Xbox 360 Impressions

So what can I say, other than I'm really liking my Xbox 360. Aside from the false advertising mentioned below, the console is great. Aesthetically it looks very nice and I love the Wireless Controller. The Dashboard is very sleek and intuitive with customizable options in the form of Themes [think Desktop Wallpapers, but one per Blade (think tabs)]. What I also really like is how the Controller can be used like a remote control.

You can press and hold the Xbox Guide button to turn on your console. If you press the Guide button again at any point, even in game, it'll bring up the Guide, which lets you customize your Profile (you can have multiple Profiles on a console to separate save games, etc.), check your wireless controller's battery charge, track your active downloads from the Xbox Live Marketplace, etc. If you press and hold the Guide button for over 3 seconds, it'll bring up the option to shut down your console or just your controller.

Aside from the Guide button, the Xbox 360 Controller is a bit different from the Xbox's Controller S. Microsoft has done away with the White and Black buttons and instead has added a left and right bumper directly above the left and right triggers. They've also repositioned the Back and Start buttons. I thought these few changes would take a bit for me to get used to, however so far I haven't had a problem. I'm sure when I'm playing a backward compatible game, like Halo 2, I'll be pressing the wrong place to cycle through my Grenades, but I imagine I'll compensate quickly enough.

The Xbox 360 also has a 20 GB Hard Drive, and the console is really set up to be turned into a media unit as well as for games. So much so in fact that I spent the first half week just downloading trailers and demos from the Xbox Live Marketplace instead of playing any games!

My only gripe with the hardware is the DVD drive, or more specifically, the noise of it. It's loud. It can be very loud. I did some poking around the net yesterday, and found that there are two different manufacturers for the Xbox 360 DVD drive, Hitachi and Samsung. Basically, the only difference between the two seems to be that the Samsung one is extremely quieter, and guess what, I have the Hitachi model. So long as it functions though and the unit doesn't crap out, that's the main thing. You can find out more details here.

I also bought the Play and Charge Kit a few days ago, figuring since I'll be wracking up a lot of cash in replacement batteries for the Controller over the years, this'd be the more economical way. One thing to note about the Play and Charge Kit: If you have you're Wireless Controller connected with the USB cable, it disables the auto-off feature under System settings. Not a big deal of course, but something to take note of.

The Xbox 360 Holiday Bundle I purchased comes with three games, Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter, Xbox Live Arcade Unplugged Volume 1, and Kameo: Elements of Power. I've tried to get into Ghost Recon, I really have, and though the game looks and sounds great and has such an excellent concept, I find the Controller simply doesn't have enough buttons for smooth gameplay with the precision that's needed in this tactical shooter. Basically if I want to grab a Smoke Grenade, for example, I need to press and hold one button to bring up a list of weapons, then I need to use the D-Pad to cycle through and select Grenades. Next I need to hold another button down and then cycle through to Smoke Grenades. Finally, I have to charge it up with the Right Trigger and toss. Too tedious for my tastes. Most likely I'll be selling Ghost Recon after the 30 days.

Xbox Live Arcade Unplugged Volume 1 is a lot of fun, especially Texas Hold'em. I've played so much of that, it isn't funny. Hexic HD, which comes pre-installed on the HDD, is also a great addictive puzzle game.

Kameo: Elements of Power, is the best of the lot though. While not perfect, it is a very enjoyable Disney-ish fantasy adventure with stunning visuals, and excellent score, and retro adventure gameplay. Honestly, it feels like I'm playing a classic SNES game. I mean, it has classic style boss battles for crying out loud; how much fun is that!

To sum it all up, Xbox 360 = Yes. The console is much more polished and stream-lined over the Xbox in just about every respect. 2007 is also looking like a great year for Xbox 360 games. With Mass Effect and BioShock coming out during the first half, and Halo 3 more towards the end of the year, there'll be a lot of gaming goodness with the 360.