Well I've had my 360 less than a month now, and I must say I'm enjoying it. I think all platforms have their pros and cons, but where the 360 shines is the friend/party system, and the universal menu system that can be accessed any time. My gripe with the menu is the slight delay when using it, but other than that I think it's pretty great. The 360 also has a bunch of pack-in value, such as the streaming videos and marketplace and all that. Also patching seems generally faster than on the PS3.

I just broke the 1000 gamer points mark not long ago. Not much of a milestone but it's 1000 more than I ever thought I'd earn, a year ago. I'm enjoying getting the achievements I get, although I feel no strong pull to try to grind out the annoying ones, I'll just move on to others.

So far I've acquired the following games: Borderlands (currently enjoying), Forza 3 (looking foward to playing), Fable 2 (just got the NTSC-J version by accident, but it plays the same, and is in English), Burnout Paradise (fun but repetitive. would be more fun if friends to play with), Halo 3, Shadow Complex.. I think that's all. I enjoyed them all, but I knew going in that I would be selecting the cream of the crop of 360 games. Borderlands of course is multi platform, and I'd really prefer it gameplay-wise on my PC, but the co-op is the most important part of that game, and playing with friends really makes or breaks it.

You can solo Borderlands, but it's punishingly hard at times if you're by yourself. I mean brutal. This is made worse by the fact I suck with a gamepad for shooters. I am death incarnate with a mouse and keyboard but with a gamepad I am starting from scratch and would be slaughtered by 8 year olds I'm sure. I exagerate a little, I'm not that bad and I'm getting better, but I definitely prefer a mouse for shooters. Borderlands is also a shooter. It's very much a shooter, and very little an RPG. Think of it more like a shooter with a decent story. I feel like I'm playing World of Warcraft offline sometimes.

... Sitting here thinking of pros and cons, I remember the 360 wired headset that comes with the Elite. This thing is a great idea, but a peice of steaming caca. The mic is extremely low quality, and low sensitivity. It's uncomfortable, and only does voice, not game sounds. The button is awkward and feels cheaply made and ready to break at any moment. The great idea part, is the way it plugs in. Of course wireless is nice, but if you don't want to worry about batteries then plugging it directly into the controller is an awesome idea. I was impressed with the cleverness of it, I just wish they implemented it a little better. I'm considering getting a $200 Turtle Beach headset for the 360.

My friends list is growing, at least a couple Mature Gamers Unite union friends, and Amozarte kindly helped me out a great deal in Borderlands, getting me started and showing me the ropes. MissMorphine has also been a great help, and thanks to them I was able to help out another friend. I really think the friend system was done well on the 360, and makes communication easy (aside from the cheesy headset).

Well I will end my rambling here for now, and I hope everyone had a great Halloween.

So on a brief 360 note, I finished off Shadow Complex and Halo 3 in a matter of 2 days or so. Short lived but good games. I ordered Burnout Paradise and Fable 2, but in the meantime I picked up Uncharted 2.

So needless to say I've started Uncharted 2 this evening, and it's very good so far. I like that it caters to an adult audience and doesn't pull any punches with the jokes that would be made in real life. The acting is very believable, and the excellent graphics back it up. Trudging through the snow and seeing not only footprints but actual small snowbanks and troughs created by walking, is pretty unbelievable in a game. High marks all around, so far.

Not sure how the co-op works but anyone feel free to hit me up if you see me on. PSN ID is GunnyHath.

Well, as most of my friends have 360s and I wanted to play Shadow Complex, I finally took the plunge. So far I am finding the interface pretty slick, and the experience is not lacking. I hope the hardware holds up, but otherwise I'm enjoying my purchase.

I'm a few hours into Shadow Complex and I'm highly enjoying it. Might even review this one. My first impressions are that it's worth a full price tag, and it's one heck of a good bargain at 1200 ms points.

I got the Elite bundle with Halo 3 so I have that to play soon as well.

So if anyone would like to add me, my gamertag is GunnyHathX .. I'd have used GunnyHath .. it's a long boring story, but the X fits anyway.

I hope the day finds you well.

I've been on a survivalist/outdoors kick lately. I suppose you could blame the show "Survivor Man" for instigating this, however I've always been the outdoors type and always liked accumulating knowledge, so this is just an extension of that. Since watching Les Stroud's show, and having my interests rekindled, I've gone on to read a wealth of information on the topic and really feel a lot more comfortable with my skillset as a result.

Over the course of my reading I've seen asked, been asked, and asked myself: What 3 items would you bring into the wilderness to survive with?

To set the scene, the added stipulations would be:

- Long term survival, not the generally 72 hours that most rescues take place in. Assume a war or some natural disaster (nuclear being a very different set of items, so ignore that one for now).

- 3 items only, aside from the clothes on your back.

- That is all.

This is a gaming site, and I almost always blog about gaming topics, but I'm curious to see what my gaming peers come up with on the subject.

If you could travel back in time, what 3 items would bring with you to prove you were from the future? This is just an excersize to see how inventive people can be.

My 3 are not set in stone, but some ideas I've had are:

1: An RPL Series (or similar) green laser, such as that from optotronics.com. The power of the sun in the palm of your hand, the light will dazzle, the beam will be visible, and you can start fires and cut some things with it. Lets face it, it's a light saber! (by the way, if you're looking for a laser, that's the place to go, he makes the best handheld lasers in the industry, and cheaper than most.

2: A laptop/netbook (for a short trip only, due to battery life). Imagine holding up a window to what they must feel as another dimension. Be sure to stock some sci fi dvds or games or something, or heck, even some winamp visualizations running in full screen would probably make them worship you. Perhaps one of those OLED based video-screen wrist watches would be great too.

3: Some batteries and a simple light bulb, or a high powered flashlight. Fenix makes a 700 Lumen beast that is blindingly bright and runs on 8 AA batteries. It lasts quite a long time and is waterproof, making it a dazzling choice I believe.

I could sit here all day and think of neat things to bring but now it's up to you guys If you feel like it, post some of your ideas!