Yes, I still call Microsoft the Dark Side, and I will continue to do so until I'm in my grave and my shrivled lips curl up and separate from my skull.

Get over it. I'm a Mac junkie and that ain't gonna change... ever! I lived through the post-DOS system wars of the 1980s -- and the patent violation lawsuits by Apple -- and that scarred me. I lived through more buggy, insecure iterations of Windows of the 90s-- and the bundling lawsuits -- and that scarred me even more deeply. I lived through the Netscare/Explorer wars -- and I saw the bodies of good developers who ended up on the losing side and the ensuing ravages of virus-plagued corporations who were brought to a screeching halt by security backdoors in Explorer. Now I can no longer speak of the angry behemoth of Microsoft without gritting my teeth. So, as long as there is a Steve Jobs, I will despise Bill Gates.

That being said, I've now spent three weeks with my XBox 360, purchased on my way home from E3. Literally, I tried the PS3, considered the pricetag, and as Andy, John and I were driving home from Los Angeles, I made them stop at Fry's Electronics to buy an XBox.

During these three weeks, I've spent a lot of time coming to terms with my feelings. I'm lamenting the demise of my Playstation days. I've been processing my frustration and sadness from being abandoned by the one non-MS company I truly believed -- despite it super-proprietary culture -- owned gaming (and wasn't Nitendo).

I know that sounds hyperbolic, but it's a very accurate description. It was a very personally demoralizing defeat to buy an XBox, and it has taken much time for me to warm to the idea that I could have pinned my hopes on such an erroneous conclusion about Sony.

I've also spent many hours of quality time using the XBox 360. I have been mostly silent about my thoughts because... and I'll be frank... I had to get over my resentment that it was a Microsoft product before I could truly comment on how I liked it. Why? Because for the first two weeks, I hated it... not because it wasn't good but because it was Microsoft's. And that wasn't fair to either Microsoft or you, gentle reader.

But now that the dust has settled and I've gotten used to the idea that I'm now a gamertag-carrying member of the XBox community (and my toes no longer curl when I say so), I can finally give you my thoughts on what I really think about the XBox -- its goods and bads -- and why, now that I've significantly played with one, I think Sony is deader than Bambi's mother.

More after the jump...

My first real conclusion after buying the XBox 360, to be honest, is that now was the perfect time to do so.

Not because the PS3 may be so disappointing but because the Dashboard update is so quickly coming. And boy, does that Dashboard need a major overhaul!

Almost upon booting up my "gateway to the Dark Side" did I realize that for as much potential the XBox has, its Dashboard was woefully lacking and needed streamlining. Once I ventured into the XBox Marketplace and attempted to download content, which was all of about 60 seconds into my first foray, I noticed how tremendously clunky and how nearly impossible it is to find what you want.

The more than 1,000 pieces of content available on the Marketplace are subdivided into only seven or eight catagories -- and none of them are the types of games I like to play: adventure games or RPGs. The Marketplace needs far more catagories and, preferably, subcatagories so that users might find exactly what they're looking for. And I'm not talking just RPG catagory, but even a subcatagory of "turn based" or "freeform."

In its current state of organization, the Dashboard required me to look at each piece of content by using the alphabetical names and figuring out if it might be something I'd like. Okay, a solid -- if slightly frustrating and very time-consuming -- workaround.

But there's no manner of filtering out dumb crap like movie trailers (Dude. I'm a movie critic. Sooooo over that!) and photos (seriously, has ANYONE ever downloaded a picture pack? You did? Well, you're a buttdart... with too much money on your hands!).

(Subnote: Dear Buttdart, please send all your excess funds to irlGirl, c/o GamerAndy. I will find much better use for what you obviously have too much of and don't have the brains to use responsibly.)

Even after wading through the useless stuff, it is a real challenge under the current Dashboard structure to figure out what kind of games are being offered. The right-side descriptions are very hit-or-miss. Some offer great details of what kind they are, what you're supposed to do, or the kind of scenario you'll be experiencing, but because they're so long I have to wait for the script to scroll through the too-small window.

Others are a one-liner, requiring me to download them to actually decide if it's even something I'd like to try.

