I am a person who doesn't want to pay to get XBox Live or the hardrive for the PS2 to play it online. I don't see the point. For me, if I want a game to play online, I will use my PC. The consoles are always for just me to sit and play by myself or with one friend.
I have had really horrible problems with my PS2 and Xbox. The Xbox won't read brand new discs sometimes and the only game that doesnt freeze on the system is Halo2 (thank god!). The PS2, I got the day it came out, and it was dead the day after. My 2nd one lasted 6 months, then it died. Thank god for warranties, because I am on #4 with the PS2, and the one I have now is taking longer and longer to read discs and may just go soon. I won't be getting another. I haven't heard any big problems with reliability on the Gamecube, and alot of the games look pretty cool (like all the Mario games).