Sweet! Welcome to the horrible club of doom.
I have to say, as reluctant as I was to get a 360, I'm super happy with it at this point. The benefits of the technology are actually starting to become obvious to me. Gears of War is an audiovisual experience like I've never had. That isn't to say it doesn't have great gameplay merits too, but it's nice to see the developers make a game that is not only just plain more pretty, but that takes advantage of that power in the art department by giving you all kinds of moments that take your breath away because the technology manages to actually elevate the core concepts beyond what we've seen before. It isn't just the same old thing made prettier, it's the same old thing pushed through a new boundary. There are plenty of games that are just prettier and little else, but I think Gears is in another category in that regard. I'm not being very clear, but it's hard to state what I mean. Dead Rising is mostly just a bit prettier than some older games, but there are a few moments it uses its technology also to truly do something visually unique.
Anyway, between DR, Gears, and Viva Pinata, I can't say this thing wasn't worth the money. Even just those three games have been some of the best console gaming I've had in a while.
