I didn't think that it was a prank for three reasons.
1) It looked like a box, but the PS2 was shaped like a rectangular box. The PS3 is a 12% bigger curvy box. So what?
2) I got over the 'PlayStation' name so 'box' didn't really phase me. Of course, I'm preferential towards boxes anyway.
3) The controller wasn't that bad, and PS2 controllers left a lot to be desired too. The Xbox surely didn't compete with the craptasticness of the CD-I or Jaguar controllers.
The Xbox wasn't too bad for a first stab at a game console, and the online support easily surpassed any other offerings.
Halo would have been a better third person game than a FPS.
Absolutely stunning comment. You're right, Halo was shit, and the millions of sales were all due to dumb US NASCAR fans who didn't know any better.