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Finally, the Xbox 360!!

So as I mentioned in a previous post, I received an Xbox 360 for Christmas from my dad. A great present it was! I've had 3 weeks to enjoy it so I guess I can give you my impressions of it now.

First the controller. In truth, I haven't felt a controller this comfortable in my gaming life before. As a child who grew up on the 8-bit generation, with just a directional pad and 2 buttons, there was quite a learning curve getting used to using two analog sticks at the same time. You might say, "Hey Lam, how bout the PS2? You have that machine, and that has analog sticks". True, but of the twenty or so games I have for that, all of them used either only 1 analog stick, or allowed the option to switch on to the directional pad. Using 2 sticks at the same time was at first just uncomfortable. This made for all sorts of trouble as I was playing Gears of War. Luckily for me, I had computer controlled teammates that watched my back.

I love the Media Center capabilities of the machine. Setting the machine up on our network at first was cumbersome, especially syncing it to my computer. I had to read several forums and threads upon threads to resolve some of the issues that I had had. After 3-4 hours of reading, I finally got the thing to work, and now all those worries are away. After updating the firmware to the latest version, the Xbox 360 was able to play all my movies (includign DIVX and WMV formats). No longer do I have to burn movies to a disc and play it on the DVD-player. The Xbox saves me a step or two.

Another feature that I wouldn't have thought of loving was the ability to basically customize the music soundtrack while you play your games. At first I brushed it off, but later on tried it while playing GoW, and loved it. I was able to select any music sitting on my PC and have that play instead of the generic soundtrack that was in the game. If you're one that feels music can be atmospheric, it can make so much of a difference in adding an intensity and urgency.

Anyhow, those are the only thoughts that come to mind right now. If you have the Xbox 360, please feel free to share what you love or don't about it. Later geeks!
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Comments

The Cheap-Arse Film Critic said…
It's a fine system with some great features. I've got that, the PS3 and the Wii, and I'm hoping to get all three online soon.
January 15, 2009 at 5:33 PM
The Lam said…
Damn, Technofear loves his gaming. Tell me, which do you prefer of PS3 and Xbox 360?
January 15, 2009 at 6:51 PM
Annoymous said…
Yes, as always i prefer ps3 to Xbox. But nowadays both seem on par
January 15, 2009 at 11:11 PM
Mike said…
Glad you are lovin it. Of all the consoles i own, and i do own every single one...the 360 is my fave. The streaming movies/music from your pc is pretty awesome (though my ps3 does it wirelessly). Couple that with bit torrent and you'll never rent anything again.
January 16, 2009 at 1:03 PM
Kevin said…
Wow- you have some pretty hard-core gamers reading your blog (apparently, ones with deep pockets too :P)

Personally, I would totally trade my PS3 and my Wii for a 360.
January 16, 2009 at 2:02 PM
Kev Brown said…
I don't know what I would do without my beautiful XBox 360!
January 17, 2009 at 4:46 PM
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