ugachaka :: Jacob was here

On the verge of the 360 Elite, I have to say that it makes no sense for Microsoft to come out with this now. It would have been nice if they would have offered this system simultaneously with the launch of Gears, when I got my 360. The people that own a 360 right now are all loyal customers who purchased the system to play launch titles or in eager anticipation of Halo 3. It kind of screws us all over to have the Elite come out now offering a larger hard drive and HDMI output for $70 more. We now lose at least $170 dollars because resell value of the Xbox 360 Premium will probably drop to $300 when used ones flood the market as hardcore fans upgrade to Elites.

I, for one, am waiting and not purchasing one of the Elite systems. It doesn’t seem worth it for me since my HD doesn’t do 1080p anyway, and I can deal with the soft whurr of my 360 running at full speed. Maybe instead of offering a free transfer cable, Microsoft can offer a free trade in program where you can swap a full Premium system for a Elite while only paying $80. Think about it.

Just came off my first bender of playing Gears of War. I can safely say that playing a game on HD is much better than playing on any 480i input. The graphics, physics, and motion are incredible on the Xbox 360, but I have to say that it feels just like a graphically superior Xbox. I haven’t experienced the PS3 graphics yet for a comparison, but the Wii concept controls just feel so much more intuitive and advanced despite being a little graphically lacking. Only further play and game development will really show which direction gaming is going to explode in over the next year–whether graphics or control create the more addictive experience.

I’m sweating, my wrist is tired and I think I have tennis elbow. I finally got a Wii.

I have spent the entire afternoon playing Wii Sports–the decision to include this with the console on Nintendo’s part was probably the smartest move they made in the Wii launch. This game is amazingly fun but simple. Even though the graphics don’t show me sweat beads in HD perfection, I think the sports could captivate me for hours–especially if I had more than one controller.

The controller is also far more intuitive than even I expected. Playing tennis was made difficult by the fact that tilting or twisting the remote would cause a different spin or bounce on the ball. The learning curve to start playing was very low. I taught both my mother and father how to handle the system in just one afternoon.

My next challenge on the console will be Twilight Princess, which I haven’t jumped into yet. I expect great things out of this title.

I am sure that I will find negatives as things progress, and I obtain other consoles, but this Nintendo system is an incredible improvement over the Gamecube. As a fanboy, I can say that I am proud of you Nintendo.

Now back to Wii-ing…