Xbox 360
I bought an Xbox 360 after about six months had passed from its launch. It seemed to be a decent amount of time to let pass after a ridiculously horrible launch marred by a total lack of hardware on store shelves. Still, the 360 had some very compelling reasons to buy it. So when the opportunity finally presented itself to snare a premium edition along with the newly released Oblivion, I caved.
I have to say, this is an extremely slick console. The overall design is very sleek, and should fit into any respectable home theater setup. Much of this is due to the overall wireless aesthetic the 360 provides, with a wireless adaptor and entirely wireless controllers, there’s no snakepit behind the console, and no danger of someone tripping over a cord and potentially damaging the console itself.
The games so far have been a mixed bag, ranging from the truly amazing (Oblivion, Ghost Recon) to ones I wouldn’t touch with a ten foot pole. The beautiful thing is that if you’re not sure about a game, hit the Xbox Live Marketplace and download the demo and try it before you buy. In addition to the demos, there are movie and game trailers, as well as gamerpics and themes to customize your 360′s dashboard with. The overall experience is expertly handled, and a tightly integrated experience from beginning to end. The result is that you can set up your console to look and play how you want, and friends who come over can make profiles (or cart them over on a memory card) to do the same for them.
I can’t wait to see what the future holds for the platform.