We've had the Xbox for a good three weeks now and I figured I'd share how useful this thing is.
- Playing MP3s works great. After pointing the drive to the SMB share on my fileserver, the machine indexed everything and the UI is quick and intuitive. I've got so damned many that scrolling to the end of the list of albums or artists isn't too swift, but it's much better than I had imagined.
- Movies don't work unless you've got a Windows Media Center machine. We don't, currently. Odds are good that I'll be tossing something like that on the workstation soon, but that hasn't happened yet. It's kindof a bummer not to be able to stream video to the box, yet.
- The controllers are fantastic. Between the wired controller, wireless controllers, and remote control, I'm finally convinced that someone figured out how the hell this is all supposed to work. I can turn everything on and off from a wireless controller, and the remote control actually has all the buttons I need.
- The peripherals can add up. Even counting my employee discount, it was easy to throw together a hefty bill of parts. Wireless adapter, memory card, remote, controllers, etc..
- Project Gotham Racing 3 online experience is hit-or-miss. I play this game online from time to time and the biggest impediment I've found is that nobody else is playing it. All the multiplayer lobbies are seemingly abandoned. Bummer.
And...that's about it.
My guess is the online games are typically inhabbited by the newest releases and Halo.
I'd still think there would be more than just a few people playing the older games, though.