Shiny and White Hardware

What a wonderful Thanksgiving filled with family, great food, and my shiny new 360. I admit... I waited in line all night in the parking lot of the Watertown Best Buy. In the pouring rain. I hope that others with the overnight dedication were enduring better weather. It was cold and wet and entirely worth my while.

I hate giving into the megalomaniacal commercialism of the evil Microsoft, but they make a darn good piece of gaming hardware. We spoke in the parking lot of the reasons we were there and the games we were most looking forward to. I'll always be loyal to the innovation and game development of Nintendo. And I'm grateful to Sony for making the Final Fantasy games available on a console after they made the move from Nintendo. But the Xbox has officially replaced the Play Station in my heart. And I think my personal migration will show itself in the wider market. I pray to the vg gods that Sony proves me wrong, but I think the early 360 release, the seductive hopes for a third Halo installment, and the incredible support of Xbox Live have secured Microsoft a commanding presence in the industry. Maybe even domination in the American market. Who can tell?

And despite my LJ title, I want to be clear that I'm not an Xbox nut. I love all consoles equally for what they have to offer. I really, truly am hoping that the PS3 surprises everyone and comes out on equal footing. And of course, I'm hoping that the Revolution will knock everyone's socks off. That internal gyroscopic control still has me smiling in my dreams.

I've strayed from the point. The Xbox 360 is a solid piece of hardware. And if there are bugs, my system hasn't shown a single one. The new Live is shiny and smooth like butter. It took some getting used to, but it's been worth the price of admission. The gamer cards are great, but I hope rep and zone get incorporated into matchmaking so I can keep away from self-proclaimed "underground" gamers and the people with a lousy rep. "Pro" all the way. (If you don't know what I'm talking about check out this write-up.)

Coming soon? Reviews of my three launch titles of choice... Kameo: Elements of Power, Project Gotham Racing 3, and Perfect Dark Zero. And maybe some of the sweet DS games I've been playing.

Gotta love a gamer's world.