[Xantar]

Like Null, I think the hard drive will become more and more necessary as more games go online. But if Xbox Live gets a 50% adoption rate (which is five times more than it did currently), that's still several million people who won't find much conceivable use for the thing.

My problem with the two packages had less to do with the hard drive and more to do with all the other accessories like wireless controllers and component cables for HDTV being absent from the basic version of the Xbox 360. It wouldn't be so bad if Microsoft didn't ridiculously overcharge for them. But overall, it's not a big deal.

I think Microsoft's biggest problem is that in the process of trying to become profitable (which is certainly a good goal), they squandered some of the good will they built up in this generation. The publicity from the two packages was bad. The MTV unveiling turned a lot of people off, and I'm betting most casual gamers have forgotten all about it by now so that Microsoft essentially gained nothing from it. And I'm not sure that launching early was such a hot idea either. The Xbox 360 is competing against the previous generation when games for the PS2 have never looked better. The result is a generalized reaction of "Meh, I can wait until next year." And the problem with that is by next year, the PS3 will be out and in full swing.

I'm sure the Xbox 360 will produce some nice graphics, but the question is whether they will be better than the PS3's. I really don't know, but they'd better look damn good by the time Sony enters the fray.