It's The Same Xbox 360, But It's All Shiny And Stuff.

by machofantastico

IT'S THE SAME XBOX 360, BUT IT'S ALL SHINY AND STUFF! So it's been a short while since I last took the time to write up a blog entry, there's a few reasons why but there pretty boring and not at all game related so I shan't detail them here. What is game related is the release of Microsoft's new redesigned Xbox 360. Codenamed the Xbox 360 Slim by all you hip and happening gamers out there, it's...

IT'S THE SAME XBOX 360, BUT IT'S ALL SHINY AND STUFF!

So it's been a short while since I last took the time to write up a blog entry, there's a few reasons why but there pretty boring and not at all game related so I shan't detail them here. What is game related is the release of Microsoft's new redesigned Xbox 360. Codenamed the Xbox 360 Slim by all you hip and happening gamers out there, it's Microsoft's attempt to spice up a rather dull and drab console that's begun to look like some sort of lonely old man who doesn't care that he's been wearing the same dirty work trousers for the past seven years. But trousers rip, and it was inevitable that Microsoft would eventually look to restyle the console at some point.

Of course I didn't get around to giving my opinions on this years E3 event, and to be honest it's a little late for that. But I shall give some quick views on Microsoft's E3 press conference. Arguably the weakest of the three presentations, Microsoft struggled to really wow the audience. So what do you do when you can't excite the crowd? You give them all free Xbox 360 slims! That announcement easily got the biggest cheer of the whole presentation, and understandably so. I wouldn't exactly say no to a free console, but it was a promotional move that also left a bad taste in my rather bitter mouth. Looking at it from a gamers points of view, it felt very 'here, have a free console so you don't say bad things about us or Kinect'. I'm sure many will disagree with me on this, but something felt wrong about the whole move.

The new Xbox 360 slim certainly upgrades things in the style department. But back onto what this post is all about, now this new Xbox 360 Slim as been available in the United States since E3 itself. But is only just set to be released here in the United Kingdom and other parts of Europe if I'm not mistaken. Many of my fellow gamers will probably show little interest in the new system and I can't blame them, all that shiny new casing doesn't hide the fact that this is just an ordinary Xbox 360. Yes there are some neat extras, such as the console already being prepared for Kinect in November and the larger hard drive space, but all in all it's an Xbox 360 through and through.

So why I am interested in buying one? Well to be honest with you dear reader, I was bitterly bummed out by my Xbox 360 Elite console. Call me superficial, but I'm someone who likes good looking consoles, it's why I've stuck with the original fat PS3 over the dull looking slim version of Sony's console. It's why I not long ago bought a black Nintendo Wii, it's why I care about this new 360. It amuses me somewhat, as I'm far from a superficial person in general, but when I know I'm spending big bucks on big consoles, I like them to look good. There are other reasons of course, the fact that it's quieter, not to mention more power efficient are two big factors in me purchasing one.

Johnny 5 is Kinect's grandfather. Then there's Kinect, Microsoft's attempt at motion controlled gaming. Now I'll probably touch on this subject in it's own blog post, but even I will admit to being pretty impressed by what I saw of the system in action on the show floor and while I haven't yet been won over, I do find myself more intrigued by Kinect then I do of Playstation Move which feels like a known quantity to me. The new Xbox 360 is Kinect ready, which basically means it as some sort of special USB plug that can power the Kinect hardware without a power brick, and as someone who is sick of power bricks this is sort of a big thing for me. By the way, is it weird that as someone who can't dance to save his life, that it was a dance game that got me most interested in Kinect. Dance Central from the fine folks at Harmonix Music Systems is looking rather good.

I think this blog post as already gone on a little to long, I get lost in writing these and often go far off topic. For this I apologise and just hope you find them of some interest. I'd be interested to hear your opinions on the Xbox 360 slim and of course you can comment on how awesome Johnny 5 is. Hopefully I'll start being a bit more frequent with my writings again, I have a huge passion for talking about video games and Giantbomb is full of super people just like me who love talking games and that's so awesome it's unreal. For reading this you are super to, though your already on Giantbomb so you know your super. Everything's super on Giantbomb.

Thanks for Reading, and Keep Gaming!
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