XBox 360 - Home for the Holidays
I was quite proud to show off my XBox 360 to my two teenage brothers this Christmas. I liked the idea of being the cool older brother who had the latest thing. What I didn't realize was that the non-gaming functions of the XBox 360 would unite the entire family around the TV, something we so rarely do.
Right when I got to my mother's house, I hooked up the 360 and threw in Perfect Dark Zero. My brothers loved the fly-by-wire rockets, the six-shooter handgun, and the secondary functions of some of the other weapons. We played one mission and a little multiplayer where the regular old "agent" bots kicked our butts. Sad, but true.
I already knew I was getting Call of Duty 2 as one of my presents. My mother actually picked out the XBox version and my brother made her get the 360 version. He's a Good Kid, regardless of what Jack Thompson might have to say about him because he's a gamer. Call of Duty 2 was a blast, but my lack of skills really showed up when my other younger brother figured out how to use the sniper rifle. Then I was just fodder.
Then came the defining moment of the evening. We had taken pictures of my two children opening their presents with their other Grandparents on Christmas Eve and their presents on Christmas Day. I transferred the pictures to my jukebox as I like to do, and fired up the slide show. My parents and my brothers sat spellbound as I set the slideshow to a mix of about a dozen Christmas CD's also on my jukebox. My favorite moment came when my stepfather said "That song isn't on that CD - these songs are out of order". I explained to him that I was running a random playlist and he just smiled. He then asked me to take some pictures of my three year old daughter sitting in a rocking chair that he had when he was a child. I snapped half a dozen photos and hooked up the camera to the 360. Presto - Change-o - New Slide Show! My stepfather was clearly impressed, and he's been working in programming for the last 30 years.
The 360 was clean, it was crisp, it was well behaved (no crashes). In short, it was the entertainment showcase of Christmas Day. Thanks to Microsoft for giving me a tool to bring my entire family together, even if it was for something completely unrelated to video games.
Right when I got to my mother's house, I hooked up the 360 and threw in Perfect Dark Zero. My brothers loved the fly-by-wire rockets, the six-shooter handgun, and the secondary functions of some of the other weapons. We played one mission and a little multiplayer where the regular old "agent" bots kicked our butts. Sad, but true.
I already knew I was getting Call of Duty 2 as one of my presents. My mother actually picked out the XBox version and my brother made her get the 360 version. He's a Good Kid, regardless of what Jack Thompson might have to say about him because he's a gamer. Call of Duty 2 was a blast, but my lack of skills really showed up when my other younger brother figured out how to use the sniper rifle. Then I was just fodder.
Then came the defining moment of the evening. We had taken pictures of my two children opening their presents with their other Grandparents on Christmas Eve and their presents on Christmas Day. I transferred the pictures to my jukebox as I like to do, and fired up the slide show. My parents and my brothers sat spellbound as I set the slideshow to a mix of about a dozen Christmas CD's also on my jukebox. My favorite moment came when my stepfather said "That song isn't on that CD - these songs are out of order". I explained to him that I was running a random playlist and he just smiled. He then asked me to take some pictures of my three year old daughter sitting in a rocking chair that he had when he was a child. I snapped half a dozen photos and hooked up the camera to the 360. Presto - Change-o - New Slide Show! My stepfather was clearly impressed, and he's been working in programming for the last 30 years.
The 360 was clean, it was crisp, it was well behaved (no crashes). In short, it was the entertainment showcase of Christmas Day. Thanks to Microsoft for giving me a tool to bring my entire family together, even if it was for something completely unrelated to video games.
posted by Jason at
6:34 PM
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