XBOX 360 comes to town...
 

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".

Really?! That's surprising that they have a 360 demo box setup. I would think MS would concentrate getting 360's to customers first, then spare a few thousand boxes for demos.

The platypus speaks true.

Arstechnica.com has a handful of articles including one with some photos (not the best mind you as I imagine Wal*Mart won't just let you in with a big, professional setup) taken by a reader at his local Walton establishment.

I imagine that building up hype and getting people interested in what, by all accounts so far, is a pretty lackluster launch, is waaay more important to Microsoft.

I say lackluster because from what I've read of the launch titles and reviews of the system, the games and such from others, I just don't see why this is a must have right out of the gate. I hear Kameo is a nice game and I'm kind of excited about Saints' Row, but am I excited enough to shell out that kind of serious money? Not really. Not right now.

They're wasting launch units on Japan, I don't think a few thousand really is gonna hurt that much. Word on the street is that the shortage is fake, anyway, to increase demand.

I will buy one at launch, although I think the "true" next-gen games won't be out 'til next year. But gaming is my hobby, so I feed it.

Never payed more than $50 for a console... definitely not going to start now.

But a $250 graphics card upgrade...

Tell me that the third week of December when we don't have a single console to sell...

And I guess it's all true too... at my store we're going to be getting our 360 demo unit within two weeks, as well as our long awaited PSP demo unit. I'm not exactly looking forward to it, though; being a mall store we get alot of kids and stragglers who aren't going to buy anything but instead are just there to play the games. We're not an arcade! We sell these things too!

I will be picking one of these bad boys at launch. The whole idea of being shortages, I think thats a bunch of BS, ways to get more pre-orders.

Peace.

V.

Well, we stopped taking preorders nearly a month ago since we ran out of 360's to sell...

Amen to that! The Japanese are sold on Playstation first, and Nintendo second. When I was over there, it took me 30 minutes to find the X-Box section at Yodobashi Camera. They were selling "starter packs" with Halo, Project Gotham Racing, Crimson Skies, 2 controllers and the online kit for around 16,000 yen (about US$170) and they had lots in stock! I don't think the 360 is gonna do much better.

That is true, Mr. Biter, but the Japanese will also be getting the Xbox360 for less dineiros than the Americans. 3.8man to be precise, which works out to be at least 50$ us cheaper, with a better bundle of accessories. also, my trusty Yodobashi points card will be cutting about 4000 yen off of that, and I'm hoping to get a few bucks from the current system to knock off a few more....so let's say 2.x man to upgrade.
Let's just say that your old TV will be put to good use.....
knowing me, you're not too surprised, are you?

Oblivion...I don't care about anything else. It will be mine, and I will become a shut in once more.