I did. 300, The Fountain, and TMNT. Plus it has King Kong and the 360 remote that the wife can use with her iPod. And I won't have to get an HDMI switch since it'll use the same input. It just made too much sense...

Haven't told the wife yet. After the 360, PS3, new LCD, and entertainment center... I can't imagine her being very open to the idea.

Well my gd 360 just died for the second time in 8 months!!! I was big time deep in a game of Bioshock (to the point that I killed two Big Daddy's and found over 6 diaries). I forgot to save --- and BOOM the game freezes. Cue the RROD and my coffin is on it's way. I should be back up to speed in 2-4 weeks. Damn it Microsoft!!

Huh?

She currently hooks the ipod up to it via usb, but hates using the controller to to control the music. With the remote she'll be able to use the standard FWD/REV buttons to skip songs, right?

Hmmmmm...do you guys recommend the 360 HD-DVD player, or the A2?

Anything that isn't the 360's would be preferable. I'm on my second one so far. The first was glitchy as hell and they both played back with terrible loud noises coming from the 360. It makes watching a movie a chore. Also, the 360 drive can't play at the higher fidelity sound options available on the HD-DVD discs.

Thanks. The A20 would be like $31 more with this deal...sure seems to me it'd be nicer having a standalone player.

That's certainly the right choice, especially if you don't have an HDMI on your 360. But even if you do, that fan noise really ruins the experience of movie watching. I like the compact nature of the 360 drive, but that's really the only plus now (it used to be A LOT cheaper than a stand-alone player). In a year or so, my 360 player is going back to Best Buy with the replacement warranty and I'll be getting a stand alone player instead.

Incidentally, by then, thanks to the BB replacement plan, the same $200 that I used to buy my Xbox in 2003 will have been used to swap it out for a new one (plus games) in 2005, then that Xbox went back after my 360 purchase in late 2006 in exchange for the HD-DVD drive, then in June it was swapped for another drive (plus two free HD-DVDs in an in-store promotion), and later will presumably be swapped for the stand-alone next year. Yeah recycling!

Is Madden 2006 worth getting? I've heard things that would indicate otherwise, but for $9...

(Side note: I just picked up a 360, and don't feel like paying the cash for 2007/2008. I just want to know if it's truly worth buying.)

I didn't like 2006 at all. I rented it and got the GS in a few hours and sent it back the same day. 2007, I picked it up a couple weeks back for $12.99 used at gamestop and it's pretty good.

Mine works great, and I have two other friends that also use the 360 HD drive with no problems. However, I haven't used any other HD player or even seen another HD player in action.

I just used my 360 HD player for the first time last night. Watched the first couple of episodes of Heroes. I noticed no noise emanating from the system. When I play games the noise is unbearable.

I mean the fan kicks in when the DVD/Game/System drive is running. Why would it kick in if just the HD-DVD drive is running?

Anyway, I went with the 360 drive for space reasons. Owning all three systems this gen, an HD Tivo, stereo, and a switchbox, and a region free DVD player, space is at a premium(also just dumped the cable box for some cable cards). Plus I did the 7 free movie deal + a 10% off coupon last week at Best Buy, making it $160 after tax.

Finally got back from Germany and checked the date of the 360 Microsoft sent me...

7/31/07. Neat! No HDMI Oh well. Seems quieter to me. Now to go and buy Bioshock...

The glory that is puzzle fighter is mine.

Streets of Rage 2 with online co-op? Hmm..

Mine too! Playing a few rounds online already...

The old character sprites don't really bother me despite being a bit blurry.

I didn't mind 06, while it didn't have all the features of other 06 versions it looked decent and it's an easy 1000 achievement points after about 6 hours.

Sure, but she will miss the shoulder buttons...being able to page through songs
(of course, the "full size" remote might have this feature, the mini-remote that came with the launch model doesn't)

I went with the A2 if that gives you any confidence in a purchase of it...
Why be tied to using the 360 if you don't have to?

I will also, most likely, be picking up Puzzle Fighter this evening if the graphics don't bother me.

I picked up puzzle fighter this morning. Exactly how I remember it, in all its glory.

It is kinda odd that they are going to all that trouble to update the actual SF graphics but couldn't spend a week on the Puzzle Fighter graphics at the same time.

I just purchased an Elite today. Anything I need to know? Is transfering my saves and Live games as easy as using the transfer cable?

HOnestly, I thought it looked pretty good. I mean, it's a freaking puzzle game. I don't expect Bioshock level quality graphics.

I don't have an Elite, nor do I have the 120GB drive, but from watching Major Nelson's little video on the new drives, he made it sound as-if saves are transferred via the cable, just like videos, demos, etc.