty entertaining. I'm thinking of converting to the New Judaism.

Yet he claims he can't "figure out" TiVo.