<< The best reason to get a PS2 or Xbox is because they're progressive scan DVD players... most progressive scan players are more than $500. For me, the games would only be an afterthought >>
Don't know where you got that from, but the PS2 DOES NOT have progressive DVD playback. (and I really doubt that Sony would enable this like the rumor says, since their own progressive DVD players cost much more than a PS2) The DVD on a PS2 is not even as good as on cheap regular stand-alone players, so forget about progressive quality on it.
I really don't know if the XBOX will have it, but it would be a nice feature to have.