Xbox 360 and HDTV

This folks is the future of Video games. I've yet to land one myself, but from what I've seen, I must say this is one awesome system. First off as shown here this is the Premium Edition ($399) which comes with all the goodies that might cost you an additional 200 bucks if bought separately from what is known as the Core system ($299).

The Core system is like that Spike buck compared to that 10 point buck during deer season here in PA, you avid hunters out there know what I mean. The goal here folks is BAG the big one (Premium) all the way.



Now for those without an HDTV - get the TV first they are easier to come by... LOL. So on that note lets talk HDTV for a moment.

I just purchased my very first HDTV the other day and it cost me $2012 dollars (total) - The Sony 34XBR960 and for those that do not know much about TV's or HDTV for that matter. Nothing beats a Tube TV - many will argue this point, but they still to this day have the best visual quality over all the others, from Plasma, Rear Projection, DLP, LCD you name it. The only downfall of a Tube TV over the others is (Size) the largest tube from Sony is 36" but it's 4:3, this is another factor to reason with when purchasing your HDTV.

You have what is known as 16:9 (Widescreen) and 4:3 (Standard). For the best of both worlds you want to go with 16:9 and of course HDTV. With the model mentioned above it will stretch your 4:3 viewing on normal channels to 16:9 when you set up your Set top box (Cable Box) properly. Let me just say even though it does stretch them it still looks great, this is known as Upscaling.

The reason most will argue about the type of TV (Tube, LCD, Rear Projection, Plasma) is because most want Large Screens or Flat (Thin) this is where the others come in. This is so you can hang from a wall or have the largest size for a minimal amount of money. Most Rear Projection TV's are huge and cost about the same price as the largest tube TV. I could have gone with a 50" Rear compared to my 34" Tube for the same money and sacrificed the visual quality for size, but didn't. Now Plasma and LCD cost far more than either of the two I've just mentioned by about $1,000-$3,000 and this is also dependent upon the size. Who says size doesn't matter... LOL.

Now that you know the best way to go for HDTV, you need a stand to go with that TV. Now you can get the Sony stand that is perfectly made for this TV but will cost you about $350. This TV weighs in at 194 lbs, so go with a very sturdy stand.

The stand that is best for this system is the Z-Line Designs 36" 2359-1S model and will cost you anywhere from $90-$130 depending on where you buy it. Circuit City has it for the lowest price I could find. With the extra money saved on the stand you can get 2-4 more Xbox 360 games when you can actually get your hands on one. Below is what it all looks like tied together.


Ok now as I mentioned earlier I do NOT have the Xbox 360 as of yet, but let me just say the Xbox looks incredible on this TV especially when a game is created with 1080i. Most Xbox games are only 480p but I do have one in my collection to see the true horror or I should say splendor of HDTV gaming and that is MX vs ATV Unleashed. This game on this TV and at 1080i is something to see. As far as watching HDTV programming (There is a difference). Telling you about it isn't enough it's something you have to see for yourself.

Remember folks when you go to the store most TV's are all showing the same images or broadcast so this means you will NEVER really see the true HDTV aspect while shopping, unless the store has a specific HD signal for those specific TV's it's showing off, in most cases all the TV's are just showing the OLD Analog signal.

Back to the Xbox 360 to finish this post off. I was at Gamestop the other day and I was watching a kid play King Kong on the kiosk they had their and I must say it didn't look that good, these kiosks use a Samsung 17" or maybe even smaller but the contrast was far to low and the images were so dark it was hard making out anything to easily. I watched this kid play as a human and he tried taking on a T-Rex by punching him in the balls let me just say this is NOT a good idea. It was incredible though to see the T-Rex bend down and pick the guy up and shake him about then flip him into the air and chomp the sucker down (That'll Learn Ya) I said to the kid who gave me a angry grin - (What was this kid thinking???) LOL. I wasn't seriously impressed at this point and left the store with my HD connector for my Xbox instead, to hurry home and get it working to see HD gaming on my very own TV. You know that story already - (Looks great)...

The next day I went to Best Buy during lunch with a few buddies and it was actually the day of launch of the Xbox 360 (Tuesday 22, of November). I asked the clerk "well you wouldn't happen to have any would ya?" - he laughed out loud and stated they had 1,000 people outside around the building last night at midnight and a few waiting from the Sunday before (about 48 hours earlier) to wait in line for a mere 80 machines. I have to ask though what is Microsoft thinking, I mean you have riots, robberies, maybe even deaths caused by the launch of this thing??? Wake up Microsoft - if they wanted to do it right make a few million consoles before launch and guess what everyone would have one and they'd make Billions, like they really need any more?

Back to the story - me and my buddies tried out the kiosk at Best Buy with a much clearer Samsung than the one at Gamestop the day before. I picked King Kong of course to play (learning off of the stupid kid from the day before as well) and was Kong and I royally kicked that T-Rex's ass, then moved onto the next part where you swing from ledge to ledge chasing the girl of course, because she seems to always find her way into trouble. For a first generation game this game looked incredible in HD, you could even see the claw marks on Kongs back left by the T-Rex battle I had, and every hair on his body was clearly visible. I had pictures in my head of seeing it on my screen. Like many others I'll have to probably wait until the new year before I can bag one of these elusive creatures, the (Xbox 360)...

You've all probably heard of people having the BSOD or crash screen that the Xbox 360 produces and the other freezing issues many have been having with this new system. I can tell you that a cure was discovered why this was happening and for those that might read this and haven't heard about it already (It is the Power Supply), not the system itself. I guess this BRICK is overheating because of the way people like just throwing it onto their floors, funny thing about this is Microsoft already burnt down someone's house with the original Xbox you'd think they would have learned their lesson??? LOL. Guess not? So when you do finally bag an Xbox 360 be sure to keep the brick off the floor and suspended or free to breath plenty of cool air or else you'll also be crashing and possibly burning...

For those wondering about the games I can honestly say from what was released during the first round and what is known as first generation, there is nothing to totally impress at this point. Once the game developers play for the next year with this system the games are going to be so good I can't wait to see how good they can get. The game of games at this point and one to definitely get for the system is Call of Duty 2. This game for a launch title or soon to be released is the game to set the craze off. Sure other games already released look better than the basic Xbox but aren't really a huge step forward at this point but many are worth getting just to see it in action such as King Kong, Condemned: Criminal Origins (Though Short), Project Gotham Racing 3, Perfect Dark Zero, and of course the best so far Call of Duty 2.

Well happy hunting and hope everyone gets an Xbox 360 during this Christmas hunting season, just be a bit civilized and respect thy neighbor, knock off the fighting, stealing, and possibly killing to get one!!!

Until next time, Happy Turkey day and Happy first day of Deer and Merry Christmas...