They gave John an XBox 360

Last week I was sitting at my desk, minding my own business when I got a phone call from Bill Gates.

Not Gates himself, of course, he's too busy to actually call people. Like Santa Claus, Bill hires a team of people to impersonate him, especially at this seasonal time of year. The conversation went something like this:

BILL: Hi, is that, John?
JOHN: Yeah, who wants to know?
BILL: John, it's Bill Gates, we need a man who doesn't play games to review our games console.
JOHN: Bill that's crazy talk, I mean I'm 'a PC' and stuff, but getting someone who doesn't review games to play with an XBox 360- It's madness! It's the worst idea since Vista!

Over the next forty minutes Bill explained to me the deal. You see, the House of Mario had released this console called the 'Wii' and families and groups of people were getting together to play it. Not really for the solitary gamer toiling long in to the night. This was 'social' or 'casual' gaming. And it was eating market share like Godzilla with the munchies.

So Microsoft want a piece of the action and they were keen to find social gamers who could help them. Now I do own a Wii and I go game socially with it. Our favourite game is bowling and I have about 10 Miis created by my friends stored on the console. I am actually best at Wii Sports Golf, relaxing to play by oneself, frustrating in a social situation. I think bowling works because the turn around of players is so quick, so no one gets bored.

Anyway Microsoft have asked me to test out the XBox 360 with a game called You're in the Movies. You may have seen the above-the-line TV commercials with Burt Reynolds. Nicely matched with the exposure he'll be getting for his new British comedy A Bunch of Amateurs.

Over the next few weeks I'm going to put the XBox through its social gaming paces. First I'd thought I'd take some unboxing pics, cos you know, that's cool as well.











Mmm, shiny, shiny/Shiny box of plastic...



















Actually this probably costs a fortune in orange and green plastic bags.















The testing area set up, note the Wii perched on top of the DVD player.










So some disclosure to conclude:

1. Microsoft really have given me this console and this game. No lie.
2. I own an iPod and ambivalent to the whole Microsoft vs Apple thing. Unlike Stephen Fry...
3. Neither am I some sort of Nintendo freak, YES the N64 was for me the best games console ever, but I have an open mind.
4. As an online marketeer myself I'm finding this whole process fascinating.
5. Any questions give me a shout. johnrivers@gmail.com