So let it be written, let it be done. All hail the OBEY, for Microsoft won.

I bought a 360 tonight. I cracked. I wandered into Best Buy simply to pander around the DS titles and maybe check up on any GBA releases. But there they were, a bunch of 360s and the wireless controllers everywhere. I watched a demo of Rockstar’s peace-loving, non-killing Table Tennis and realized the genius of a non-violent well designed game. It screams Zen. It screams mastering a simple task to better understand your Chi. It’s introspection. Ok, fuck it. New hardware rules.

Yep. So I got PGR3 because the demo was really a lot of fun. Table Tennis and FIFA World Cup Germany 2006. I got the wireless USB network plug (and it really is just a plug) and an extra controller. Didn’t get the Core package, that’s lame. Got the charger packs for the wireless. Coolest feature:

With the wireless packs, you turn off the 360 and it charges while staying on. After charged, it shuts down. Seriously, pretty good design. What a feature, it’s pretty non-intuitive but neat, huh?

Table Tennis is very well done. The graphics are way beyond anything my TV has displayed before. It’s pretty easy to say, on par or better than my PC. The gameplay is good. Playing Pong on a next-gen console pretty funny. I guess we’re not progressing as fast as we think we are. I mean, I go out and spend $780 on a console and I play Pong.

Yes, that figure is correct. And to all the Sony nay-sayers … the 360 was $400 and the wireless NIC was $100. So add in your blueray and maybe the PS3 looks, well, damn cheap at $600. However, I will still get the PS3, and the Wii (unless marriage changes all that), we all have our vices.

Here, the charger is still charging after powering off via the controller.

• If you turn off the 360 with the controller, it shuts down but the power supply stays on until the controller is charged
• If you turn off via the power button, it turns off right away and doesn’t charge

Neat-o.

I played that Hexic title that ships with it, very cool that game. Casual. I dunno if I’m going to sign up for Live or not … no one I know has Live … the crowd is pretty young. We’ll see.

Politically, this purchase has been rough because my better half bought me my Xbox 1. So in her mind, I’m trashing her present. It’s been hard to argue but I’m hoping to mod my Xbox1 and turn it into something. Maybe an emu box. Besides, some games still run. Dunno what to say, I played the Xbox1, it was fun, I love her to death but tech gets ousted.

Dunno what to say, bigger and better. The Xbox1 had some major issues, display, lack of real Dolby sound (imho) and wireless controller issues (logitech). I played the hell out of ESPN and Halo 2(ergh), but yeah the Xbox was my least used console. A very … 4×4 experience. Blocky, heavy, meh.

The 360 is clear, crisp. Makes me love my TV again. The sound is great, my receiver lights up with all kinds of fancy: “Hey! I’m doing digital! Hey! I’m doing 5.1!” lights and crap. Obviously, lots of important things are going on … so I clap my hands, jump on the couch and start urinating on my facey-face. It’s fun times for all.

Tomorrow, I come home before the chica, figure out loading MP3s and blast some PGR3 with a custom soundtrack. I dunno all the details about Media Center or connecting to XP, we’ll find out.