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Gaming Update
So I got myself an XBox, completing my year-long acquisition of the various major game consoles. What can I say? I've just been way too fascinated about Halo for way too long. Add to that a variety of other XBox games I've been wanting to play (MechAssault, Buffy, Panzer Dragoon Orta, Splinter Cell, etc, etc) and I just finally cracked.
I'll start by lauding Halo. I can understand some people's complaints about repetitive level design, but that is a minor nit compared to the amazing combat and enemy AI. The game is just plain fun to play. (And the off-road jeep vehicle is a freaking blast.) I was skeptical about how well I could play an FPS using a gamepad, but the XBox's thumbsticks are done just right for using them in a similar style to the keyboard & mouse approach in PC-land.
Speaking of controllers, my XBox came with the new, smaller "S type" controller. I haven't tried the larger controller, but this one seems to fit well in my hands. And unlike my other two consoles, it has actually has a long enough cable to reach comfortably from under my TV over to my couch. Also, the trigger design is better than either the PS2 or the Gamecube -- it's much easier to actually use the triggers without fatiguing my index finders.
The Buffy game (which I also picked up) seems fine, and has some nice combat. The story is only so so, but hey, I got it on the cheap and it's fun. So that's a win. I also rented MechAssult, and it's very strange. It's a really excellent console-style adaptation of the giant robot game. For example, the controls are easy to use (no mech velocity, just strafe & rotate, so you can actually use torso twist in a natural fashion). Heat is actually still an issue (and you can use bodies of water to help mediate that, as you'd expect). On the other hand, ammo & armor are handled in the form of "salvage" power ups that you find after destroying buildings or enemies. They've done a nice job of keeping it fast-paced, but I find myself only playing it for short periods of time. I think I may need see if I can set the difficulty level to "wussy", since getting wiped out in a mech/mech battle means you have to go through the whole mission over again.
I'm also still moving through Metroid Prime on the GameCube, which is stupid amounts of fun. Unfortunately, it relies heavily on the triggers for target lock, so it's a little fatiguing on the ole' hands.
Anyone know of a good, cheap component input video switch? (Update: Hmmm, Google turned up this.) 5:21:44 PM () 
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