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It’s XBox 360 release day, which means that a lot of people probably skipped work to play their new man-toy, despite being tired from waiting in line before midnight, or in the wee-hours of the morning, hoping to snag a ‘360 before anyone else. And the payoff? One of the most expensive gaming consoles ever, with no “killer app” in sight.

Don’t get me wrong, I was quite interested in getting my hands on a ‘360 to see what the hype was about, and I did just that, seeing as a friend of mine was eager enough to hit the local Electronics Boutique at midnight, which had less than fifty units shipped to it. Suffice to say, $800 of his money later, I got to try out five games, including Call of Duty 2, Madden 2006, Perfect Dark 2, Project Gotham Racing, and Quake 4.

There are enough reviews of these games on the web, so I won’t bother to detail my experiences with these titles. Suffice to say, from the few hours I spent watching and using these games, I confirm my suspicions that the ‘360 is a horrible purchase at this time. The only game of the lot that I can see myself wanting to buy, and the only one of those games I really want to continue playing, is Call of Duty 2, a non-exclusive. Remarkably, the controls for the game are solid on the ‘360, and much better than any first-person shooter (FPS) I’ve ever played on a console.

I also have to give props to Microsoft for integrating Live! so well into the unit and the games. The “dashboard” interface one can bring up from in-game is nice, particularly since you can plug in an iPod and stream music with ease, lending players the ability to quickly and easily switch tracks with as little interrupt to game flow as possible.

All in all, the ‘360 is a nice improvement on the XBox, but it still isn’t worth the money considering how little graphics technology has come since the release of the XBox; while ‘360 games are definitely prettier than those on the XBox, the fun-factor isn’t much greater, and with such a small, and mostly medicore library on the 360 at this time, gamers are much better holding off for awhile until they can better gauge where the PS3 and Revolution will go.

While I’m waiting for the titles I’m actually looking forward to on the ‘360 to come out in the spring, I may have to pick up a copy of Call of Duty 2 for my PC. And if you did wait in line for your ‘360, and you don’t have Call of Duty 2, you need to drop another 50 bucks ASAP.

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