Well, supposedly, Microsoft is shipping out Xbox 360's today. So I hope if this is TRUE that I'm next in line at my local Gamestop to get one. I have no clue how many people are ahead of me on the list, but I will be really disappointed if they ship more and I STILL don't get one. Microsoft said something about how they will be shipping 360's each week. I have no idea if this is fact or rumor because I don't recall the source of this information, just that I read it somewhere on the Internet. Which isn't exactly the most reliable source. But I will be totally stoked if I get mine today. So here's to hoping that I get my 360! *crosses fingers*

Well, the Xbox 360 has had a rocky start. But looking back over the years, I can't think of a single console launch that had a smooth release, probably not since the days of NES and SNES lol. People make too big a deal out of things nowadays and complain VERY loudly and vocally. And with the advent of the Internet, it has only magnified this problem, as there are many outlets to spread your word. Now, I'm not saying that nobody should complain about the 360 launch. I complain about it myself (see previous blog entries). But PS2 had shortage problems, Dreamcast had issues with games not working, etc. So this is really in fact nothing new. We just live in an even faster paced society now (if that is possible) and everyone must have everything perfect RIGHT NOW. In a perfect world, this would be great, but we must accept reality for what it is. So, I will continue to wait patiently for my 360 preorder to arrive in the next big batch of shipments and hope that all goes well. And if it doesn't, it's nothing that I haven't experienced before with other console releases. That's a part of being an "early-adopter". You have to be prepared to take a few lumps as any new technology is bound to have some flaws of some sort when it is released. Maybe one day we'll see an actual smooth launch of a console (PS3 or Revolution?). Just maybe. If only we lived in a perfect world.

Leave it to Microsoft to inflate artificially the demand and hype surrounding the Xbox 360. A company with their kind of resources should have been able to easily meet demand on launch day. It's all a publicity stunt and gimmick for the "gimme now!" generation. People are going nuts trying to get one and Microsoft could have easily made it so that every household had one. But that's the way they operate I guess. It all comes down to the bottom line; the almighty dollar. And if they can think of a way to increase the demand for the product, then they'll make more money once they make the REAL shipment of Xbox 360's. Kudos to their marketing department. Their idea was a smashing success, unfortunately. In other news, there have been reports about defective Xbox 360 units. Apparently it's not widespread, but it is true. I contacted my local Gamestop to see if they had any returns on defective units and they said they had one returned so far out of their initial shipment. I have no idea how many units they got in on launch day. But I live in a fairly small city and this is a fairly small Gamestop, so ONE defective unit from that store is one TOO MANY IMHO. But ah, what can a guy do? I guess I'll just purchase my preorder if it ever shows up and hope and pray I don't have any issues. The other news is that many Xbox 1 games are NOT backwards compatible. This is a disgrace. I was merrily looking forward to replacing my old clunker Xbox 1 with a shiny new 360, but it looks like for the time being I'm gonna have to keep them both hooked up to my poor TV that looks like its on life support as it is with my PS2 and Gamecube in addition to the Xbox. So, that will be interesting. According to the word on the street, MS is going to issue some sort of patch or update to customers in batches to get Xbox 1 games to run correctly on the system, so all hope is not lost, its just going to take some time. I just wish they got it right the FIRST time. *sigh*

I KNEW Quake 4 for the Xbox 360 wouldn't be better than the PC version, and it IS downright worse, just like I predicted! My local Gamestop wouldn't stop preaching about how superior the 360 version would be and acted like I was an idiot when I changed my mind about purchasing the PC version instead of the 360 version. But Gamespot has posted their official review of Quake 4 on the 360 and it got a 6.6 out of 10! Compared to their 8 out of 10 review for the PC. And the reason being was PERFORMANCE ISSUES! Yes, that's right, the 360 version suffers from terrible frame rate among other things! So call me an idiot all you want, I at least have the good version. The Gamestop crowd can play their crap 360 version all they want. In other knews concerning the 360 and FPS games; Perfect Dark Zero got rave reviews. Which is also another thing I predicted that came true. I knew that a FPS built from the ground up for the 360 instead of a lame PC port would be far superior, and it is. 9 out of 10 on Gamespot. So when I FINALLY get my Xbox 360, I'll be playing me some Perfect Dark Zero! I'm on the waiting list because I reserved a 360 and they didn't get enough in. *sigh* Oh well, I'm patient. Well, no I'm not, but I guess I have no choice in the matter. lol. But anyway, I'm smarter than Gamestop! hehe!

I just bought Quake 4 for the PC. My local Gamestop had talked me into reserving it for the Xbox 360 because it was supposed to run best on the console, but I changed my mind. So far, I have been playing this game on my PC and it plays perfect. I do not know WHY people will think that it will be better on the 360. In fact, I think it would be downright worse. Let's analyze this scenario. On the PC we have a Map Editor so you and other people can play new maps. There are mod makers changing the way you can play the game entirely. A monitor has higher resolution than a TV screen. And finally, you can use a mouse and keyboard instead of a damn console controller to aim and shoot. That's the way a FPS should be played. So I call BS on this nonsense that Quake 4 is going to be magically "better" on the Xbox 360. Now, before you call me a hater, I actually have an Xbox 360 on reserve, but if you want a FPS for the 360, get one MADE for it like Perfect Dark Zero, not some lame port of Quake 4 which is vastly superior to have on the PC for reasons mentioned above.