It' s 7.45 am and I' m eating my cornflakes as I write this. I' m going to be on a bus to Leeds town centre in half an hour to be at my local indie game store at 9pm. When I return home I should be the proud owner of a shiny new Xbox 360 and games. I say should because apparently people have been queuing up overnight for one of the things. I mean check out this story on the BBC Website http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4490778.stm

I might be an obsessed gamer but not obsessed enough to camp outside a store over night, not a chance. Not when I' ve got a lovely pre-order slip from my local indy store :) They are getting 12 premium packs and I' m number 1 on their order list. In theory all I have to do is waltz to the counter hand it over as well as the remaining £260 + extra for games and I should be handed a console. It being a small store and not a massive retailer like Game (The equivalent of your Electronics Boutique... Indeed Game actually took over all EB stores in the UK) it shouldn' t have attracted too many people lingering outside waiting for the place to open.

Anyway, if any of your UK / Europe lot what to post about the launch do so, it' ll be interesting to hear from you. I can' t be the only UK-er on these forums though... right?

I used to know Leeds quite well, and lived in Bradford.

Not going to get an X360 unless something major games-wise turns up.

Where about' s are you now Silas? I' ve some relatives who live in Bradford and close by in Shipley.

Anyway, I' m just on the net to try and calm myself down. I did indeed return home a proud new owner of the 360 and now I know where it gets its name. Forget all the marketing you' ve heard about it and consider this. The thing must weight at least 360 pounds. My hands were in extreme pain as I carried the thing home.

I finally decided on PGE3, PDZ and Kameo. Also I got a plug and play charger and an expensive wireless network adaptor. The last piece of kit was a bit of a gamble but is the only way I' ll ever get online. My PC and internet is downstairs. My gaming environment is upstairs. I' ve very vivid memories of trying to connect my Dreamcast to the net via an extremely long phone wire trailing from my room, along a hallway, down stairs and to the phone line... a scene I never want to repeat.

The good news is everything works. The console while heavy is very pretty to look at. Wireless pads are going to take a while to get used to but the fact I can turn the console on and off from the ' 360 Button' amazes me. It also came with about 20 or so random songs from the hard drive... only one I' d ever heard of (Pressure by Skindread)

You might have read the hell I had trying to get my PS2 online. Not so with the 360. The adaptor literally clips onto the back of the 360 and you plug a small wire into the USB port on the back, next to the eathernet adaptor. The homepage screen basically takes you through logging on through Live and to my surprise everything connected. I' ve left it downloading a random trailer I found on the marketplace.

All in all I' m very happy. You' ll notice I' ve not talked much about the games, that’s because I' ve not had much chance to play them. PGR3 is all I' ve had a bash on and I can vouch for its prettiness. Playing Burnout Revenge for practice at a racing game probably wasn' t the best idea I' d ever had. I' m going to have to learn how to race ' properly' .

Anyway, have fun with your 360' s, I' m off to go play.

Good for you whatabout_paul! Good times ahead!

Yeah, I was surprised at how easily mine connected as well. Just plug it in, and BAM! You' re online. I used the original Xbox wireless adapter for mine. Worked like a charm. I want that new one for asthetic purposes, but that doesn' t justify the price (especially since I have to pay $1000 to get my car fixed!!)

Hopefully you' ll see me online in a week and a half, or so.

Im from Leeds. What indy store you talking about? Any left, hehe? I havent pre-ordered so it looks like im waiting till after new year, nooo.

choupolo! A fellow Leeds Lad/Lass (no gender is specified anywhere I can tell). Welcome to the forum. You know the Merrion Centre? A shop called Playtime. They got 12 Premium consoles and 6 core. All of them had been pre ordered I' m afraid. I' d go ask them when they think the next lot will arrive. I' ll keep an eye out for you getting one then possibly see you on Xbox Live.

choupolo=lad (im afraid! )

Ah the Merrion Centre. Yes I know the one. I dont visit Playtime as much as I should, but City Cyber is a regular haunt.

