New toy alert ...

I defected to the Dark Side ...

I've been a long time PC gaming nut, with my first one being a 486 based machine bought in 1994. That's back when system memory on a PC was smaller than the mp3 tune I'm listening to right now.

I've been disenchanted with the PC gaming world for a little while now. Rampant piracy has led to the best games migrating over to console. There's also the huge variety of hardware out there that gets in the way of what games PCs do get being stable. Stable is being able to run it for half an hour without it dying on you, or just even being able to complete the game. There's a game called Vampire Bloodlines which couldn't be completed out of the box due to bugs. Don't get me started on the Championship Manager/Football Manager series, a lot of those should not have been put on the market in the state they were released in. So many bugs it was ridiculous. Getting through a month of game time was an achievement.

Gone for the Xbox 360 with bundled Forza motorsport plus Final Fantasy XIII :-) Procrastination has helped, is cost me £20 less than if I'd gone for it last week.

Result !

First impressions. Hmm, glad I went for the shop nearer the car park. Thing weighs a tonne. Was having grave concerns that the plastic bag wouldn't survive the distance to the car.

Box contents : Xbox 360 Elite (250GB hard disc). Yellow/White/Red link up lead, power pack, 2 controllers with AA batteries, headset wot plugs into controller, FF XIII front that I have to figure out how to put on, SCART adaptor, network cable. No HDMI lead as expected but I've used my spare to act as hookup. No sense not going for max quality if it's available :-)

Games : Forza 3 and FF XIII. This is the reason I went Xbox in the end, dismissing Playstation 3. Good bundle of games that I'd play. The PS3 had game bundles but costing £60+ more for games I wasn't bothered about. Same goes for the Wii - nice console, shame about the games.

Set up is pretty easy. I looked at the book but there's really no need. You just hook it up and let it go. You could be playing games quite quickly, although a little imagination is needed for the Gamertag, your unique identifier. Emphasis being on "unique".

Not been on it that much yet. I tried Forza first - takes a little getting used to the control system, although it does make sense. Triggers for brake and throttle and a mini-joystick for steering. It's a bit savage and imprecise compared to a car but I don't think I'll be spending £££ on a separate wheel. Don't think I have to :-) I was winning races by the end of the session.

I used hunger as a motivation again ... Friday is bacon sarnie day, plus meetings meant I ate lunch in town at about 3pm. Which meant I wanted to leave dinner until after 8pm as a decent gap from lunch. Which got me just about enough Forza to get me hooked before my tummy attempted to leap up and strangle me. Driving games have definitely improved out of sight since Need For Speed 3 on my early PCs.

Heh heh heh - I feel the tug of Xbox again.

Few things I'll be looking to get for it :

Play & Charge pack. The wireless controllers come with 2x AA batteries (Duracell!). They won't last forever, hence the Play & Charge pack.
Improved network bits. There's currently a long lead hidden away that I'll use to connect up the Xbox. It's not good to have trailing leads across the floor, so I'll be looking into Ethernet Powerplug adaptors (a tip from a mate). Should be cheaper than the wireless Xbox adaptor and without the latency that wireless introduces.
Better sound. I have a widget I'll be picking up tomorrow morning that will hopefully give me a surround sound link.

I feel the Need. The Need. For Speed.

Back to Forza ! Or mebbe the Anime Girls of Final Fantasy.