Xbox 360 another Dreamcast

I've seen the new Xbox 360 thing on MTV and I have to say I'm not impressed. The graphics aren't as good as I thought. They looked good, but nowhere near a step-up that next generations systems should be.

What's all this stuff with wireless controllers, detachable hard drives, and micropayment systems? Are they trying to bleed us less affluent gamers dry? I've known about wireless since the NES days, but I've never wanted to pay for the extra batteries. A cord works fine. Detachable hard drives are stupid because history has proved that game makers don't support nonstandard hardware. They have barely supported Xbox's hard drive features as it is. Some downloadable content and ability to play custom music, that's all. The music, game saves, and content will never take up even 10 GB on my system. Lastly, no way will I PAY for custom content when for years people have been giving this stuff away free on the internet.

Improving Graphics is not what makes a next generation. Microsoft so far has no idea what it's doing. Sony is learning, but they haven't had much innovation that revolutionized gaming yet, if they've had any. The rumbling controller was the biggest advance in interactivity in games and that was Nintendo's invention years ago. The Eye Toy hasn't done anything.

The way I look at it, the 32 bit era was like the 8 bit era of 3D. Us more experienced gamers had to get used to bad 3D graphics and had to sacrifice gameplay for new 3D experiences. N64 was the best thing out, but Playstations CD sized gaming killed it. Mario 64 and the rumble pak were some of the best of that era.

When this current generation came around, the graphics and gameplay returned, but what we've been missing is real games. Grand Theft Auto and some other have fit the bill, but the gaming industry is on a whole less popular because the quality of games has fallen. Graphics will become a non-factor in this next generation, so gamers will be looking for the best games and experiences. It's granted that Sony has the muscle, so I might get a PS3 mearely because they'll have the cool games. I'll stick with Nintendo for breaking ground and making classics. The Xbox almost seems unimportant now. Graphics and online were Microsofts only advantage. No one actually liked games like Halo, they just thought they did.