Without Xbox live the xbox is nothing. That is the reason I didnt get one myself. At the time when I wanted to get a new console, I didnt have broadband so that meant no Xbox Live for me. So I got a PS2 instead. Now that I have broadband, I want an Xbox... but I'll just wait till the next generation of consoles to come out since it would be a waste of money because I dont play games as much as I used to.
Nintendo used to be the king until the Playstation came along. The PS1 kinda made gaming more mainstream and more people started to buy consoles. Gaming wasnt for little kids or nerds anymore, it became more widely accepted. But nintendo is stubborn and doesnt want to change thier ways and the GC is a bit of an aquired taste (personally I hate the look of the console and its controller... I think it looks like a Fisher Price toy.
). The only game that interests me on the GC is the new zelda game coming out since i have always been a fan of that series. But that is pretty much it... There are some games I would like to try out, but nothing that would influence my decsion on buying the console. You dont even hear people talking about thier games that much. There aren't any Metrod Prime or Mario Kart parties. =/
Nintendo will never take back the #1 spot unless they decide to make some changes. Jesus... what the hell were they thinking with having next to no online?