Let the games begin

Although we’ve already spent an inordinate amount of time discussing and debating the forthcoming launch of the Xbox360, I decided to put my Ultimate Spiderman post on hold for a week anyway. Last night, while out and about running errands, I came across an EB Games and, lo and behold, what do I find there but an Xbox360 kiosk? Look for the units, pictured above, to begin infiltrating all manner of retail outlets in the coming weeks leading up to system launch, and most wisely so. It’s one thing seeing pictures posted online, in magazines, and plastered all over ads, but it’s another entirely to get a good solid look at the console and hold the controller.


In case you’d forgotten

The first thing that grabs your attention is that the main unit is still very big. There’s no argument that it’s smaller, curvier, and whiter than the original Xbox, but then again so is a cinder block. I think they’ve been very careful in the images shown to date to try to show the unit by itself without any kind of perspective to give away it’s size. Either that or it’s simply that the slim PS2 and Gamecube have really changed the game in the current generation as far as what you can crank out of a small package. Additionally, the front of the Xbox360 is dominated (by which I mean that I think I saw it growing larger even as I looked at it) by the “Ring of Light” power button. I understand that it’s supposed to be able to convey all sorts of information, such as “The power is on”, “The power is not on”, “The tray is ejected”, and “Your wife is leaving you…no really, turn around. Stop looking at this light and go save your marriage. Nope, too late, she’s gone. Back to Madden?”…but this is ridiculous. Sitting in a crater on the lower half of the front, I guess Microsoft was trying to capture that 1% market share that only likes to turn on a console by jabbing it with a broomstick from across the room. I think my biggest gripe may be the Ipod white bandwagon hop. My Ipod is white, and it sits in my pocket, in my car, or on my desk. That’s all well and good, but you know what isn’t white? My TV, DVD player, VCR, Receiver, Speakers, Xbox, Controllers, Remote controls, or the goddamn wooden entertainment center that house all of this goodness. Thanks for helping me coordinate my living room, Microsoft.

Paradise by the dashboard light

Everything I’ve said so far has been largely aesthetic and fairly unimportant in the grand scheme of things. It’s not the outside of the box that counts, it’s what’s on the inside (just like your momma told you). Since the kiosk did not yet have any games or demos ready, there wasn’t much to do other than navigate the dashboard, which is pretty slick in both form and function. Ditching the drill-down menu system from the original Xbox, the tabbed menus offer you instant access to all sorts of info, options, and programming in full glorious color. Viewed on the hi-def LCD of the kiosk, the vibrancy of the interface made this a setup that you won’t mind navigating, which will be easily done with either the controller or the remote. The media center capabilities right out of the box and expandable hard drive might even be able to satisfy people who in the past have modded their consoles to achieve this same functionality, as long as the codecs are in there to let you watch what you want to. All this being as good as it appears to be, I’ve saved the best for last.

Slick. Just slick

This is the primary reason that I stopped my rushing around and took the time out to check out the unit…the controller. A controller can make or break a console, and although they nearly committed marketplace suicide with the focus-grouped behemoth that shipped with the very first Xboxes, Microsoft recovered nicely with the Controller S. Working off that basic spec, they’ve once again moved the black and white buttons, this time to the shoulders of the controller above the triggers. There is a small *click* when depressed all the way that isn’t quite as obtrusive as the one on the Gamecube controller triggers. Overall, the controller has been downsized a little bit and the shape has been morphed in such a way that it fit my hands perfectly without feeling at all bulky. The analog sticks and triggers have just the right amount of resistance to give you tight control over whatever the game throws at you. The sticks are in the right spots for your thumbs to sit for hours without discomfort. The “Start” and “Select” buttons have also been moved to the top middle to surround the “Finally Functional” button. This X button acts like the “Guide” button on your cable remote, allowing you instant access certain dashboard and profile features which will prove useful to be able to change on the fly in-game, say during a Live match. It also has light quarters ringed around it which can indicate which controller number you’re using to avoid the usual wireless confusion. I think this is at long last the best controller I’ve ever used, and my excitement is compounded by the fact that it’s already been released for PC’s. This wired USB version has the PC drivers necessary, but will also work in the Xbox360 as well, for the same price. I’ve been considering replacing my Thrustmaster Dual Power gamepad for some time now. It’s been good to me, but over the past year and a half I’ve become so used to the Xbox Controller S that I now find it a bit unwieldy and less responsive by comparison. This new controller is my top choice to replace the old, and I can’t wait to pop in Psychonauts to take it for a spin.

There you have it. The first impressions are in, and they are good. It appears that Microsoft was successful with their kiosk implementation (something I have yet to see done for the PSP), because I think the system has jumped up a notch on my Christmas list. This is helped in no small part by the fact that it’s looking more and more like the “backwards compatible for top-selling games” will work out to be backwards compatibility for nearly every Xbox game after all. I will be much happier getting one great launch game like Kameo and then continuing to play the old library while waiting for the second wave of better games to arrive.

So far, the future is bright. Stay tuned….