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Xbox 360 improvements we can (almost) all agree on
Thanks to all of you who've taken time to read my 10 reasons the Xbox 360 doesn't quite rock - yet and offer thoughtful feedback. As you no doubt realize, my intent was not to diss Microsoft or the Xbox 360 but to offer some constructive criticism and kick off discussions of what was done really well and what might be done maybe just a little better with a future update.

As several of you noted, the great thing about the 360 (and the original Xbox before it) is the ability to add features and fixes through a software update. This isn't totally new for consumer electronics - Apple occasionally updates its iPod operating system via flash ROM updates and I've had many a cell phone and router that's been upgraded this way - but, with the exception of the PSP now, it's not really been done in the console space without some change in hardware.

It seemed like a number of people didn't read the article but jumped to the conclusion that it was some Sony fanboy slam against the 360. bean19 at Evil Avatar replied, "Deceptively titled. . . should be 10 really solid suggestions for improving the X360. Also, the best one isn't in the list at all IMO. The suggestion of putting an 8MB memory card in the Core units is excellent."

OK, so I have a thing for the thunderous, attention grabbing headline. Let's chalk it up to my years of writing thunderous, attention-grabbing headlines for a living. Maybe next time I'll tone it down a little.

FYI: This article actually went through about six drafts, and I nearly abandoned it two or three times. But everytime I'd play the 360 (pretty much every night), a voice in the back of my head would keep shouting about this or that feature, and how much better it would be if you could only do this or that.

So, yes, for a moment I listened to the voices in my head. Now I'm listening to yours:

• protocol_image at Evil Avatar had a really good tip. You can use password protection to prevent auto-login: "just do the simple 4-button password rather than unplugging your cable (yuck!) everytime." Nice.
  
  
  
• King Drewsky at Evil Avatar believes we should have Clan support "or at least some type of recognition of who you roll with." He makes a compelling case: "As a moderator for a website of 3000 gamers over the age of 25, I tend to only want to play with members from the site. However when I receive a friend request, I am unable to distinguish if the guy is from the site or just some random Timmy that I would prefer to ignore. With the Halo2 interface, you could tell who people were by the clan they were a part of. Now all I've got is a gamer tile and a silly motto in which most people just put, 'I like b00bs.' Wouldn't it be nice if you could know if the person was from Evil Avatar, the Team Xbox forums, the Penny Arcade forums, Clan PMS, 2old2play, or some other online organization?"
  
  
  
• Grimgrock at Evil Avatar cites John Dvorak as proof that the 360 UI is darn near perfect and thinks that online documentation is OK. I don't have a problem with a little online help, but it shouldn't be a substitute for an intuitive interface. It's a kludge, and citing Dvorak (who I've always considered a hack) won't get you anywhere with me. That said, I do think the 360 UI is a vast improvement over anything we've seen to date, and my comment was that a few small nits mar an otherwise innovative and beautiful UI.
  
  
  
• Xbox360fanboy.com retitled my piece "Ten careful considerations about the 360" and added the 10 Things I Hate About You logo. Funny! I hope you don't mind that I borrowed the logo for this post.
  
  
  
• Several posters on Joystiq.com picked apart my list. That's fair, up to a point. Everyone has an opinion, and I was simply pointing out the things that interfere with my total enjoyment of the 360. And where I could, I suggested possible solutions. You're welcome to agree or disagree. But let's not prejudge whether some of the smartest software engineers in the world can solve these sticky problems. I say throw down the gauntlet, and let's see what they can do!

The bottom line is that I'm quite happy with my 360s. I wouldn't trade them for anything right now, not even big bucks on eBay or sex with some girls in Boston.

I've been telling everyone I know with an HDTV and 5.1 sound to get one if they can. And if you have standard def, it's pretty damn good there too. We are lucky enough to have one connected to each, and so far we've yet to have a bad experience.

I just happen to think it can be better.Is that so wrong?

-=Gamewatcher