The Box Meets The Cube

Hot new video-game consoles from Microsoft and Nintendo arrive in stores this week. So which is better?

The occupation began a few weeks ago, the day the big parcel arrived from Microsoft. "The Xbox," said a co-worker we'll call Stein. He eyed the package hungrily, as if it were a hot pizza walking by itself down the hall. "Anyone want to play football?" asked his sidekick, JT. The two of them followed the thing into my office, where I uncrated it. It was a VCR-size video-game console, black with a dollop of mint jelly. I attached it to my TV. My friends elbowed me aside and booted up NFL Fever.

They played for what seemed like forever. I...

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