Question: I've heard that the Playstation 2 is better than my PC, the Dreamcast, and the X-Box, etc... Is this true?</font>
Answer: This is not necessarily true. In terms of pure hardware performance, the PS2 lags behind both the PC and the [projected] X-Box statistics. In some ways it is better than the Dreamcast, but in some ways, it is inferior to the Dreamcast.
I will focus on three things: Processor Speed, Ram, and Graphics, on three systems: Sony Playstation 2, Sega Dreamcast, Microsoft X-Box, and Nintendo Gamecube. Disclaimer: Some of the gamecube info presented here are educated guesses, since few real details are available.
Processor Speeds:
What they mean: Processor speed has to do with how much information a system can processes. This includes Physics, Artificial Intelligence (how enemies move and react), Collision Detection (what makes walls stop you), and has some impact on how many polygons (characters and items) that can be on screen at once.
PS2: 300mhz (Plus extra processors)
DC: 200mhz
Cube: 405mhz
XBox: 733mhz
More details: While the xbox is the winner in all out raw power, the PS2 has multiple processors, which can allow it to do more than 300mhz worth of calculations. But the PS2s extra processors are difficult to use, and so don't necessarily provide as much of a benefit as they should.
Ram:
What it means: This is the amount of memory that the game systems have for general purpose storage. This includes levels, items, characters, enemies, sounds etc. The more memory a system has, the larger the levels it can store in memory at a time, and the less it will have to load from the CD/DVD.
PS2: 32Mb (Some used for video)
DC: 16Mb
Cube: 40Mb (Some used for video)
XBox: 64Mb (Shared with video)
More Details: While the dreamcast has less ram overall, it does not need to store any textures in main ram, since the graphics system has its own memory for textures. All the other machines have to store some textures in the main memory, which decreases the overall free memory to use for other things. This will vary from game to game.
Graphics:
What it means: Graphics are how detailed the environments, characters, and textures can be. When a system has a lower graphics quality, you will see pointy characters (larger polygons), and so-called 'jaggies'. The better a graphics system the console has, the smoother everything looks overall.
PS2: 4mb video ram + 2 processors for transforming data.
DC: 8mb video ram + 4:1 texture compression
Cube: 3mb video ram
XBox: 64mb video ram (shared with main ram) + 6:1 texture compression + Hardware T&L
More Details: This is where things start to get fuzzy. It's hard to quantify these values properly, because there is no direct measurement that can be used. The dreamcast and the xbox can have higher res (more detailed) textures, while the Gamecube and PS2 need to use lower res textures (less detail, more 'blurry' looking walls and floors, etc). But a good game company can hide some of the PS2 and Cube pitfalls to the point where you can't see the difference.
The PS2 and the XBox have special processors allocated to transforming 3d data in to graphics. What this means, is that you can put more polygons in to characters and levels, making them seem 'smoother'. The dreamcast and X-Box can cover this up by using highres textures, which can fool you in to thinking that levels and characters are more detailed.
The gamecube and PS2 both have very little video ram, which would normally mean they can't use much textures, except for the fact that both machines can store textures in main ram, and use the textures from there.
Texture compression means that a texture takes up less space than normally, meaning you can fit more textures in memory. The dreamcast could store around 32Mb of textures when compressed. The X-Box could also store more than usual.
The bottom line:
Systems are only as good as their games. While on the surface, some systems may seem better than others, it's really the games that tell the difference. Don't discount one just because someone tells you to.
