The Console
Heavy bugger. Size is pretty much the same as the old Xbox (except that that had the power supply internally) but the pretty newfangled design makes it look much smaller. Power brick is big, but not huge (slightly bigger than my Mac Mini power brick).
Noise is the same as my old 1.4 Xbox until you insert a game disc. Then it goes a bit mental. You don't really notice when playing games, but when the music is off during the loading screen, it's making a fair bit of ruckus.
Project Gotham 3
Good soundtrack (like a configurable car CD changer with different music styles to choose from). And it looks really nice in motion (the motion blur makes it feel really smooth) and the HDR / exposure is really great. No AA I could discern, and I looked pretty closely. Single player is standard PGR2 with a few new variations (time vs. kudos), which serves me well.
Online is a blast (thanks chaps!), but what really impressed me is that all of the tracks we were driving felt great, in contrast to PGR2 there seems to plenty of jumps / elevation changes (special mention to the parking garage in Tokyo and the ramp before the sharp right corner in London).
On the handling, it feels very similar to PGR2 to me. I think there's a bit more sideways action going on, but overall rather similar. That said, I sold PGR2 together with my Xbox about 3 months ago, so I cannot really go and check.
Kameo
Best looking launch game from the 3 I've got. The first level and the overall attention to detail (character design animation) is very nice. Yes, you can see they tried to make it colourful. Yes, they tried to cram every effect known to mankind in there (imagine the ICO shadows looking like the Shadow Trolls...
). Yes, the variation of some of the "puzzles" isn't too great, i.e. instead of puzzles there is something which would be parts of the solution of a bigger puzzle (for example in Zelda).
But still, I think it's a good game (so far — having finished the Tree Monster) and some of the vistas presented during gameplay are most impressive.
And it's not too easy (have the hints turned off).
Perfect Dark Zero
Only played the tutorial level. Controls feel good, level looked very Halo-ish (i.e. specular lighting, metallic surfaces) but it feels very different. What I really like is the feeling of presence of your character (your shadow, or simply the smoothness of animation when going from 1st to 3rd person). Graphics are good, but not as effects-in-your-face as the beginning of Kameo. Then you get from small tunnels and confined rooms, to a huge detailed hangar with 20-30 enemies, some allies, and a lot of spider bots attacking you, and you realize there's a lot of power under the hood.
I can't really say much about the gameplay, other than it feels good (buf in spite of looks), different from Halo. I don't have a clue how to use the security hacking device where you have to push a button at the right time with rotating circle segments...
XBOX Live
Ace. Check in-game, what message you got. Ask Mapster with a voice message to re-invite you. BTW: In PGR3, when you know some of your friends are playing online, can you directly join their game somehow? I haven't managed.
I still haven't been able to download trailers / demos (but then my region is set to Germany, not United Kingdom — maybe there are different servers?). The interface is well done, but a bit jarring at times: One of the metallic overlay blades pops in left, you make a selection and the the blade pops in right. Setting up the console felt like watching a tennis match!
Similarly, when the game is calling console internal Live functionality (like "View gamercard" for example), the look changes from whatever the game looks like to the metal blade overlay.
Overall, a big (!) step forward for Live.
Wireless controller (+ slightly wired Headset) for the w1in!!!!!!
Now for the bad.....
No Play & Charge cables available in Germany. DVD-Rom noise.
Playing w/ VGA cables on Dell 20" Widescreen display + 5.1 Dolby Digital (el cheapo Creative amplifier and decoder).
