As I scramble to try and find a 360 before Christmas rolls around, instead of playing next-gen, I've decided to write about it. Besides some short Wal-Mart and Target playing sessions, I haven't experienced next-gen yet. Several months ago, I wasn't planning to buy any next-gen consoles. I had basically stopped playing video games (even though I read about them often), and I blamed that on me just growing up. But I have to admit, as I think about getting my hands on PGR3, PDZ, and later on, Halo 3, Oblivion, Lost Odyssey... I can't help but get the same exciting gitters I got shortly before I received my SNES, N64, DC, and XBox (PS1 was a let-down, and never got a PS2). All my consoles I've received on Christmas morning, and tearing the gift wrap off the large boxes has given me some of the best memories I have. I'll never forget playing Mario 64, Soul Calibur, and Halo for the first time (I admit too, FFVII was great, but it damn well should have been, I bought an entire console for that one game). And I'm pretty confident I'll have similar experiences this Christmas (if I can find one, if not.. the experience will have to wait a month or so). So, for better or worst, I'll be playing games for at least another few years.

I'm eager to see what Sony has to offer, but I'm not interested in it. I hope that the (mostly uneducated :P) millions that buy a PS3 enjoy their cliche, hackneyed Japanese RPGs, rather boring Metal Gear Solids, and their GTAs (of course, I'll get the GTAs eventually, not that'd I buy them, but I could).

If you can't tell, I'm confident Microsoft will offer a better gaming experience than Sony hands-down. I've never understood why people have enjoyed PS1 or PS2 so much, and I'm sure that confusion will continue for years to come. I've been happy with what Xbox has offered this generation, and I am very, very confident that I will be satisfied with what they offer this upcoming generation.

And Nintendo can just cross their fingers and hope the controller works. Personally, I like the controller's concept, however - there's one problem with Nintendo. I own a GameCube, along with some of its greats like MP, Wind Waker, Paper Mario 2, Sunshine... none of which I've enjoyed. I've regretted purchasing every single GameCube game I own, and the company that I loved for so many years I now don't give a **** about. They have relied on the same franchises for so many years, and for me, they've ran their course. However, they'll just keep popping them out until they go bankrupt. There will be more and more Zelda, each becoming more and more boring, there will be more Metriods, each seeming more and more repetitive as you back-track... and so on. However, I shouldn't be so critical I guess, I think I've just outgrown what Nintendo has to offer. But still, damn it I tried to love those GameCube games... but disappointment after disappointment...

Anyway, what I'm playing now: Halo 2 and Project Gotham 1. Yes, the first one. My brother, known as Stevorino around here, has the sequel at college, and I had such an urge to play the game that I settled for the original. It's not nearly as good as 2, but it's still pretty good. Then Halo 2 I've been playing a little the past month. I think I've outplayed it though, it's starting to just get frustrating. I'm a strong believer that you can play a game TOO much (applies mostly to online games), and I'm starting to learn when I've hit the wall with a game. I outplayed basically of the Blizzard games, except WoW, which I do own, but I just can't get into the whole MMO thing. It demands too much time and rewards too little for that time for me to tolerate, so I guess I got to like level 30 then quit. And the monthly subscription is just outrageous - I'd understand $5-8/monthly, but ~$15 is just stupid.

So for now, I hunt for a 360 and try to ignore the temptation of going out and buying Fable or Forza to keep me busy until I do get a 360.