Ok, so I finally decided to get a 360...Being a I.T. techy geek I've been cursing the name Microsoft since the days of the aweful bug-prone 2000 and Mellienium editions. However I think its time for us to bite the bullet, and just admit theres a reason Microsoft is one of the biggest compaines in the world and why Bill Gates is the richest man on this planet.
I've been putting off getting a 360 for 2 reasons, 1) I had to get a premium pack for the hard drive and wireless controller, and 2) I wansn't 100% happy with the current selction of games. But I finally decided it was time to step into the new generation, and the Wii is still out of stock in my area, so my 360 will keep me entertained untill Ninty get their stocks back up.
I did like the first Xbox. It had many great features, like (Obviously) Custom Soundtracks, and after they finally released the S-Type controller (And that safety thing that got used quite alot....>.>) I became a huge fan of that... But heres the reason why Microsoft are number one, because they could of just updated the hardware and left it as that. Afterall, the PS3 would of still had a year and half before release. But they didn't. As we all saw with the Dreamcast, just becase a concole comes out before it's compertition doesn't win a console war.
The 360 supports multiple users, in such a claver way. Create a profile on the HDD, and it'll load up your personal details for every game you put in the drive. Things like if you like your Y-Axis inverted for shooters, the games difficulty... You can connect it to a PC simply by ethernet, instatnly sharing its music and pictures you can set as a background for your 'dashboard'. You can check your hotmail messages.It even connects up to my Media Centre from my PC to record live TV... Although I'm still waiting for support for AVI files so that I can watcg my anime on my 360...
But like the safety connector from the old XBox controllers theres a couple of additional features frown in for convienance. Most orientating around the Xbox 'Guide' button located smack in the middle of the controller. Maybe a little close to the start button, but I'm not going to moan about a little thing like that.Firstly, press it any point while playing a game to bring up your gamer tag, personal options, and customer soundtracks. Select if you want to find music from your HDD, linked computer or even a USB storage device. The idea of being able to use customer soundtracks at ANYTIME in ANY GAME is on of the main points for me personally. Even better, unlike XBox of old, the music will play continueusly. The other use of the Guide button, which is every gamers dream.... The ability to tuen off the console with out even getting up. Found out yesterday too if you hold the guide button it also turns the console on! Good 'ol Microsoft. Now I NEVER thought I'd say that...
All this and I haven't even mentioned the graphics... I heard some people saying that it wasn't much of an improvement over the first XB, but they lie. Play Call Of Duty 3, SmackDown Vs. Raw or Fifa 07 on either Ps2 or Xbox then on the 360. Even without a HD TV, the 360 is sharper, more detailed on textures and after playing Saints Row you notice the raw polygon processing power is trumendous.
All in all I kind of regret not getting a 360 sooner. It's going to be interesting to see what aditional features Sony offer with the PS3. We know its going to PSP like...but what 'convinent' features will it include? Will we be able to turn the PS3 off by the controller? Will the tilt function of the controller be properly introduced to the games or is it just a cheap way of stealing Nintendo's thunder? Is Halo going to be able to vend off the likes of Heavenly Blade and Devil May Cry 4? Are developers actually going to make full use of the Wii?
What I do know is...Its going to be one hell of a year for the game industry.
