I finally got one! Received as a gift for Christmas (thanks Mom and Dad!), I wanted to put a few weeks of my time in before giving my judgment.

Where to start?

[b]Controllers[/b]
Awesome. Wireless, for $15 you can have it recharge while you play, very solid feeling, great ergonomics, headset plugs in so you can be totally free of the system while still talking.

[b]HD-DVD[/b]
I picked up the add-on player. Cost $180 online after a 10% off deal that Best Buy had going. Kind of stinks that it is a standalone item. MS stated that they really wanted this to be a modular system so why didn’t they make the original drive replaceable with this? The item came with King Kong, which didn’t impress me too much over the upconverted version.

[b]Live[/b]
They really did a great job with integrating the system with the internet. I can play pretty much every game I have online, unlock achievements that reward me with “gamerpoints” (a status symbol online), download game demos, download TV shows, download movies, download additional content, and even download games! It is supremely awesome. Without the Live feature ($60/yr), the system would be great. With it, it is amazing.

[b]Graphics[/b]
I’m quite certain that some of the games are not as amazing as they seem, but graphical immersion is a large factor in gaming. The graphics are ridiculously good, and IMO has resulted in one particular game becoming “greater” than it really should be.

[b]Media Center[/b]
I can plug in my removable hard drive (USB) and the system recognizes all the videos and MP3s I have on it. There seems to be a limit of 960 folders recognized by the MP3 player, but I can live with it for now. Surely MS is aware of it, it is a simple fix, and there will be a patch soon enough.

[b]Conclusion[/b]
Not much in the video game world has gotten me excited since the original NES or maybe 3DO, but this is huge. I am kicking myself for waiting a year to get it, but it may have been a good thing because there is now a very solid library of must-have games: Gears of War, Oblivion, Call of Duty 3, Fight Night Round 3, Project Gotham Racing 3, Dead Rising, and more. The downloadable arcade games are really awesome too for $5-$10, Geometry Wars, Novadrome, Small Arms, Contra (original, playable online). I’m in love.

[b]9.9/10[/b] – just need to support more than 960 folders