Just finished reading Jamie Tod Rubin’s X Box Experience, and I recognized my own pattern of “using” the console. Jamie spent over 2 hours setting up the console instead of playing. This is not as user friendly, as people would want it to be. There are far to many hoops to jump through. Definitively read the piece if you intend to buy the console. I am pretty much convinced though that PS or any other console for that matter is not going to be any better.
X Box is a great console, don’t get me wrong, love owning it. But these user experience kinks, especially when confronted as a first time user, can be very challenging, thus leaving a negative impression on the players.
After the first time kinks are ironed out, you will still get the frequent updates, that will impede your console usage. Updates that require you to leave more space on your console, and things of similar nature. At the end of the day, I definitively don’t regret owning it, just noticing that users need to be guided way more. Console experience shouldn’t feel like owning a desktop gaming machine. And Jamie being the old school PC geek was very versatile in solving all these problems. The next consumer might not be as good. Be prepared to spend 3–4 hours the first time you buy it, so you can get everything right.