So I' ll probably check ' em out as soon as I' ve got some spare cash. Maybe they' ll have some non-preordered units sooner than next Feb/March which is what every other shop is saying!

im from leeds too,i went to get the new xbox....and all the shops are pulling a right stunt....there packing the 360 off with about 7 games and charging bout £700 bucks for em! i think the cheapest one ive seen is around £400..ill w8 till they drop in price,unless i can sell a kidney
l8rs keiser

oh ye (what about_paul) is it any good? cause the videos ive seen you cant really tell...it just looks like the 1st xbox to me. is there any difference? cheers

Another person from Leeds! Welcome to the forum. Is your name taken from that famous Leeds band per chance ? (And yes, I know your name is one letter off, probably on purpose)

The leap to the next gen is very impressive. Probably made more spectacular by being broadcast in 720p HD but I' m sure the graphics would look awesome on any TV. During some races on PGR3 I' ve crashed due to flinging the camera around my car to get a better look at the track or a backdrop or a building. Perfect Dark has to win a title for being the ' shinyest' game ever while still looking very impressive.. even Kameo looks stunning. Half an hour into the game it does it' s party piece, displaying thousands of orcs on screen at once with no slowdown what so ever.

It' s not just the graphics but always being connected to Live opens up games in new and interesting ways. I' m usually one to just blast through games then move onto the next one when bored. Because some games track how well you' ve done compared to everyone else you feel compelled to go back and try again, to do better and to show that you are the man (or woman).

I am from Ireland! .. which is closer to leeds than america, so you could say i live realtively close to you. Anyway i am not getting a 360, its way overpriced [650 euros for a permerium package with game!? bah! ] But one thing i am learning from this 360 shortage is the obvious ebay profits, now watching what time of the month do the 360 prices peak is very important as i hope to buy some future consoles [pre-order them of course] and sell them on ebay and make a fortune, yes some of you might hate me for that but with the money i get i will probley buy another one.

Just Watching, Watching...

Gosh I really hope I get one before christmas, I sold my xbox way too early in order to get a 360. And I didn' t pre-order one. If I don' t get one by christmas I really hope I can get it by jan 4th...by B-day! with PDZ!

hahah ye its actually spelt keisar but i was tired and mashed,anyway its diff aint it.wheres this indie store you all keep pipin on about? and is it any good?

Silentbomber if I were a rational gamer I would have waited for a price drop. As it is I' ve got a bit of an obsession and would have felt empty without a 360. I' m actually very happy with it and have yet to receive my credit card bill so it' s all gain at the moment.

Gaius IV, apparently some Game stores have 360' s in but all in bundles. I was in town today and overheard them trying to sell one for £600+ with a few games, perifirals, carry case and some other bits. Your best bet is going to be checking with shops near you. Rumours are stores will be getting deliveries on Fridays.

keiser, I think there may be a way to change your name. Bug Adam enough and he might be able to do something for you. It' s the Kaiser Chiefs anyway... I' m currently searching e-bay for tickets to their gig in Millennium Square in April. I' ve sent you a message as I don' t think people would appreciate me openly advertising for a shop :) (That and I' ve mentioned it on the last page).

Not meaning to start a riot or anything, but it might be best to wait a while for Xbox 360s anyway. According to many sources, there have been a lot of crashes reported. Here is one by someone in some completely random site: http://www.xbox-scene.com/xbox1data/sep/EEFkZkkkyEHasmrPqu.php

Anywhooo, I still look forward to eventually getting my hands on an Xbox 360 as well. Y' know, when Microsoft sort these things out.

PS. I live in Oakham. Somewhere in Rutland.

It' s always like that.

First generation consumer electronics always have growing pains/glitches. Can' t see why so many people are suprised. With practically every console launch to date the first generation stuff isn' t usually the best. My first generation PS2 was a piece of shit that crapped out after 2 months of use. My first generation Xbox wasn' t that much different either - it' s DVD drive decided to die after 12 months.

The actual percentage of people having problems is consistent with previous console launches (only a couple of %). I can definitely see the same thing happening with the PS3 and Revolution.

edit: and considering how advanced these things are starting to become - these problems aren' t easy to avoid.

ye that gig is gunna rock man,my mate has just booked loadsa tickets for it :)
im gunna get in his ribs and see if i can scab one of him lol....no wonder i couldnt find any of their music online i cant spell there fookin name :p

im gunna just w8 untill april and see the outcome of sony`s little consumer whore
then decide which 1 im gunna get...but ive always been an xbox fan...even when every one else thought it was gunna flop :p
if i didnt have kids..i would have cancelled chrimbo and bought one off e-bay
(sigh) the joys of fatherhood

peace out

I dont think you should be waiting for PS3, atleast if you do, its a longer wait than april for sure

See if your mate can score me a ticket too. Cheapest I can find is £40 off e-bay...

I' ve had my 360 a week and it' s crashed once. That was only because I was watching Gotham TV, playing a burned CD on my hard drive, trying to see some random racers gamer tag and then exit the dashboard all at once.