360 Degrees Of Separation

by Wootini

Sorry I haven't posted in a while... been stuck in Liberty City, and damn if Salvatore isn't a complete nag. I should let the cops have him... Anyway, I just wanted to share a few thoughts on the recently released Xbox 360. Do I have one? No. Do I want one? Eh, maybe.

It's always a risk buying any kind of console at launch. There's usually at least a few technical glitches here and there that are fixed up in the next hardware iteration. But the real problem is lack of software. I had that same problem with the PSP. I only had like, two good games to play for the longest time. It's still not that great, but it's getting better. (It also helps when GTA is a total time suck) The only Xbox 360 launch game I'm even remotely interested in is Condemned, but since I've heard it's not really that long and costs $60, I'm in no rush. I'll wait a while for the hardware to get a discount or two and pick up Condemned in the bargain bin.

The Xbox 360 isn't the technological leap forward Microsoft would like us to believe, but I have no doubt that next year, developers will really learn how to take advantage of the hardware and make some seriously kick-ass games. And next year, when those kick-ass games come out, I'll pick up a 360 and a few of them. Especially since you can almost guarantee that Microsoft will drop the price on or around the launch of the PS3. So instead of dropping $400 on a PS3, I can drop $250 or whatever on the 360 instead. It's all the same to me. And when the PS3 drops some, I'll get that, too. I've got no favorites.

'Course, I can really only say all this because The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion was pushed back to release early next year. If that was part of the launch lineup, I might actually be tempted. I bought an Xbox just to play Morrowind, and I expect I'm going to buy a 360 to play Oblivion. Sad, but true. So Bethesda, if you could hold off on releasing the game until the hardware has a price drop, I'd really appreciate it!