Gaming / Video Game Consoles / XBox 360 Elite

Christmas is coming!  Everyone seems to be asking for gaming systems-This is the one I have right now and it is COOL!!  That's coming from a relatively old person to be playing video games, too ;)  I wasn't overly impressed by a gaming system before this one.  The graphics are amazing on the games that I have, control is very good (this depends on the game, too, though), and I pretty much can't complain about anything with this system.  It is fairly small so it fits nicely in my entertainment center where actually I couldn't fit a DVD player previously.  Games load from the front, so there's no fussing trying to get the system out from under something to put a game in.  the controllers I have are wireless and reach quite a good distance from the machine itself-I can walk at least 25 feet from it and still have control.  I haven't tried any further than that, so I can't say where the wireless gives out finally.

The game selection is amazing-there are just tons of games out there to choose from.  Everything from little kid's learning games to the blood 'n guts ones that the bigger kids like.  Guitar Hero and Rock star are both available on this system, for those parents that need to know those are available ;) 

There are two systems of XBox to choose from-the regualr and the elite.  Elite, from what I understand, has more memory and will be faster at loading games plus it will be able to store more information from the games being played (saved games and such).  I'm pretty sure both of these options have the "Live" feature on them-you can go online basically and play with other people in virtual worlds, plus i think there are more games you can buy online somehow, too.  I haven't tried this at all, so I can't report back on how that works, but i have heard from other adults that it's easy to use and a lot of fun.

There is supposedly some sort of flaw where the system can overheat, but I've had mine running for hours at a time and I've never had anything even get hot to the touch, so I don't see a reason to buy the optional cooling fan (I'm thinking it's one more way for them to make money).  If you have kids that play the game nonstop or if the system is stored in a very closed area, however, you may want to invest in the fan to protect the system. 

If you're a parent looking for a cool gift this season, I think this would be a lot of fun for both you and the kids!  There's lots of games you will find intersting on this system-you will be very surprised how much gaming companies are catering to parents now, too!