Well, I've had it now for just over 10 days....I did post my first Impressions on another forum but not here so I'll post them here now...with an update of how I feel about the 360 now ---------------- Long term PS3 fan Gerinako recently bought an Xbox360 from [USER]... Here are the results, after around 2 hours of faffing around with all my electronics so I could fit it in, shortly followed by some hammering of Mass Effect, Lost Odyssey and LMA Manager (I'm a fan leave me alone) I did give Single player Halo 3 a go but got rather bored.... Pro's (in my opinion) Never really bought the gravy train of the achievement system. But after a few short bursts on different games I'm starting to see it's appeal. Controller - So nice to be with a pad that has vibrate, wish Sony would stop screwing the Europeans over by dumping there remaining stock of Six-Axis on us. We're the only reason they're still in the console war! Dashboard is good, although when people talk to me on msn it's too bothersome to reply due to the time it takes to write. Is there any tips/keyboards? (Or even predictive text?) (Since posted on another forum I've just disabled MSN ) When going to the dashoard by pressing the Xbox button, the game pauses - wahay!!! Reasonably long wire length when you need to re-charge the battery pack in the 360. Unlike PS3. Con's (in my opinion) What is with that brick for the power? I'd heard rumours of the 'brick' before but had disrgarded it, ouch! That took some work to figure out where to put it. I'm not sure if it's just Mass Effect and LO, but compared to the PS3 I've actually noticed load times? Then again it might be something to do with two games whic AREN't on the PS3.... Can't be bothered cross comparing though with multi-plats. Controller - The battery packs location on the controller get's in my way sometimes, dependant on what game I'm playing, couldn't MS have designed this so it slid in, much like a phone etc?? Nervous of getting the RROD - even though I'm not an intense gamer like I used to be, so the risk of the overheating and warping shouldn't really effect me. The worry is still there none the less. No wireless built in - (even the Nintendo Wii) has this and I found the bridging of the internet connection between my PC and 360 infuriating. It loads games automatically when you put the disc in, can this be disabled? ----------- Ultimately, theres benefits from both consoles depending on the type of gamer you are. I enjoy the PS3 because I can sit back chill and relax without staring at a green ring praying it stays that way.... Then when I'm done watch a lovely blu-ray movie that I'm getting quite addicted to. But with the 360 - I can really see myself getting into this acheivement thing, I may even get a copy of GTA4 for this aswell just to see what achievements I can unlock, despite having the PS3. Plus, it has those JRPG's that I want to play, which was the ONLY reason I went for the PS3. Still, Final Fantasy in February 09.... It's a good console, you can't disagree with that, especially as it has a games catalogue I enjoy to play. Graphics wise though I can see the PS3 passing it within a year, as two of the games I've been hammering lately were supposedly pushing the 360 to it's absolute limits (according to reviews). Compare them to Uncharted and...you see where I'm going. ----------------------------- Now, this is my 10th day with the Xbox and here's my updated impressions of the 360.... - I am now officially addicted to the achievements - I've played Lost Odyssey until the early hours of the morning, cannot recall when I have done this with the PS3? This resulted in me having to take a kip at lunch time at work....Just to wake up!!! - I still haven't fathomed out how to stop the Auto-Load on discs and the manual didn't help me! - Delighted I bought it because of the RPGs! I was so desperate to play one I booted up FF7 a few weeks back! - Battery pack on controller still annoying but sort of used to it now - Used to the Load times so don't really notice/care now. Gerinako - officially a PS360 fanboy

oooh, interesting, I am in a similar position to you, probably getting it next week and your impressions are very interesting. I am interested in the same games as you, and you have got me really excited about it

"It loads games automatically when you put the disc in, can this be disabled?"

Yes, it can. Somewhere under console settings in the options blade, there's an option to only start a game when you select 'Play Game'

ZenfoldorVGI said: A great game that was on PS3(I think) but that I ever knew about till I owned a 360 was F.E.A.R. That's a really cool shooter and it's under-rated as hell. Better than halo 3. If you didn't pick up F.E.A.R. for PS3, then skip halo and get it for 360, where you can also have custom soundtracks, lol(I like that part of the 360 a lot case you couldn't tell).     PS: I just beat Mass Effect a few minutes ago, great game, but the technical problems suck. It froze on me twice during loading and those popins don't play. Still, the story towards the end is fantastic and I have to say, it's better than any other Bioware console game except KOTOR which still owns it, unfortunately. 8.5/10 or possibly 9/10. Woulda been a 9.5/10 same as GTAIV if it woulda ran smoother as a babies butt and if they would have actually finished the game(which apparently they didn't judging from playing the beta that they released).

 I don't know about the PS3 version, but don't get F.E.A.R. for the 360!  It's terrible mainly just because of the controls.  In order to really enjoy that game you really need a mouse and keyboard because of all the controls it has.  It's an older game so it shouldn't be too hard to find a PC that will run.

You can disable auto-game-boot in the setup menu. Your options are to boot a game on insertion or boot to the dashboard. Set it to dashboard and you are good to go. If you haven't played gears, it's a fun game but over too quick -- about 8-10 hours or so. Bioshock and Mass Effect are must-haves as well...

@Gerinako

Welcome to the fold... again.

Just to address some of your questions:

- Just hook up a USB keyboard into the 360 and presto, or you could get the chatpad which attaches to the controller.

- ME and LO loadings times are a bit on the long side, its nothing to do with 360. If you play Blue Dragon, youll notice too (Mistwalker) but its fine for other games. Mass Effect PC has about the same loading times according to reviews.

- You can disable immediate loading of games, its in console settings somewhere in the dashboard.

- If you are officially addicted to Achievements (as all of us are really), check out our league (see sig). You will find the most serious Achievement gamers on VGChartz there. Its a great way to network and share tips as well. Most people are competing in Ninja Gaiden 2 at the moment. The GTA4 Achievements will definitely give you a laugh.

Munkeh -- check the back of the box when you buy it and make sure it has a 175W power supply just to be sure you got the latest hardware.

Gerinako said: Nervous of getting the RROD - even though I'm not an intense gamer like I used to be, so the risk of the overheating and warping shouldn't really effect me. The worry is still there none the less.

 Is that really a con of the system or you just being paranoid?  :-p

Munkeh111 said: oooh, interesting, I am in a similar position to you, probably getting it next week and your impressions are very interesting. I am interested in the same games as you, and you have got me really excited about it

It's well worth it for LO alone i'd Say Munkeh. 10 days down the line, and combined with the fact there's plenty of footy on TV and had the TT festival to fighting for my free time. I've still managed to reach close to the end of Disc 2 - I think that says something about how much I enjoy the game. In addition Mass Effect has that RPG feel about it combined with FPS, both genres of which I enjoy. Although it doesn't fit into either category I suppose. But I'm sure you'll enjoy it. P.S. Gerinako is my nick on 360 & PS3

kn said: Munkeh -- check the back of the box when you buy it and make sure it has a 175W power supply just to be sure you got the latest hardware.

 Well, I'm getting a bundle online, as a present (I hope!) so I wont quite have that chance, but I assume the premiums with HDMI are the latest ones?