Fun For The Whole Dang Family!

A guy I used to talk to a lot over the internet used this phrase to promote the online community we were a part of. It's also the best predicate I can give to my new Xbox 360.

I've never had this much fun with a videogame system. Normally games make the system. I remember getting the PS2 and I had one game with it at that time, Gran Turismo 3. Of course, after a few days I got a little bored of playing it all day, and I left my PS2 for what it was for the rest of the day, sometimes even for a few days on end. When there were periods with no fun games to buy and enjoy (something that happens often with the GameCube) my consoles turn into very expensive paperweights. The 360, however, has been on for hours and hours and I'm still not bored with it. The system makes the system.

I got one game with the console when I picked it up last Friday. The materialistic devil on my shoulder told me that it probably wouldn't be enough to saturate my gaming needs. Apart from the PS2 I got every system with more games, and experience has taught me that those decisions were very good moves. I have a relatively short attention span and need diversity to keep me interested. However, I ignored the little devil and went with Project Gotham Racing 3 alone. And now it seems the days of getting bored with new and expensive toys due to a lack of things to play on it are finally over. The 360 killed my materialistic needs, my short attention span and my tendency to give up on things when they don't work out. Ingredients? Xbox Live Arcade and Achievement Points.

I don't play PGR3 all the time. I play it in short bursts, but when I stop playing I know there are Arcade Games waiting for me. It was a good choice to go with Bejeweled as that game has never stopped to appeal to me. It's a perfect way to kill time and of course, to get those darn points.

You can moan all you want about those achievement points, and how they kill gaming. For me they have revitalized it. I'm no good at Geometry Wars. In fact, probably my grandma even would beat me, two fingers in the nose. However, the points I can earn encourage me to keep trying and trying. I tell you, if this were a fun pack-in with any current generation game I'd give up after a couple or tries or so. However, the 100,000 point mark is giving me a few points, and it is waving at me from the balcony above. I just have to climb up. So now I'm religiously trying a few times every day to get to that mark. Once I've reached it I have to make sure I get to 500,000. This sytem works like a charm, I've never invested so much time so intensely into my games.

It's a smash hit. Surely I will be taking a few steps back from the system as it ages and as I'm growing accustomed to its presence right next to my computer, but I doubt I will ever stop trying to accomplish more in the games I buy. Like I said, games have never been this appealing to me, it feels like MS reinvented my primary hobby, and I'm thankful for it.

Should you be on the fence about whether to get one or not, please get it. It's worth every singly penny, especially if you're as prone to addictions as I am.

And I passed an important test today at the uni, so I will be treating myself to Dead Or Alive 4 as soon as they have new copies at the local store. I remember Dkittels inviting me to a game a long, long time ago ;)