Well, I finally took the plunge this Christmas and got the kids and myself a new XBOX 360. Outfitted it with an extra controller, rechargeable batteries, and a slew of games. And let me just say - WOW.

I have never been much of a gamer, but certainly have been since getting the 360. My kids (11,9,and 5) absolutely love Viva Pinata - a great game for kids and I have found it strangely addicting as well.

Call of Duty 3 has been incredibly fun on XBOX Live (SpartyGuy is my gamer tag for those of you looking for an easy kill). I have yet to even play the actual game, instead spending my CoD3 time battling it out on the virtual battelfields. War is my favorite game type and have gotten to the point where I can hold my own for the most part.

I recently picked up Rainbow Six: Vegas and have been blown away by that one as well. I tried the XBOX Live experience for all of five minutes and liked it, though I died three times in rapid succession. By the single player game has been very fun and kept me invovled as I try to get better at it. It plays differently than CoD3 since Rainbow is very confined being mostly indoors requiring a different fighting style than the more open CoD3. My reflexes arent fast enough for the close quarter fighting in Rainbow right now to do well online. I can be a bit more effective at the longer ranges of CoD3.

Very fun stuff...