irateplatypus

my local wal-mart has an xbox 360 setup for demo play. had a chance to experience it this afternoon. it was running (what seemed like) a fully-loaded demo disc, but i only saw Kameo and Call of Duty 2.

Impressions:

The controller felt solid and comfortable. a big improvement over their last launch controller and a little better than their "S" variant.

The games were all sharp looking and a marked step up from the current gen, though not mind-blowing. those who have seen a mid/high end pc running half-life 2 or farcry won't be overwhelmed... it's about on that level. i guess the biggest difference will come playing it in HD on a 50' inch screen w/surround sound. the wal-mart display was nice, but it can only do so much.

load times seem much-improved over past-gen launch titles.

from what small amount of time i spent w/each game, they both seemed like solid titles but not killer apps.

Bottomline:

it's about what i expected. i'm not too excited about it, but i'm sure there will be plenty of people who are. i'll wait till a must-have title is released or a price reduction before i think about getting one. same game-types, same controller, better eye-candy, more ways for MS to get in your wallet (downloadable games/content). cool, but also "meh".

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If you will not fight when your victory will be sure and not too costly, you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance for survival. There may even be a worse case. You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves.

~ Winston Churchill