Skip to main content

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!
Labels:

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
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The League of Denial (2013)

The topic of concussions in sports is a dialogue that’s been growing the past number of years.  Do a search on ‘concussions’ and ‘football’ and you’ll get several thousand hits on the controversy that’s surrounded the sport.  It’s a challenging topic as the research is all relatively new, and the topic itself challenges the mentality and philosophy adopted by football loving Americans.  Now, I’m not a fan of football or NFL but when I saw this book lying at the local bookstore, my interest was piqued.  Although I’m not a fan of football, those that know me know that I’m an unabashed fan of prowrestling.  Talks about concussions are also quite a hot topic even within the prowrestling sub-culture.  Earlier this year, one of the hottest wrestlers of the current era, Daniel Bryan, retired early at the age of 34 due to a history of concussion related issues.  Interestingly, he was not permitted to return to the ring due to the disapproval by WWE’s medic...
1 comment
Read more

MAX PAYNE was oh so PAYNEFUL!!!

What a failure this was. An EPIC FAILURE~! And I'll tell you why. This movie had everything going for it which was why it made the failure seem so huge. It had star power. It had a very competent director. The visual style was there. It had a simple storyline... a storyline that was basically fuck-proof because it's so basic. The effects (when there were any) were also pretty great. So where did they go wrong? Pacing. If the first two-thirds of the film was like the last third, I think it would have been a fine film. Not great by any means, but fine. I mean, there was hardly any action in the first hour. It was all talk and build up. Every 5 minutes I was saying to myself, "okay, something cool is gonna happen now". But it never came. I think had they added 2 or 3 big action sequences during that hour, that it would have helped the film breathe and flow better. I mean, didn't they realize that the source material was an action game? Max Payne is ba...
7 comments
Read more