And note to Markeplace game developers: Just because it's downloaded shouldn't be a benchmark for you. Offering scant descriptions in hopes I download it doesn't make me want to actually buy from you. In fact, it makes we want to rip all your collective testicles out through your respective necks. You know who you are. And so do I. I will NOT be purchasing games from you. Ever.

As for the games I have downloaded and enjoyed, I'm actually rather happy with my selections. My first download was Geometry Wars, and I like it very much even though I'm compltely hopeless at it. My husband, however, has now gotten to the point that I must physically remove the controller from him so that I may kick his sorry ass off Geometry Wars so that I may play Oblivion.

Which means we'll likely be a two-XBox home very soon. (For the record, we're a three-PS2 household currently.)

Uno has become a great favorite. Not only because it's such a damn fine game (Gratz, Carbonated Games!), but because it's a genuinely community-oriented game. I've played against other tablemates in Lebanon and talked Middle East politics, I've even found a group I play with nightly that have a sort of "guild" of XBox players, one of whom is 56 years old and has 7 XBoxes and 4 XBox 360s, and picking up another 360 this weekend. They've become my ersatz "core group," and if one thing keeps people hooked on a game (other than a single title) it's community. Just ask Blizzard.

I think it was meeting them that helped me overcome my XBox-resentment issues.

The non-downloaded game I'm quite into has been Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. This I have spent way too much time playing, and only last night have I become completely annoyed with it. It's a long story that I'll be happy to share on a future podcast, but the short version is I broke my character about 50 hours into it, restarted it at lvl 2, broke it again, restarted, and now have hit a major bug in the Mage Guild quest thread and I don't know if I'll ever get over it. Beyond that, I'm very much enjoying dinking around, picking flowers, and making potions.

Moving along...

Another issue that will be addressed with the Dashboard update was a little something that cheesed me to no end shortly after the aforementioned game-organization issue: The lack of background downloading.

I recall thinking to myself: What freaking pinhead didn't think it might be important to allow me to play or send messages while some huge game was downloading for 10 minutes?

This was a MAJOR oversight on the 360 team's part. Thank gawd they've included Active Downloading in the new update. Long time coming, but a little disconcerting that no one bothered to think of it the first time. I'm certainly glad I won't have to contend with it for seven months like most of your older XBoxers did.

All in all, I'd say Microsoft has done okay so far. My two major complaints about the XBox 360 are already slated to be gone. Not bad.

My third issue isn't software-based, so it will present a far greater hurdle. The controller.

Andy and John wisely insisted when I purchased the XBox 360 that I pick up an extra wireless controller. And for the most part, I'm thrilled with it. Far more thrilled with its mobility than the PS2's. I'm ecstatic that the cats are able to go into evening-frenzy mode, run around the house, and NOT pull out the controller at that crucial life-or-death moment.

But it's not perfect. Now, maybe it's just me and my husband, but we've both found the XBox controller to be much bulkier and not as comfortable than my old faithful PS2's. Geometry Wars sessions are frequently cut short because our hands cramp up. This only happened after HOURS of play with the PS2. Given that the PS3's controller is the same weight, shape and layout of the old-gen's, I'm finding myself thinking that for all of Playstation's apparent defeat in the console war, they still have won the controller battle.

As for things Microsoft did right the first time, nothing has impressed me more than its apparent responsiveness to the community. For the first time in history a console developer is in direct touch with its end users, and IT'S LISTENING!

I can't help but notice that for all of Microsoft's Borg-like behavior in the computer division, its seems to be making every effort to breed a certain relationship with the consumer. I like that, even if the real motivation is purely profit. It's like the XBox team took a page from Apple's strategy book, and given that Sony has done everything it could in the last month to alienate the consumer... well.. as Andy said: Game over.

So to borrow the words of Chico Escuela, the Dark Side has thus far been berry, berry good to me. And with the Dashboard update, the company's responsiveness to users, and the amazing potential of the XBox Live internconnectivity, I think for now that my happiness will only increase.

Now I get it. I grock it. I understand what Andy and John and everyone else was telling me last November. As much as it tans my hide to admit it, Microsoft now owns gaming, and until the next heir-apparent makes its presence known, I'll be forwarding my mail to my new digs in Dark Side.