I purchased an Xbox 360 Pro with Gears + UT3 for 299.99. I had some issues with DVD playback and had the console exchanged only to find out nothing was wrong. I guess the 360 is picky with older DVD releases cause I made a copy of the movie and it ran smoothly.
I'm originally a Wii owner and decided to get one of the more powerful systems. Although I found Wii games I own enjoyable I wanted a change of pace (game content wise).
I chose the 360 over the PS3 because of game selection, price and the fact that I didn't have much use for a BR player because I have no intention of purchasing an HDTV anytime soon.
I really like the 360, it offers an excellent selection of games that my girlfriend enjoys (Live Arcade - puzzle games). It also provides unique game concepts which aren't available on the Wii. I feel like I have the best of both worlds now and I highly recommend anyone who is remotely interested in the 360 to grab that FutureShop deal I got.
After playing it for a while, I did not understand some of the complaints I've read on forums in general. The issues I'm referring to are load time and noise. My 360 barely makes any noise, just a tad bit louder then the Wii. The loading time in Gears of War is practically none existent which shocked me. My girlfriend plays Luxor for the Wii and it has longer loading times then Gears *shaking my head and screams why* I understand loading time is different depending on which game you play.
I'm not really going to get into Gears of War because as all of you know, it's an awesome game. What really stood out for me is the AI. There's one part where you have to take out a guy behind a turret and I discovered you can run across to the other side and get a clear shot through a tunnel. I ended up dying and having to do it over but the second time, his buddy met me up half way and ended my reign LOL Third time also yielded a different result.
The only thing bad I can say about my experience is that the DVD playback is inferior to a 7 year old DVD player which is sad but minor. In addition, I really hope that in the future Microsoft improves DVD playback and adds VCR capabilities to record TV shows.
