[Caduceus]

I am by no means an X-Box enthusiast, but I do own one. I can't blame my kids (my daughter is 16 months old) and my second is in utero.

I enjoy some action games (Prince of Persia, Baldur's Gate) and RPGs (Knights of the Old Republic, X-Men: Legends) on the X-Box, which I have played to completion. It is a solid product backed by a *huge* corporation. I don't play X-Box Live, so I can't comment on SoCom or Halo, but I played LAN Doom 2 years ago in my younger days and I can see the appeal.

Of course, I played Doom 2 one moment and SE III the next. None of my other friends played both, as far as I know.

Microsoft is trying to bring the PC/entertainment into the living room from the office by trying to tie in as much as they can to the 360. It is a good idea. I would love to have less "stuff" - DVD, receiver, etc. - tied into the TV. I don't think the 360/PS3 is the death knell of PC games. The market of FPS, MMORPG and RTS may be swinging that way.

Look at the "console" market - there are (at least) six platforms now. PC, XBox, PS2, Gamecube, PSP and Gameboy. And two new ones, PS3 and 360 in the pipe, not to mention "the Revolution" from Nintendo. But the newer consoles will only equal the upper level PCs that are available today. They'll be behind the curve by 2008. And before you think, man that's a long time in the future, think about what you were playing on PC in 2002 (besides SE:IV).