The time has come for me to write the inevitable pre-360 launch post.
My console is preordered, and with a little luck I'll be playing it on the 2nd of December when it launches in the UK. Essential launch day purchases at this stage are Gotham 3, Kameo, Condemned, a VGA cable, and the wireless adaptor. I'm still on the fence about Perfect Dark Zero and I don't think Dead or Alive 4 is a UK launch title.
I'm quite excited about the 360 launch. I've read quite a few negative things online, but on the whole the gaming populace seem to share my enthusiasm. There are inevitably people crying "doooooom" over the shocking revelations that Gotham 3 doesn't actually run in 720p, and that it only runs at 30fps, but I don't think I could care less. As long as it's fun to play, looks better than the current crop of titles, and has a decent online mode I can enjoy with my friends and family, then I'm happy. The idea of online enabled version of Gauntlet and other classic distractions for roughly £3 each is one that I think a lot of people will enjoy, and something which should extend the appeal of the console beyond the hardcore gaming masses. Microsoft just need to get the word out, and I suspect that this is their current plan; supply enough consoles to get the hardcore talking about the machine, boost the profile of the machine to generate demand from the more casual gamers, and then supply enough to fill that demand. It's a dangerous game, but one that might just work.
I also have high hopes for the 360's future. Microsoft have treated the original Xbox as an expensive research project. They've taken careful notice of what people want to be able to do online, how much people are willing to pay for additional content, what games people like, and even what people are doing with the system using hardware modifications. The result: a console which sports most of the media functions people would like (and I have a feeling it will have more later, ie video), features the best online integration of any console in history, has a fantastic infrastructure defined to enable online purchasing of content and games, and is more powerful and far more aesthetically pleasing than its bulkier parent or anything else on the market at this time. On paper, Microsoft have listened to every complaint about the current generation of Xbox, and put things right.
There are still a frightening number of people who are "waiting for the PS3 – that'll be better, because it's more powerful and it's made by Sony". This amazes me. How Sony have managed to become utterly synonymous with casual gaming is totally beyond me. I do think that Microsoft will gain ground over the next twelve months and that this time next year the 360 could be such a tempting prospect that the Sony's PS3 will be suffering. I don't want the PS3 to fail, and I'm not a Microsoft fanboy, I simply feel that Sony have some misguided intentions for the PS3, and those intentions could end up being bad for both the consumer, and Sony themselves.
Time will tell. Hopefully, I'll be playing with my 360 in a couple of weeks time, and I'll be sure to update the site with my thoughts throughout the day. If I can tear myself away from Gauntlet.
