So, any of you cats going to buy the new XBOX?

[Dave_G]

Looks like the damn thing is $400.00.

Yow!

Not for me, but it lookls cool, and plays dvd's, cd's, etc.

Wonder if it will do dishes and laundry?

Dave

[Dusty Chalk]

L, no! People would be stabbing me in the back to get it. I value my back.

[Troy]

$400 just for the box? What a load.

Wait at least a year or so until the good, well developed games hit the market.

[Woochifer]

Saw the line last night around Best Buy when I was driving past there at 11pm. The Xbox 360 has obviously generated a lot of buzz, but $400?! Ouch! You can buy the core system for $300, but it comes with no hard drive, no HD connections, AND it cannot play any of the original Xbox games. I own a PS2 and have no plans to switch over to the Xbox platform. For several reasons, waiting for the PS3 is a far more attractive option IMO.

From what I've read about the Xbox 360, it seems like a cool and powerful gaming system, but in true Microsoft fashion, it has some bewilderingly idiotic glitches that just make you scratch your head. For example, a lot of the features require an internet connection, but the Xbox will only accept broadband connections. Also, in order to play games written for the original Xbox on a Xbox 360 console, you have to buy the $400 version and download an emulation profile for each original Xbox game you want to play on a Xbox 360. Problem here? Yup, you need a broadband connection in order to download that profile! Plus, only 200 of those emulation profiles are currently available, which leaves 2/3 of the games written for the Xbox unplayable on any Xbox 360. And for all of the emphasis that Microsoft has put into the HD resolution, the Xbox 360 doesn't even include any digital video outputs.

Excuse my conspiratorial tone, but it seems like the Xbox 360 is pretty much Microsoft trying to extend its monopoly into the living room by throwing a bunch of half-baked networking and media center features into the box. They've already included "media extensions" on the Xbox 360 that allow you to tap into a PC running Windows Media Center, and you can organize digital media onto the console hard drive. It can do all that, yet if you don't have a broadband connection at home (or can only afford the $300 core system), you can't play any of the old Xbox games! Seems that Microsoft's priority has nothing to do with creating the most seamless gaming experience possible, and more to do with interjecting themselves into all of your other home entertainment using the Xbox 360 as the battering ram -- just as they have used their Windows monopoly to muscle in on every major aspect of the PC world.

For all of the flak that Sony gets on this board, at least they've consistently gotten things right with the Playstation. From what I've been reading, the Playstation 3 will be backwards compatible with all previous PSX and PS2 games OUT OF THE BOX, plus it will play Blu-ray discs, have built-in SACD playback, output games in 1080p resolution, and include HDMI outputs. Disregarding the computing power advantage that the PS3 will supposedly have, it just seems like the PS3 is designed to be a well thought out gaming console with some media center features, whereas the Xbox 360 has a broader agenda in mind that compromises some of the basic functionality of the unit. We'll see how this all plays out when the PS3 comes out in the spring.

[ForeverAutumn]

Remember PONG ? You just plugged it into your TV and were entertained for hours on end. Large paddle, small paddle, three speeds. That was all we needed.

Oh, the good old days when video games were simple and bubble gum was two pieces for a penny.

Sigh.

[GMichael]

Remember PONG ? You just plugged it into your TV and were entertained for hours on end. Large paddle, small paddle, three speeds. That was all we needed.

Oh, the good old days when video games were simple and bubble gum was two pieces for a penny.

Sigh.

Don't forget the hocky. Pong had a hocky setting.
And bubble gum came with baseball cards. You could chip a tooth on that gum. The NEW bubble Yum brand was so much softer and had more sugar....

[Dave_G]

I have a Gamecube, PS2, DS, and my son has the PSP. Oh, and N64.

I love my gamecube, and Carter loves it too. The games are fun for kids and parents too and are graphically pretty damn good.

The PS2 often stumbles with booting up games, kind of a hassle. The 'cube is the opposite.

Never owned the XBOX product, tho if I could find one brand new for 99 dollars I would fetch one becasue Trev likes Halo.

But Microsoft has the dream of having the "digital" living room w/ the XBOX 360 as the heart of the system.

We shall see.

Dave

[Troy]

I liked the "Wacky Packages" cards. And the "Odd Rod" cards too. I threw the gum away.

"Pong" rocked. I must have spent $50 worth of quarters plaing it at the (recently bulldozed) bowling alley when I was 14. But you know what? "Grand Theft Auto" and "Gran Tourismo 4" on PS2 kicks it's butt.

[3-LockBox]

Maybe not ever...I like PS2, but it was my son's money, and he wanted the original XBOX ($149US). Its ah'ight. But I'm with Wooch, I'm not owning any system that requires me to jump through my ass to operate it. I'll wait, like I do everything else, and get it at 1/3 of its debut price. (we still had to drop another $29 for an adapter to veiw DVDs with it )

Bill Gates is a subversive little prick sometimes ain't he?

PS3 will be backwards compatible with every game they've sold under the PS moniker - cool. Blue-ray? What medium out there uses blue-book laser? I've read about blue-book laser, but I didn't know it ever came to fruision, considering the proliferation of DVD.

hhmmm

[ForeverAutumn]

I'm not owning any system that requires me to jump through my ass to operate it.

I'd like to see that. That would be entertaining.

[Dusty Chalk]

I remember Wacky Packages, I used to collect them, too. I would throw the cardboard that came with the stickers out, and my friends would say, "what cardboard? Do you mean the gum?" and I would say, "what gum? Do you mean the cardboard?"

I'd like to see that. That would be entertaining.

I can't even picture it. And I'm trying not to.

[N. Abstentia]

We had a little 'all night party' with the 360 this morning

http://chuckamuck.com/photos/360

[Dave_G]

Damn, dood, nice rig.

Paradigm product is nice.

Dave

[L.J.]

I gotta chance to see the 360 for the first time today at BB. WOW, the graphics were amazing. Not for me though. I already have too much invested in playstation and I'm not trying to build my list of titles with another console. Besides I already have a Nintendo, Dreamcast, Gamecube, PS1 and PS2, phew! I do plan on getting a PS3 though. I have about 30 PS2 games and 50 PS1 games so this will be a nice amount of games to still make use of. If anything my kid will enjoy it. I mostly only play sports games now.

It's amazing how far we've gone. I remember playing Frogger and Pacman on Atari as a kid. Now it takes a week to get the controls down on a new game. On the up side, the graphics on most of this new stuff will blow you away. I bet Madden 06 on the 360 looks amazing.

[Dave_G]

Ya,

When technology REALLY gets into video games, that will be something else.

Like going from AM radio shows to HDTV.

Dave

[3-LockBox]

I liked the "Wacky Packages" cards. And the "Odd Rod" cards too. I threw the gum away.

"Pong" rocked. I must have spent $50 worth of quarters plaing it at the (recently bulldozed) bowling alley when I was 14. But you know what? "Grand Theft Auto" and "Gran Tourismo 4" on PS2 kicks it's butt.

All my friends were nuts about Wacky Packages (most of them were so gross)
I ate the gum though...not all that bad...just needed to 'work it' a while.