"E3: Eww, Eh, Excellent" is a running feature detailing my impressions on the big things, the little things, and everything in between from E3 2007. It should be noted that these impressions are written from my viewpoint as an industry outsider and a simple enthusiast - one who cannot be at E3 in person. This will be posted everywhere I have a (sad, little, unnoticed) presence - trigames.net, Gamespot.com, 1up.com and MySpace.com, and cannot be re-posted elsewhere without my permission.

The Halo 3 Special Edition Xbox 360 Color: "Eww"

There's something eerily familiar about the upcoming Halo 3 Special Edition release of the Xbox 360. It's not that it's an Xbox 360 (no, that'd be too obvious). It's not that the original Xbox was similarly released in a green, Halo-themed SKU. No, there's something about its color - its sickly Ninja-Turtle-green colors.

Ninja Turtles. Hmm.

I've got it:

Xbox 360, Halo and Michelangelo: Springtime Love

Trigames.NET cohort Alfred seems to think it rather looks like an original Gameboy threw up on an Xbox 360.

Happens to the best of us, 'boy.

Either way, the message is clear: the Halo-themed Xbox 360 primed for Halo 3 is all sorts of ugly.

To be fair, this is the type of custom job that would rock as a case mod for a PC. First, take a look at the flat side of the unit. It's got a decently attractive etching job, and I'm a sucker for anything that looks like circuitry. Then, take a look at the top and bottom of the unit by where the ventilation holes are. Those war-torn burn marks are a really nice touch, though I wonder if that's Microsoft's meta little way of saying that its console indeed has heating problems. Ha, ha.

Here's the thing though: I just can't get past that color scheme. All the awesome mod-gaudiness in the world can't make up for a poor color choice, and this creation is enough to make ol' Mikey renounce his orange Ninja Turtle bandana. The green evokes this... "icky" sensation. It's not a vibrant, rich green the likes of which you've seen on tree leaves or grass. It doesn't even use the balanced, even green of the Boston Celtics' uniform. This is a special edition SKU, guys. Make this thing special for your clientele - throw in a little bit of richer metallic-looking paint while you're at it. Give it some sparkle.

To wit, this green isn't exactly offensive - it's just plain ugly. Matched up with this faux-copper/gold whatever-you-want-to-call-it, it looks even uglier. It's certainly not something that goes along well with the rest of your entertainment center, and I'm guessing that this is the biggest aesthetic concern for people looking at videogame consoles.

All the awesome mod-gaudiness in the world can't make up for a poor color choice, and this creation is enough to make ol' Mikey renounce his orange Ninja Turtle bandana. The green evokes this... 'icky' sensation.

This is the type of box that the rabid Halo enthusiast would snatch up, color scheme be damned. So perhaps it's not so important - or it's not ugly enough to be worried about - after all, where the target audience is concerned. But then, wouldn't the true enthusiast want to go all out? HDMI is a definite plus - but why the 20GB hard drive? Wouldn't the enthusiast want that extra 120GB for massive damage and pwnage? Sure, there's a solution. 1up.com's Patrick Klepek sarcastically noted on 1up's E3 Day 1 Summary that the problem could be "fixed" with a $179 accessory. Right. In any case, this is more of a minor nitpick than a real downer.

When all is said and done, put the announcement of this box into context with the rest of Microsoft's press event and you'll come away underwhelmed. Games we already knew about in quite a bit of detail were showcased on stage, with nary a glance to the future. Mentioning Alan Wake and then leaving it as just a stamp on a Powerpoint slide was a major buzz kill, and I'll never forget the shudders that traveled up my spine when the infomercial-creepy Jeff Bell took the stage and said, "I love Golden Axe." The Halo 3 Special Edition Xbox 360 simply topped that all off with a lackluster, "Oh! A new announceme- oh, it's just a spinach-green Xbox" moment.

For all intents and purposes, this isn't about the press conference and Microsoft did have a decent showing at E3. But as far as this green box is concerned? Eww!