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I got an Xbox 360 (finally). I have been talking about buying one since they were released a few months ago, and I finally stopped talking about it and purchased one. Needless to say, this blog may not be updated frequently in the next few months while I happily waste away a few days of my life sitting in front of the TV. So far, in the 3 days I have owned it, I think I have lost about 10 hours of my life. I love it.

Anyway, here are my initial impressions of the machine.

[GOOD]
Graphics: They are not astronomically better than the original Xbox, but definitely a noticeable improvement. Then again, I am not using a HDTV (although this machine may just convince me to buy one), so my graphics are scaled down significantly.

Demos: This is by far my favorite part of the 360. In the first day, I think I downloaded about 10 demos. And, the demos download in the background so you can play one game while another one downloads. I like it.

Arcade: The arcade section provides access to older games (Street Fighter II, anyone?) that you can download and play on the 360. The 360 also comes pre-loaded with the arcade title Hexic HD, which, is a good time waster. Nice.

Music: When you plug your iPod into the 360 it will recognize all of your music and playlists. This is a great feature and almost justifies the purchase of the system (for me). In addition, the 360 will charge your iPod while it is plugged up. You can also have the 360 pull music from your computer, and it does this almost flawlessly.

Video: You cannot play any video other than WMV and you have to be running Window Media Center. In short, this means that I will not be using this feature in the foreseeable future.

Xbox Live: With the purchase, I got a one month free Gold Membership. This is a smart move by Microsoft. I would never have purchased a membership but after playing around with the Gold Membership for just a few days, I am already considering purchasing a year long subscription. There is something about playing against people across the planet that is just oh so satisfying. And, for those who are in to the arcade titles, they are Xbox Live compatible also.

[BAD]
Music: I really only have two complaints when it comes to the music and both of them are rather small. The first is that the 360 will not recognize iTunes shares. This makes no sense to me. If it can recognize iPod songs and playlists, then I know it can recognize iTunes shares, songs, and playlists. This is a non-issue for me as I just plug my iPod into the machine, but it just annoys me. And yes, I understand Microsoft’s position as they want people to use Windows, but that does not mean I have to like it.

Second, the control scheme on the 360 is not friendly for larger music collections. You can sort by genre, song, artist, album or playlist, but you can only sort by one at a time. So if you have a collection of, oh, 1,000 artists, finding someone whose name starts with an M can be quite time consuming. But again, this is a non-issue for me as I only keep about 500 on my iPod at any given time anyway.

Noise: The 360 is loud. If you have your TV on a normal to low volume level, and have your 360 sitting out in the open, chances are you can hear the 360 in the background. To eliminate some of the noise, I had to place mine inside of the TV stand and keep the door shut which is not a good thing because the machine gets pretty toasty.

Price: Not the price of the system, but the price of the games. I actually think the price of the system is reasonable, albeit a bit high, for what you get. However, having 360 games cost $10 more than their Xbox, Gamecube, or PS2 counterparts even though the game is the exact same, is simply absurd. Thank goodness for online gems such as Gameznflix.com.

Well that is it. I just had to chime in real quick and let everyone know my good news. But now, it is time for me to get back on the sticks and go KO someone in Fight Night 3. If you got game, look me up online. Adios.