This month two new game consoles make their debut, and their differences are apparent before you even take them out of the box. When I received Microsoft (news/quote)'s Xbox in the mail, I looked at the package and thought, can it really be this big? A few days later, when the mailman dropped off Nintendo's GameCube, I wondered, can it really fit inside this little box? The Xbox and the GameCube are the most powerful game consoles to date and they will be introduced within three days of each other (the Xbox on Nov. 15, the GameCube on Nov. 18), yet they represent entirely different strategies. Microsoft, new to the world of console gaming, enters the arena with a roar, while Nintendo, the seasoned veteran, saunters in whistling with the confidence of someone with nothing to prove. With the success of the Sony (news/quote) PlayStation 2, released last year, there will be three consoles on the market. Historically, whenever three consoles have competed, one has died. Yet it is hard to imagine any of these giants falling. Microsoft, which has shown a willingness to lose any amount of money in pursuit of market supremacy, has budgeted $500 million for Xbox advertising over the next 18 months. Nintendo seems equally unbeatable, and with its strong presence among the younger set it is not quite in direct competition with the others, whose main focus is the 16-to-26-year-old market. As for Sony, it has great momentum, great titles and a selection of games that dwarfs everything out for the new consoles.