feed.angeli.ca

things that are on my mind:

the fact that i didn’t go see mötley crüe.

the fact that i did arrange most of my weekend plans around 1 vs. 100 live.

the realization that the nerdy part of me seems to be slowly vanquishing the banger in me.

making it into the mob again yesterday, but having the one take the $$ (again).

being the 5th best player in the crowd, yet coming in as the #3 winner of that day’s arcade game (marvel vs. capcom 2), and how that might be possible.

CJLO pub quiz tonight, round 2 at ye olde orchard. if you’re ready to either join or challenge the 3rd place champs, you should come on out.

the first ever CJLO battle of the bands! (still four days to submit, btw.)

mead. meaderies. oysters as big as my hand. veuve cliquot. chocolatines. portuguese-style halal chicken.

naps.

Why I finally bit the bullet and bought a 360.

I’ve had a couple of people ask me what finally convinced me to buy an Xbox 360 after waiting for so long. I’ve had my eye on the Resident Evil special edition Elite since the pre-release hype, but finally everything has come together to make this a can’t-miss opportunity.

Now, I should preface this by saying that while I had intended to buy this Xbox around its release, circumstances made that impossible, so I had resigned myself to not being able to pick it up before it sold out. I watched as stocks dwindled steadily to zero at all the standard retailers. There are, however, some unexpected retail outlets still stocking it, so if you’re looking to get in, do a little digging and you should still be able to find one.

Here are the reasons that finally convinced me that the time to buy is now:

1. The price drop on the Elite. This was key for me, since the console is supposed to retail at 400$ (far more than I was interested in spending). However, at certain stores, this recent price drop has been applied to all the Elites, including this one. This means that in Canada, you can find this special edition Elite for 329$.

2. The Jasper chipset. In Canada, the RE5 edition of the 360 is the only Elite guaranteed to be built using this newer chipset, which runs cooler, uses less energy and is therefore quieter and less likely to succumb to the dreaded RROD. I double checked that mine is indeed using Jasper, which makes it a far more stable gaming investment.

3. The HDMI cable is still included. Future Elite packages are no longer being bundled with extra/high-end cabling, and while I don’t yet have an HDMI input on my television, this is a long term investment, so I’m glad that it will be ready for HD when I finally am.

4. The RE5 bundle is still a good value. The inclusion of a Super Street Fighter II Turbo is a nice bonus, although I personally would have preferred to have GTAIV included instead.

5. I like the pretty red color. After all, I’m one of the nerds that spent the extra money for the crystal casing on the original Xbox… how could I resist such a gutsy design choice, and in my favorite color to boot?

There are a couple of cons, however. 

1. I was bummed to see that there was no Xbox Live Gold one-month-free card included. That may be a US only inclusion, and I have a couple of those rattling around my place anyways, but it would have been nice.

2. The red controller included doesn’t come with a battery pack, which is ridiculous, particularly since red batteries/play & charge kits aren’t being sold separately. I had purchased a red controller before the news started spreading that a red console was soon to follow, and it came bundled with a battery and play-and-charge cable, but I’ll have to resign myself to picking up a black battery/play & charge kit for this red controller… definitely an oversight on Microsoft’s part.

3. The console’s color scheme (red with black accents), while sexy and special, conflicts with the standard white of so many other peripherals, specifically the remote and messaging kit. I wish MS would consider black versions of those, even though it seems highly unlikely.

In any case, I haven’t officially unboxed this sucker yet, and I don’t intend on going Gold until November or so, so those of you that have been mocking me for owning so many games with no console to play them on can keep doing so until further notice.

EDIT: There’s an interesting Elite/Halo 3/wireless adapter bundle happening right now as well, also at a bargain 329$. Be aware though, that this is likely a way to unload old Elites with Falcon chipsets, which still predominate in Canada.