Reading my last blog post is rather amusing, given recent events. Last Sunday night I went ahead and ordered a 360 premium with Gears. After one week of being a 360 owner, I can gladly say that I am hooked.

It feels like I'm just discovering gaming all over again. The achievement points system is probably responsible for most of that feeling, as I now have the thirst for those juicy gaming achievements, and I'm forcing myself to play harder and for longer to get them.

Not that it feels like a chore, mind you. The mildly frustrating moments in Dead Rising, Gears and Burnout soon turn to elation when I get past them and get closer to that next achievement milestone. On the PC, I found that I was getting bored of games really quickly, and rarely finishing them. The achievement points system is helping me get over that. Take Oblivion, for instance. On the PC, I came so close to finishing the main quest, but never did. I finished the arena and the mage's guild questline, then put it down. Since starting it on the 360 - I've put in six hours so far - I'm already well into the main storyline, arena champion and halfway through both the mage's guild and fighter's guild quests. All because of points.

I've cancelled my Wii pre-order. As much as I love Nintendo and their games, the launch lineup just isn't strong enough to tear me away from the 360. As soon as a proper Nintendo first-party, non-port triple-A title is released (Metroid, Galaxies, Smash Bros.) I'll grab one with glee. Zelda, as awesome as it may be, just isn't going to tear me away from my quest for points. Plus I don't want to buy a new console just to play a port of a 'Cube game. I really feel dirty for abandoning the Wii after anticipating it for so long, but I feel good about my decision, knowing that I'll pick one up next year and I'll be getting a somewhat more mature console, with all promised features and some proper Wii games.

SPAAAAAACE MAAAAAGNUUUUUM