5 of 5 Unbelievable Gaming Phenomenon Wednesday, November 15, 2006
P-Chip from Monroe, CT  

Just when I thought that the original XBox was the ultimate gaming/entertainment system ever, they managed to come out with the 360! In the original XBox, Microsoft managed to take a video game console and turn it into the center of my living room, by bringing out a Media Center Extender. What a brilliant idea. MS knew that you were already hooked on to your home theater, so now you had this really inexpensive way to log into your main PC (a Media Center Edition PC) and see all your TV (plus record, pause it, rewind it, etc.), your pictures, home videos, AND music. Yes, and everything streamed down into your home entertainment system. I found myself viewing my pictures and home videos a lot more than before, since I had such easy access to them. My family is totally addicted to watching TV through the XBox. All the great things that were available in the XBox are available in the 360, but there's a lot more. The support for HD is truly astounding. You have to see it on an HDTV to see what I mean. Microsoft's 10-foot interface is now available in HD with the 360! Everything just looks better. That's a huge thing for an entertainment console. XBox Live was truly one of the more innovative strategies in the history of gaming. Now with the new version of Live, things are just more intuitive, better looking, and more fun. The Live Arcade alone can keep you entertained for hours! And with Microsoft's latest announcement of bringing video content into the Live Marketplace, it's more of a reason to go out and get one. The review of the product itself -- gameplay is fantastic, that's a given. In multiplayer modes, I find that the box takes three players effortlessly (the original one used to just start balking at 3). We haven't tried 4 players, but I'm sure it'll just hum along. HD (720p) games are phenomenal. Of course, you need a TV that supports 1080i/720p. The sound is great on HD games is great as well (with the right AV system). I can't wait to get the HD-DVD accessory when it comes out during the holidays this year, or Q1 of 2007. I like the feel of the new controller (very much like the original S-controller). The fact that it's natively wireless is a dream come true. I also love the fact that I can switch on (or off) my console without having to get up from the couch. Finally, in terms of the looks, it's pretty and looks great in the living room. It's small and easily fits inside my home entertainment console. For a while, I fit in my DVD player and the XBox in the same shelf (it's that small), but later on, I realized, that I didn't really need a DVD player, since the XBox does it all. For some reason, I never used my original XBox as a DVD player (can't think of a reason). I guess I had a DVD player that also plays VHS tapes. But since we don't watch any VHS anymore, that player's all but obsolete. All in all a great buy. I have the advanced system ($399) and bought two additional wireless controllers for it.

7.