Buy Now! Pay while you wait for next-gen 
Odds are that all the new consoles will be intro'd and demo'd at E3 next May. Microsoft and Nintendo are keen to avoid giving Sony a 1-2year headstart like last time. Likely to go on sale Oct 05 or Mar 06.
In terms of buying a console? No-one has said backwards compatibility is for certain yet, but look how it benefitted PS2. HOWEVER, there is *always* a gap from the launch to when great titles start appearing regularly.
I just bought a new Xbox to play Halo 2 from next month, which looks awesome. I picked up Halo, GTA double pack, Project Gotham Racing 2 all for AUD$50 each (about US$30). Next up in the coming months are Jade Empire, KOTOR 2, Starcraft: Ghost, Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, Brothers in Arms, Conker:Live and Reloaded etc.
That's benefit of buying in the middle to end of console's lifespan. Existing AAA titles are cheap, new titles are great as developers have had time to explore and figure out all the consoles features, and even if a new console appeared tomorrow it would be max price again and several great games are at least six months to a year away.
2A Batterie said:any idea when Xbox2 will be released? I'd like to buy some sort of game console, like Xbox or PS2, but I'm afraid something new is going to come out in the next few months or so. Isn't Nintendo coming out with a new system (beside DS) too?
Odds are that all the new consoles will be intro'd and demo'd at E3 next May. Microsoft and Nintendo are keen to avoid giving Sony a 1-2year headstart like last time. Likely to go on sale Oct 05 or Mar 06.
In terms of buying a console? No-one has said backwards compatibility is for certain yet, but look how it benefitted PS2. HOWEVER, there is *always* a gap from the launch to when great titles start appearing regularly.
I just bought a new Xbox to play Halo 2 from next month, which looks awesome. I picked up Halo, GTA double pack, Project Gotham Racing 2 all for AUD$50 each (about US$30). Next up in the coming months are Jade Empire, KOTOR 2, Starcraft: Ghost, Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, Brothers in Arms, Conker:Live and Reloaded etc.
That's benefit of buying in the middle to end of console's lifespan. Existing AAA titles are cheap, new titles are great as developers have had time to explore and figure out all the consoles features, and even if a new console appeared tomorrow it would be max price again and several great games are at least six months to a year away.