XBox Or Gamecube - Which is better?

Xbox or Gamecube, which one is better? 

NOTE: The following article is one biased view and in no way intended to bash either system, just one author's opinion for someone who wants to make a choice between 2 systems and doesn't have the desire to spend the money for both systems.

Well this might've been harder to answer when both systems were released since neither the Xbox or Gamecube had too many games for it, but now the choice would appear to be the Xbox.  While each platform has had its own specific games worthy of recognition (most notably Halo for Xbox and Zelda for Gamecube).  The Zelda game even got named the greatest game of all time in GameInformer (it might not've been all time but it was something along those lines...the point is that it was a great game).   

A closer look at some of the specifics of each system

- The Xbox has a 733-MHz processor compared to Gamecube's 485-MHz chip.

- The Xbox can display 116.5 million polygons per second compared to the Gamecube's 6-12 million

- The Xbox also has a built in 8Gb hard drive, high speed ethernet port (for Xbox Live), and can be used to play DVDs with the purchase of a $30 remote (which actually is very lame, you should be able to use the controller ala the PS2, but at least you can play DVDs).

- One drawback of the Xbox is the physical size of the system...the Gamecube is much smaller.

These are just a few of the specifics, and by no means a comprehensive list.  If you're interested in the specifics check here:

Gamecube Specs

Xbox Specs

But since the release of the systems, probably the biggest thing used to compare whether to choose the Xbox or Gamecube the games that have been released for both systems.  If you read reviews for the same game on ign.com, a lot of times you will find that the same games that are recommended for the Xbox are not as highly rated for the Gamecube (one example of this is Jedi Outcast, it got a terrible review for the Gamecube due mostly to the control interface, while it received a much better review for the Xbox).  Of course there are games for the Gamecube that probably have been rated higher, but in this author's experience, a lot of games made for both systems just aren't as good on the Gamecube as they are on the Xbox.

So, to answer whether to choose the Xbox or Gamecube, unless you're a huge fan of the Nintendo specific platform games, there just isn't much reason to own a Gamecube.  Again this is in no way intended to bash the Gamecube, just an opinion of one author.  If you truly love the Zelda/Mario/Metroid/etc. games then by all means the Gamecube would be the better investment.  Otherwise, the Xbox would be the way to go.