A few weeks ago I marked my entrance into two exciting new worlds. All sparked by just fifteen minutes at a friend’s house (although his status is now questionable, this entrance was not cheap).

What caused this transformation? It’s quite simple: Gears of War. When I first caught a glimpse of the game, I wasn’t even aware that it was actually a game. The detail was so stunning that I just thought it was a refreshing camera angle in a movie. I quickly found out that it wasn’t and after just a few minutes of gameplay, I knew I had to get me one.

So what are the two worlds? First, obviously, is the world of gaming. I’d never before owned a console, nor had I spent much more than a few hours playing games on any platform. I’d just never had a chance to get into it. The other world is, courtesy of my new Xbox 360, high-definition. My television, though capable of HD, had been previously relegated to displaying our basic cable’s standard definition content. Playing games and watching clips in HD is a beautiful experience.

Aside from the machine’s often deafening roar overridden only by the occasional airplane flyby, I’m incredibly pleased with Microsoft’s work on the product. It looks beautiful, and gives the same functional simplicity that I have come to love in Apple’s products. Also, while my knowledge is obviously quite limited, my experiences so far with Live and the online component have been wonderful.

I’ve also been pleasantly surprised by the console’s popularity. I have already conducted half-a-dozen meetings while bashing away at the locust horde alongside my clients. Nothing seals a deal like a crucial revive or mutual chainsaw attack.
In any case, I have one more avenue for direct contact with you. Please join me, gamertag: thamedesign.