The whole world revolves around this machine-- it's 360 baby!

Did you really think something this huge can become world-wide demand that the shortage of systems can run out in 15 minutes on it's first day of release? Of course we didn't. We actually never thought that could be possible. But it did. Yes indeed, in my area, the Xbox 360 sold out in 15 minutes; basically as soon as they hit shelves. Now that MUST be a record. Because of this "demand" of the 360s, Microsoft actually has a shortage of supplies of them--forcing millions of stores not to have them but yet still have the 360 games. Talk about how well the games are selling. If not many stores carry the systems, then how in the hell will the games be sold at a good rate? That answer may never be solved...

Depending on if your local store has one, you have two choices--the White Box or the Green Box. The White Box has EVERYTHING in it that you will need to have the "total package". It has the memory/hard drive, Xbox Live ready and accessories for that, wireless controller, headset, HD cable and a Ethernet cable(for fast connection to the internet). The Green Box has similar items but it really can't be compared because it has just the controller, 360 itself and a few cables--no hard drive, no headset, it isn't Xbox Live ready. So your best bet is to get your $400 out and buy the White Box.

The Xbox 360 itself is fairly heavy--okay pretty heavy. It's about medium sized; it's smaller than the original Xbox. The look of the 360 is awesome--the box is white with a silver tone to it(you can buy faceplates for the system if you don't like the look of it). When you turn the 360 on by pressing the ON button, it glows with a bright green. The machine is powerful-- no one can tell you different. You can play DVDs/CDs, share photos and music, stream music and photos from your computer on to the 360, you can chat on the 360 and have a "friend list" to play games with on the Xbox Live. When you play games on the 360, your reputation gets higher by how many games you have, how good you play and how long you play. This also earns you points. You can even customize the look of the menus of your 360, you can change the family settings or even download stuff. It has a 512 MB memory, 500 MHz graphics compressor and it has high definition.

The assembly required for putting this bad boy up was really easy. The manual tells how to and where to put all the cords at. There isn't many cords to assemble unless you want the Xbox Live hooked up as well. I actually did this myself which usually, I don't because I was scared that I would mess something up. However, I hooked my 360 up in 10 minutes or less.

The controllers are much better than the original Xbox controllers. The 360 controllers are less fat and bulky; these controllers are medium sized--they easily fit the palm of my hands. The controllers are white but they look much better in size, color and playability. They still have the same buttons(X,Y,A,B). A really cool feature on the controllers is that there is a huge X in the middle of the controller with a lime green circle around it. If you press this button, it can turn the 360 on or off. If that is being called lazy, I like it! I think these are the best controllers to date and I actually think the best that will ever come(have you seen the Playstation 3 controllers? They are so ugly!)

Right now, the Xbox 360 videogame library is pretty small. However, it's a decent amount of games for the 360. You have a creepy, first-person and realistic fright fest where you track down killers and it's one of the scariest games. This game is none other than
Condemned: Criminal Origins. For those not liking scary games, you can get into a battlefield of chaos and bloodshed in Call Of Duty 2. If those games are not your thing, you can take the adventure road with King Kong surviving the dinosaurs and the King in the deep, vast jungles. If those aren't you're thing, you can take a look at the titles available now:
Amped 3
Burnout Revenge
College Hoops 2k6
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
FIFA Soccer 06
Fight Night Round 3
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter
GUN
Kameo: Elements of Power
Madden NFL 06
NBA 2K6
NBA Live 06
Need for Speed: Most Wanted
NHL 2K6
The Outfit
Perfect Dark Zero
Project Gotham Racing 3
Quake 4
Ridge Racer 6
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2006
Tony Hawk's American Wasteland
And there is still plenty of games yet to still come out. Those listed are out now. NOTE: If there is a game that has not yet hit stores yet, they will soon so don't comment about this. Most of these games are T and M rated. However, there are a couple of E rated games on the list.

Graphically, the 360 is THE best console so far to give outstanding results towards the game. The games are lush, life-like and it'll scare the hell out of you when everything in the games look so damn real. However, some of these games do not have that power and causes some heart-ache about that. Burnout Revenge, GUN and Quake 4 were the biggest set-backs. Critics say that they didn't have the "next-gen graphics" like they'd hoped. So you see, not ALL games have the next-gen graphics but a big majority of them do. So what is the difference about the 360 and the original Xbox graphics? Well, take the game King Kong for an example. If you have played both versions of the game, you CAN and WILL tell that the graphics on the 360 has more power behind it; making everything life-like. Basically, the 360 graphics HAVE to be seen to believe!

The audio to the 360 is pretty much the same with the original except it may have more upgrades towards the actual game-play sound. If you have headphones, plug them in and play the games with them on. Almost every game has Dolby Digital and have a crisp and clear sound. Some games even have thunderous sound as heard by the game King Kong. The opening menu of the 360 has a clear, crisp and a "fun" tone to it--making the original Xbox Dell sounding a thing in the past. The music and movie sounds when you play one of those are right on the spot! The 360 has provided a nice, clean transaction to play music and movies.

The Xbox 360 is so powerful, it overheats. This is due to the fan which spins so rapidly, it becomes a little loud; a little less loud than the PS2. I have found that if you play a movie and not a game, the fan is not loud at all! It's actually almost silent! I also do believe the games are responsible for the overheating because it takes a lot of power to present the very best graphics and smooth variations in the game. I haven't had a problem with the overheating just yet but I think it's important that I should tell others about it.

The Xbox Live features on the Xbox 360--I do not know anything about it; I don't even have Xbox Live. I really hope you readers out there do not give me a "helpful" rating just because I don't mention all the stuff you can do with the Xbox Live. In that case, I have provided a link to another reviewer's review on the Xbox 360. Full in-depth coverage of the Xbox 360

I know $400 is a lot of money for the Xbox 360. Technically, I think the price is a pretty heavy load and that the price should go down. However, when you think to yourself about these questions: Will my kid enjoy it? Will I enjoy it? Is it worth taking my "Vacation Money" and spending on my kid or myself? Is it worth having the "most wanted console" in my house? If you said "yes" to all those questions, you have been caught in the awe of the Xbox 360. Yes, it's THE best console to date. Yes, it doesn't have a lot of games but it will soon. Yes, it has more features and more cool upgrades. Yes, the controllers are different. And yes, you should get one of these...if you can find one, that is.