The way I see it, and someone please correct me if I'm wrong, XBMC is a media centric program in which you can launch and play emulators through. GameEx is a emulator centric program in which you can play media through. They both have their learning curves, pros, and cons. Personally I use Windows Media Center and launch GameEx through WMC. I've also dabbled with XBMC, but I've found that the combination of WMC and GameEx, and a few other add-ins and tweaks, give me exactally the experience I want out of my HTPC. Oh, and you don't have to buy GameEx right out. Download it and give it a whirl. You do lose some functionality (still better than most, if not all, paid programs though), and you have to sit through a nag screen, but you'll have a really good idea of wether it's the right program for you or not.