Xbox 360 musings…

I had mentioned I would go ahead and make some kind of post about this at some point, and I figure that right now is probably as good a time as any.

Anyway, so… I bought an Xbox 360 a few weeks ago.

I knew I was going to get two consoles in this new generation. One of them was definitely going to be a Nintendo Wii. The other was supposedly going to be either an Xbox 360 or a Playstation 3, but really… the Playstation 3 was too damn expensive and didn’t have any games I really wanted. So, an Xbox 360 it was. However, I didn’t expect to get one so soon; I figured I would probably get one some time after the Wii came out. For whatever reason, I ended up changing my mind and bought one off of Newegg.

So far, it’s been a damn nice console. The only frustration I’ve had with it so far has been the fact that I can’t get it to stream media off of my Windows XP machine (which does have Windows Media Player 11 installed), but in the grand scheme of things that’s not been that big of a deal. I also need to get a second controller at some point…

As far as games go, I only have one native 360 game: Gears of War. That has been a real fun game so far, both online and in single-player. Of course, I still need to complete the single-player campaign… heh. Most of the online play has been deathmatch with some of the folks from TNL; my poor standings have shown how much practice I need in gamepad-based shooters. On the other hand, I’ve played coop online once with my friend Josh, and that was fun… even if it was Josh’s second time playing. :-) I also still need to pick up a copy of Blitz: The League, as I was supposed to get that for my bday but my parents bought me the regular Xbox version by mistake…

I also have Spy Hunter: Nowhere to Run for regular Xbox, but haven’t played through it yet. I have Mortal Kombat: Armageddon for Xbox, but it’s not backwards-compatible yet. In addition, I’ve also bought the Xbox Live Arcade games Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved (think Tempest graphics with Robotron: 2084 gameplay), Texas Hold Em, and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. Of the three, UMK3 has definitely gotten more of my time, complete with online play (which is refreshingly lag-free). I might get a few other games off there, but what I have now is holding my interest. (Though, I must admit, I’d love to see Mortal Kombat II hit XBLA…)

So, as it stands now, I definitely don’t regret having picked up the 360. It plays great, and looks nice on my LCD HDTV. :-) I’d say it sounds great, too, but I haven’t installed the TOSLINK digital audio cable I bought to give the 360 Dolby 5.1 on my home theater system. As for the Nintendo Wii, now that it’s out… I’m in a wait mode. The two games that will prompt me to get one aren’t out yet, and those are Metroid Prime 3: Corruption and Mortal Kombat: Armageddon. Before anyone asks: no, I don’t know how MK Armageddon is supposed to play with the Wiimote. I suppose we’ll find out soon enough.

For now, though, I’ll stick with what I’ve got now. It’s certainly fun… heh.