The Announcement of the Xbox 360 Spring Update is... Well. Fantastic and massive news, to me. The announcement of more streamlined features is standard stuff, and it's nice to know Microsoft is continuing to support and update and improve the platform, acknowledging where it has fallen short. But... Lets face it. The main talking point here... Is MSN/Windows Live Messenger Integration and that crazy keyboard controller add-on.
One look at the comments section will instantly reveal who the Sony fanboys are. Comments such as "You can voice chat and do video chat already on PS3 with a USB camera, can't do that on Xbox360 can you?" go someway to highlighting those who're horrified by how awesome this announcement is for Microsoft (Aswell as making you lose a little bit of faith in humanity).
For some Xbox 360 owners this announcement wont mean much to personally. But for many (Myself included) this is fantastic, and despite perhaps seeming small, could turn out to be a fantastic kick in PS3's "The Cell"-powered testicles.
Personally, my gaming breaks down in the following way:
In my household we have a sorta schedule. Me and my siblings take turns on the Computer, basically. When I'm not on the computer, then I'm on the Xbox 360. When I'm not on the Xbox 360, my little brother goes on it. It all works pretty well, and it's not like this is our lifes, we do other stuff and it goes around education stuffs and outings and things, we're not a whole family of nerds (I'm the nerdiest one of the bunch, mind).
Part of the reason I love going on the Computer is chatting to a few people on MSN. Now I'll get to do that more often, and that is fantastic news, as far as I'm concerned. I'm overjoyed.
On a wider scale, with regards to sales on both platforms... MSN is a worldwide phenomenon and very popular thing. When it comes to people (gamers AND casuals) deciding what console to buy, MSN compatibility is just one more thing (Along with the pricepoint and bigger library of games) that will swing the vote in favour of 360. When you're going against a brand as powerful and well known as "Playstation", such things are vital for sucess.
Good news all round then, unless you're a member of the Ken Kutaragi Fan club.
As for that Keyboard... It looks sorta unwieldy. But it's detatchable, and may turn out to be better than we imagine. There's no way to tell until we get our hands on it! Plus you can just use any other USB keyboard, which I expect many may do.
Bring on May 7th. What's HOME again?