[KG_Kharkov]

You buy a 360 for a couple of reasons:

1. Convenience -- you never have to worry about game specs, compatiblity with your vid card, operating system etc. and all that other crazy ridiculous stuff you get with PC games. You also cut your "crash" events by 99%. You'll only ever crash online barring a rare bad 360 (all the new ones on the market have their kinks ironed out).

2. Play on your TV, not a monitor, and play with friends at your house.

3. Online convenience: Microsoft's online set up is fantastic. A centralized uniform standard for all game providers to use. I used to be a huge PS guy but Microsoft is so much better in this department.

4. Fantastic game selection -- again, play all cutting edge games without worrying about your system specs. Also, play exclusive games which are quite good (like Halo 3) and play games which are better suited for console like sports games.

Connecting your Xbox is ultra-simple. Buy an XBox live account ($50 for a full year), connect your ethernet cable (or buy a wireless connector if you have a wireless modem in your house) and follow the easy online set up. After that, you automatically log on every time your XBox is hooked up to the internet and you have it on. In other words, if you have the internet, you don't need anything else other than an Xbox Live membership.

As for the PC vs. Controller debate for shooters, you will find folks like Steve who can't play shooters well on a controller b/c they learned on PC. I learned to play games on a controller so shooters seem natural on the controller. I find mouse and keyboard to just be wierd for a shooter and prefer a controller every time. Basically, both work just fine and you'll find folks who like both, and folks who only like one b/c they aren't used to the other.