Lay down another check beside the xbox. You ask why? Cuz its f'n awesome. Its the first system ive ever had that no matter how many times i go back to it, i still have a smile on my face and think, wow, it can do that too.
Now, im not endorsing pirating at all, But the first step would be getting a mod chip. Then, upgrade the hd. 160gig sounds nice. Then, network that sucker to your PC. Now you can load in all the latest and greatest xbox software. All the games you *own*, can also be copied to the HD of the xbox. Each game consumes about 700mb-3gig. So you can hold quite a few games, and be ready to see those load times you've remebered from N64. It doesnt end there, got movies on your computer or dvds or mp3's you like to backup? Throw them on there too, this is a full entertainment system.
Not to mention emulators, they have xbox emu's for just about every pre-dreamcast system out there, PS1, snes, genesis, mame, sega master system, etc etc etc. And you can easily get roms (for games you own) off the net.
Here's a quick price break down as well. (in canadian funds, hit
www.xe.com to change to us or whatever)
xbox - $239.99
160gigHD - $139-159
Modchip + install - $50-70
Grand total = ~430bucks
In my mind, the only thing PS2 is holding onto is gran turismo 4.
But anyways, i think i could jammer on about how great xbox is for years.
For more resources on modding xbox's check out
www.xbox-scene.com