Well I've finally broke down, and my income tax refund came in, which helped in my decision a lot, and I finally bought an Xbox 360 last weekend. I also got ES:Oblivion and Quake 4 with it.

I have to say that it is a remarkable game machine. Xbox Live has really been revamped well for this generation. It's interesting, but I find myself downloading demos and trailers more then actually playing games. By the way ES:Oblivion is an amazing game... I am not even an RPG fan, and I am having an amazing time playing this game. The scope of it is breathtaking!!

Anyways, I'll have more of my impressions of the console and the games I play on it coming soon! Got to go play now!

All through the period leading to Christmas, we all have been inundated with ads advertising games for the 360 and ads for the system itself. If I got a nickel for every time I saw on G4 Tech TV those water balloon fight or the people rope skipping commercials advertising the Xbox 360, well I wouldn't be rich, but I would have a few more dollars in my pockets. All of this advertisements for a system that nobody could find anywhere.

To add injury to insult, I walked into my local Best Buy a couple of weeks before Christmas, and the MS reps were in there hard at work displaying Call of Cuty 2 and Perfect Dark Zero on large HD TVs. When I asked them where I could find a console, they of course said that none were available...then why the heck were these guys there trying to sell me a machine if none are for sale???

I know that advertisement campaign are prepared months ahead of a product launch, but TV advertisements can be cancelled at days noticed id a product is not available. Please Microsoft, next time, and there will be a next time, make sure you have enough product to answer the demand. Don't try to sell me something if you don't have anything to sell!!!

It seems that in the last couple of weeks or so, the 360 is finally making its way into stores. I was at Best Buy last weekend and they had about 20 premium systems and about 40 core systems in stock so hopefully, we are starting to see a steady stream of machines hitting the market.

By the way, I was really tempted to fork out the $500 ($CAN) for a premium system. I even had it in my hands, but then I looked at the game selection... and I then had to put it back!... I just can justify buying a system that expensive to play really 1 or 2 games that interest me. I will wait until mid-Summer and see if the selection gets better.

Well Super Mario is 20, Mario himself is actually 24 as he first appeared in Donkey Kong in 1981.  But the Super Mario that we all know, the console Super Mario, is actually 20 this year.  He first appear on the NES in 1985.

I am actually surpise that Nintendo is not publishing any real Super Mario Game this year to underline this event.  Actually, I don't think we have had a real original Super Mario game since Super Mario 64 and that was all the way back in 1996.  Sure he has been in Super Mario Sunshine, and that was a very good game, but to me, that wasn't a real Super Mario game.  I got tired really fast of the whole water cannon mechanics, and the game wasn't even set in the Mushroom Kingdom!!  It was more of a side story then an actual Super Mario adventure.  Sure, there's also been Super Mario adventures on the GB, GBA and DS, but they were all rehash of old games

Of course he's been on the party scene quit a lot with what, 6 or 7 Mario Party Game, but again, these are not Super Mario games.  He also got in a fight or two in the Super Smash Bros. games, and yes, you've guest it, not Super Mario games.  And then there's the countless sports games... tennis... golf... soccer, all... well you get the point.

So at 20 Super Mario is a no-show, with no real Super Mario game in sight... and at this rate, he might have a gray mustache and run quite slowly by the time we see him again in a genuine original Super Mario Game!!

It seems for the last 10 years, you hear that John Romero has joined some development team or other of some game or other, and then poof!... he gone before the game is completed.  I know that he was one of the developpers on the original Dooms, and the disastrous Daikatana, but really, what has he done since? 

I am only asking because everytime you see this guy in a press conference or something, he acts like a rock star, but he really hasn't achieved anything lately!!  Actually I watched the press presentation for Gauntlet: Seven Sorrows on Gamespot, and it looked like he could of at least prepared before jumping before the press, at times it looks like he doesn't even know what top say.

I've been checking out reviews of the games that came out for it since the PSP was launched, and frankly it's not what we could call stellar.  The average review is about 6.5 (see link below).  Sure there is the odd 9.0+ there, but they are mostly racing games, of which I am not a big fan.  I was seriously considering getting a PSP for Xmas, but there just doesn't seem to be that many good game for it, at least not at the moment.  I know, it does a lot more then play games, but seriously, it is primarily a game machine.  I think I'll have to wait a bit longer to see if better quality games comes along.

http://www.gamespot.com/reviews.html?type=reviews&platform=1024&mode=all&sort=post_date&dlx_type=all

Well I've played about 3 hours of Half Lif 2 on my Xbox so far and all I have to say is WOW! I am on the Water Hazard level, and I am just having a ball. I thought that DOOM 3 on Xbox blew my socks off in the graphics department, but this game looks and feels just as amazing. The level of atmosphere, although very different from D3, is just as high. I have to say that HL2 is the best looking game on this system.

I know that there were many concerns about the frame rate, and there are a few small issues, but it's very minimal, and does not affect the game play whatsoever. Once in a while the frame rate wil go down in large areas, but lasts only a second or two, and it does not slow down to the point to make the game unplayable.

All and all, if you are looking for an amazing FPS experience on Xbox, do yourself a favor and go down to a store right away and pick one up. Although you might have a problem finding one. I went to my local Best Buy on Friday and they were already sold out. I am sure that Gamespot and EB Games still have copies though.

This is a must have for your Xbox collection.