I think the GameCube was severely underrated, the PS2 (although I'm not a very big fan of the games on it) deserved what it had (and I suppose still has) going for it, but the Xbox was fair at best.
I actually like Microsoft as a company (most people in Seattle do), but the Xbox quite simply suffered from a lack of games. The only games I have for it that aren't either racers or football is the Halos, and to be completely honest, the Halo franchise isn't as great as it's cracked up to be. That said though, I'm glad Microsoft entered the console race, because whether you like them or not, you have to admit that they changed a lot about how consoles were made. Look at the 360, now that's a solid console, and it doesn't suffer from the lack of games the original did.
Also, whoever said the GameCube was a purple purse, mine's black, and it looks much, much better than either my PS2 or Xbox does (or my Dreamcast for that matter).







