Xbox 360 Hits a High-Def Homer - Microsoft's updated console boasts great graphics, but the best thing is its nice UI -- and this from the company famous for crappy interfaces. By Chris Kohler. [Joystick]

The new, highly anticipated Xbox 360 gaming system provides a perfect gift for the holiday season for the serious gamer on your shopping list. While the system is a pricey $400, including all of the bells and whistles, the improvements in the detail of graphics and also all of the new handy features make it well worth it. From playing golf with Tiger Woods to dunking basketballs with Shaq, this new gaming system steps up the level of the gaming experience and makes the gamer feel as if they are actually there.

2ksport’s game NBA 2K6 (http://www.2ksports.com/games/nba2k6/360.php) presents a perfect example of the detail achieved through this new gaming console. The sweat on the face of the players forms throughout the course of their play and the lighting in the stadium gives a true life-like quality to the entire image. As far as getting the player to feel actually involved in the game they are playing, 2ksports made a slam dunk with this one (pardon the pun).

As far as the new accessories and features go on the Xbox 360, the designers made a few vast improvements that will surely show up on other gaming systems. The one I found most useful would be the power on button found right on the remote control. How many times have you sat down to play a video game, controller in hand, and had to get back up to turn the gaming console on? If you participate in gaming as much as I do, I’m sure this is a regular (and frustrating) occurrence that is now resolved thanks to the designers of this console.

All in all, the Xbox 360 makes a worthwhile buy for gamers out there who find the quality of the imaging of the gaming experience to be as necessary and the actual thought processes involved when playing the game.