Xbox 360 is GoOOOo!

I picked up an Xbox 360 yesterday and, as per the new sidebar item, my gamertag is Morbus Iff Else -- "Morbus" had already been taken and "Morbus Iff" is irrevocably lost due to idiot Microsoft policies. Granted, this all assumes I actually have time to play the system which, with a two month old child, is laughably inept (hey, maybe for you, but not so much for me).

I had no intention of getting the Xbox 360 -- I had bought the original Xbox because of my lust for the I Love Bees alternate reality game (ARG), which was ultimately a promotion for Halo 2. I played Halo and liked it, but didn't see why it was so great when compared to, say, the original Half-Life. Halo 2 came and went and I wasn't impressed. Nor was I enthralled with any of the other games available, and the console collected dust and dust and dust. I'm a big roleplayer and the lack of quality RPGs (Fable and Sudeki don't count) just couldn't sway me from PS2 dominance.

But the Xbox 360 has actually giving me a reason to want to play other games besides RPGs: achievements. Remember, back in the days of yore, there was something called a "high score"? It's nearly as foreign as the concept of "ante" in a Magic: The Gathering game. (Aaaah, I am an old fogie.) Anyways, every Xbox 360 game has 1000 points of achievements to obtain, or 200 points for Xbox Live Arcade games. These points accumulate and display proudly in your gamercard, as can be seen by my (currently) lackluster 20 in the sidebar there.

This... this pleases me. When arcades walked the Earth, I used to battle for three-letter dominance on the high score charts of arcade games such as Mortal Kombat, Killer Instinct, and pretty much everything else on the literally darker side of the "Hooters Arcave" we had in town. One player constantly signed his name as GOD and I reciprocated with DVL. Every day I'd blow my lunch money and far far more at the arcade, placing my quarters ever so patiently on the reserve glass lip of the game cabinet. The initial salvos in the battle for humanity were joystick driven and Xbox 360 achievements make me feel this same way.

My greatest nemesis, as usual, is time. I don't support cloning for body harvesting or life longevity (though, I do want to be immortal): I support cloning so that I can get more shit done and then tell myself about it. If you're an Xbox 360 player and a reader, be my guest ("put our service to the test", whee!) and befriend me.