With the inclusion of HD cables as standard, Itagaki hopes that people will end up making the move to HDTV. He suggests standard CRT over other types, devoting a lengthy rant to his displeasure with LCD televisions. Itagaki states that Team Ninja has "flagship class" LCD televisions throughout its offices, and he's not impressed with any of them. The problem, he states, isn't so much with response time, but with inaccurate color. Combine that with the high prices, and he comes to the conclusion: "buying a CRT is, as a gamer, a wise choice. A comment by Tomonobu Itagaki Developer of the D.O.A series.

I preordered my 360 (premium) from FS a couple wks ago. Got a white toque as well (betchya thats only a CANADIAN bonus!)

Ahh yes, the Canadian Toque. I too received a toque at Future Shop. I think they were only offering this to the first 10 customers. If you wear it when you go to pick up the machine, you get front of the line service. And thanks to good old Ralphie (Klein that is...) my $400 cheque will cover most of the cost. Ahhh the good old Alberta advantage!!!

Bah...don't remind me about the perks of living in AB :p

will the Xbox360 support DTS,wll it have an Optical outlet???

Yes and yes.

The optical output is on the HD cable. You need an optical cable.

The cost is too high?

How about this - games are spending over $600 for a vid card alone (here's an e.g.)
http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?sku_id=0665000FS10066462&catid=10524&logon=&langid=EN

and that doesn't account for things like faster processor upgrades, greater ram, better m/b for bus speed blah blah blah

Games are equal to or more expensive on the PC as well.

I remember in the late 70's the Intellivision cartridges were $55 a pop.

So for $600 you've got a complete gaming system with some preloaded games, DVD functionality, wireless controllers, HD Component pack inputs, blah blah blah...

It is pricey. It isn't expensive in comparison to the alternatives.

It isn't for everyone either.

The cost is too high?

How about this - games are spending over $600 for a vid card alone (here's an e.g.)
http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?sku_id=0665000FS10066462&catid=10524&logon=&langid=EN

and that doesn't account for things like faster processor upgrades, greater ram, better m/b for bus speed blah blah blah
Well that card alone will give you over 90+fps with resolutions at 1600X1200 or higher, where consoles give 30-60fps at much less resolutions (no where near the PC quality). Most people would be fine with a $150 video card to give over 50fps at 800X600 in most games. You can't compare PC & xbox 360 since they are in 2 different leagues. Since most people have a PC, wouldn't it be more logical to upgrade your PC with the extra $600.

Don't say "i'm not going to buy a car since a ferarri engine alone costs over $20,000" (just an example). Compare things on equal levels. To those who don't have a PC or don't use it as regulairly then by all means go for the Xbox 360, it is a great price for what you get with it.

Well that card alone will give you over 90+fps with resolutions at 1600X1200 or higher, where consoles give 30-60fps at much less resolutions (no where near the PC quality).

Actually, the graphics system in the 360 will be substantially more powerful than any currently existing PC video card's. It won't be until mid or late 2006 that PCs catch up.

"That card alone..."

Where do you stick the game in?

wouldn't it be more logical to upgrade your PC with the extra $600. Are you kidding me? Not on your life!

A standard 9600 OEM goes for 1/4 of that... and that's only if you need to upgrade... My games and Word Processing work well with that card - damn fine in fact.

That $450 difference between a "latest and greatest flavour of the day" (that will inevitably be $150 in 18 months) and a 9600 (again ASSUMING you have to upgrade) covers an entire SEPARATE gaming platform for others to share on a Television instead of one person being a hermit in their room with a PC game.

A hardcore gaming PC costs 4K. A quality PC (not an eMachine) goes for around a 1K. That's $3,000 spent by gamers (not including special peripherals) as opposed to $4-500.

Well I am getting awfully tired of upgrading my video card every year or two.

I am very much looking forward to being able to hook a 360 up to my HiDef widescreen tv and 5.1 surround sound to play games. Plug and go - no upgrading, no worrying about minimum system requirements. Very convenient.

Will the power of the 360 be surpassed on the PC? Absolutely but seriously how many people even have a $600 video card in their PC?

Yeah I'm with you. The timing for this thing is perfect for me. I was an original NES owner then super NES then N64. They kept hooking me in with their sequal games! Finally in early 2002 I upgraded my PC and paid $700 for my Video card (Geoforce 2 or 3 128). Cutting edge at the time, but is now outdated. When Xbox came out that year, I wasn't to impressed with the graphics and I was loving my PC gaming especially online. Now that I am bored with PC gaming and I haven't gamed online for 2 years, I am hoping that HD-gaming will revive my gaming spirit! I even vowed to get my wife into it. I am very excited about the wireless controller and the headset thing too.
I'll be starting with Call of Duty, Gotham racing, and Ghost Recon. Maybe Tiger Woods Golf when I am finished those.
Oh and November 23rd is my birthday, so I should be getting my gift a day early!

Same here - used to be big into Quake2 online but not so much online gaming anymore - I too am looking to renew my gaming with 360.

I just preordered my premium 360 from Future Shop today :D

sorry if this is a silly question but can the actual 360 unit be placed horizontally?

All the pics I have seen show it vertical.

Yes,it can placed on its side.http://img389.imageshack.us/img389/9470/siblingfun3fa.th.jpg (http://img389.imageshack.us/my.php?image=siblingfun3fa.jpg)

What's the story with the Removable 20GB HD? Can I use it as a Back Up for my Mac Mini? :D

Not sure what you mean by "whats the story..."?

It is not compatible with anything else that I am aware. AFAIK it is removable to:
1) Allow for upgrading to larger capacity drives
2) Allow for taking your info to another xbox.

a few questions:

Xbox 360 only supports 720p/1080i.

1) so xbox 360 games are going to have both options 720p/1080i (not one or the other)?

--unlike some xbox games that only offered 720p and downconverted to 480p for those with tv's that only have 480p and 1080i.

2) re: 360 and HDDVD probable support in the future - likely sometime when the Ps3 comes out, since HD DVD will only provide 480p resolution on tv's that only component inputs, what good is this going to be for viewing 1080i HD DVD via xbox 360, therefore, if HD DVD is not going to support 1080i via component inputs then what is the chance that there will be some type of adapter made to circumvate this stupidiy e eg. dvi to component

3) Gaming: Call of Duty 2 on the xbox 360 - big FPS gamer here, love PC FPS and was going to pick up COD2 for the PC but heard that it was coming out on the xbox 360 - how much better can it be on the 360 ?

I believe thats correct James - it will upconvert 720p to 1080i for folks like me whose TV wont do 720p (only 480p and 1080i)

As far as I've read those that have 1080i HDTV will be scaled up. So no worries.