Happy Days

Well, I'm liking my Xbox 360, PGR3 and (I just bought) Kameo. The graphics are awesome, even on my 24" flat screen CRT SDTV with component inputs, though I've been dreaming of the day I could afford an HDTV. My friend got an HDTV and it's really nice, but they are still too expensive for me.

The media capabilities are a step down from XBMC on the Xbox in the freedom/choice of formats it supports and the way in which one can access their content over a LAN. It is nice that they have connectivity with USB 2.0 devices of different types, but it really is somewhat of a disappointment on the media side. XBMC is super customizable (I just made my own weather icons for it the other day) and does everything one could want in regards to the number of formats it supports, the combatability with different computers, and the fact that it's customizable by the user (this is one of open sources' strong points). There's also scripts that you can download to make it do everything from read your favorite RSS feeds, look at the newest comics, and watch trailers. Plus, because it's open source, it's free and the rate of development is amazingly fast (they keep bringing new features ,tweaking the UI and fixing bugs constantly).

The Xbox 360 is such a powerful piece of hardware and it's such a shame that Microsoft limits the potential. It would be great to be able to have XBMC as an official program on the Xbox 360 (then it would be able to play WMV-HD videos). I'd pay for it, but it would be even better if it was a download on Xbox Live Marketplace (which is great, btw!). That way they could bring updates to it every week or so. Now, that will probably never happen, but it would be great even if it meant losing the ability to tweak it to your liking.

I really like that Microsoft has tried to make the console more capable out of the box, but I want more (and I also don't want to have to buy a MCE PC just to watch movies from my PC or removable media). I like the 360 interface for gaming, XBL Arcade games, the fact that I can somewhat customize the interface (but I don't want to have to pay for something stupid like GamerPics and themes) and finally being able to get back on Xbox Live with my friends. It really is awesome (and now it's free). I like the achievements (more like addicted :) and I like everything else about it (though there are some slight issues I have with the hardware: the noise mainly). I'm glad to say that I haven't had any problems with mine.

I say give the XBMC devs an XDK and let them make it an official product, bring them on board, or at the very least update the Xbox 360 to have the same basic features as the XBMC: Music (and its selection of free formats like APE, FLAC; hey, you did it with the AAC codec), Movies (I think the MCE interface itself is added value and incentive to buy one, but I don't think it should be a requirement to watch movies off your PC), Pictures (already done), and Weather (I'd like the weather forecast; it'd be easy to do, just use an RSS feed). Give us a MUCH better DVD player, too. ;)

Oh, and I just put up my Last.fm Weekly Top Artists into the sidebar. Pretty cool; I just learned about being able to do that.