Xbox 360

[Asher]

Sorry, I'm sure this has been asked before, but why are you paying $299 for this?

Because I like games?

[Elok]

Yes, but I meant the 360 specifically. Plenty of games on the PC, no need to burn several hundred bucks...

[Asher]

The games are different...

What stupid questions, honestly.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Originally posted by Asher
What stupid questions, honestly.

[Nostromo]

I thought it was a rhetorical question, you know, just to tick you off...

So, Asher, I hear geometry wars is really fun, at least a lot of people are raving about it. And it supposedly comes with PGR3. Live arcade sure looks promising. Imagine all the indie titles you'll get there.

[Asher]

I bought Geometry Wars, but I hear you can also somehow unlock it for free (both the "retro" one that was in PGR2 and the "evolved" one in PGR3). And it is great fun.

Hexic is also strangely addictive, but it's also in MSN.

[Asher]

Y'all can check out my Gamer Card online: http://live.xbox.com/member/Moosely

It displays achievements and everything.

[FrostyBoy]

Nice move by Microsoft. Online communities give everything persistant life.

If Sony cannot produce an online community (and I don't think they can), then they are as good as screwed.

The console war will soon be over, and Microsoft WILL take the lead, reaching its ultimate destiny: centralised console machines for every home and office; a console that takes care of everything.

[Nostromo]

One console to rule them all, one console to find them
One console to bring them all and in the darkness bind them
In the land of Redmond where Shadows lie

[Nostromo]

Btw, I don't understand why they banned that video you linked. Man, we're getting too PC for our own good. When I was in Paris, I found out that the street where I was staying, which is called pelican street today, was called pusssy hair street (rue du poil au con) in the Middle ages...

[Asher]

I don't get it either...PC police run wild these days.

As a side note, I'm pleasantly surprised that Classical music is in the PGR3 soundtrack (including Bach, Beethoven and Verdi...in addition to 8 other genres, including Bloc Party, Death Cab for Cutie, Hot Hot Heat, Queens of the Stone Age and The Chemical Brothers).

[Boris Godunov]

My Asher has grown so much. I remember when he used to diss classical music.

[Nostromo]

Pardon me, do you have some Grey Poupon?

[Asher]

I went looking for Call of Duty 2 again today...nowhere to be found. All of the stores seem to be sold out of almost all the games, except for Madden (which they have lots of).

Also, ArsTechnica's Xbox 360 review was posted today: http://arstechnica.com/reviews/hardware/xbox360.ars

The conclusion:

I've been playing on the 360 basically nonstop since I've received the system, taking only short breaks to work and/or sleep. There's a lot to like about the system, from the generational leap in graphical quality to the flexibility and choice that the Marketplace gets you. Downloading and playing Arcade games and demos is something that should have been part of the console experience years ago, and the implementation is almost flawless here. The integration of features using your network connection really is a step forward for console gaming as a whole, if you're not playing with an Internet connection you're missing half of what makes the 360 such a compelling system.

The lack of a truly great killer app is a little unsettling though, and the heat issues need to be addressed quickly. There's no reason a system that gets that hot that quickly should be released without an upgraded cooling solution.

Xbox 360 Core System

Overall the 360 does just about everything right, and feels like a step ahead for console gaming in general. Having the Marketplace to sell independent games and classics is a great feature, and making those games playable on Xbox Live is the icing on the cake. Everything about the interface is well thought out, it's easy to spend hours just ripping CDs and seeing what the system can do other than game. I give the Xbox 360 a 9, but the Core System gets dropped down to a 6 because it's not nearly as compelling.

The bar has been raised in terms of console graphics and features. If this is the first shot in the next generation, Sony and Nintendo are going to have a lot to live up to.

[Asher]

As a side note, both my power brick and my unit don't appear to get too hot -- my PC (Athlon 64 3200+) seems considerably hotter if you place your hand behind it versus behind the Xbox 360.

I'm wondering if what we're seeing is that the yields of some of the chips vary wildly, with some chips being very hot and others not as hot. I don't know how else to explain it -- I remember hearing how hot it was supposedly, so I've been testing it myself. After a few hours of PGR3 it feels warm where the fan blows the air out, but the console is still at best lukewarm to the touch.