Everyone is talking about it this Christmas, the XBox 360. The must have item that shows your status in society. Uh.....hold the presses. What a waste of money. I'm not against video games(hardly) I just think that there needs to be a clearer line drawn in the sand, and well.....here it is. The PC is a better choice than the 360. Lets have a look at a few key points here, shall we?

1. Memory threshold. The XBox 360 comes with 512 MB of RAM. Thats it. You can't add anymore(or at least you shouldnt attempt to) as Im not sure that anymore is supported by the system. Today's PC's can hold an impressive 2 GB of RAM(on most systems, some can hold more but it's overkill(2 is actually overkill as well). More memory makes it easier to do mulitple things. I guess that's why there is only 512 in the box, it doesnt mulittask. Can you believe it? A Microsoft product that doesnt multitask? Astounding.

2. Upgradability. In addition to the memory issue noted above, not much else can be upgraded in the new XBox. Inside is a customized ATI graphics card, running at 500 mhz(supposedly). In reality it is a mid range card(comparable to an ATI Radeon 9800) which is no doubt feeding off of the system's 512 MB of RAM. Some people are saying that the you would spend more money on the PC just to play the newest games. Yes, I would. Ask yourself this: What happens when a program outclasses the specs of the 360. You gonna be able to upgrade that thing? I didnt think so. Everything in the PC is upgradeable and replaceable, allowing it to adapt to the needs of the programs it runs.

3. Online Competition. Ok, lets take this slow. Youve just bought your 360 and picked up Call of Duty 2 for it. That's about 500-600 dollars right there. You have internet access at 30.00 dollars a month(roughly). You get it home, switch your XBox Live account over to the 360(an additional monthly charge), and your ready to go. You put CoD2 in and you go straight to Multiplayer on Live. Huh? What's this? Maximum allowable players for online competition is only 8 players? Gasp! 8 people....that's it?

Lets examine the Windows version of CoD2, shall we? Graphics are similar to the 360(superior if you have the more expensive hardware). Still requires a broadband internet connection(so you'll still end up paying 30.00 a month for that) but there is no launching shell to have to pay for. Now lets have a look at the amount of people playing the game in a server at the same time. Wow. Look at this. 64 people at one time(of course this number is adjustable) Hmmmmm.....let's do the math here. 8 vs. 64. Would you rather want to play with 8? or 64? Personally i want the challenge of knowing that im outnumbered. Ill take 64 people in a server any day.

There are people who will tell me that the PC costs 1500-2000 vs. the 500 for the Box. That maybe true, but add all the recurring monthly fees and youll find that the PC is more cost efficient in the long run. The cost for both machines with subscriptions(internet and Live) and everything else is really close. For roughly 140(USD) you can obtain a computer that will last you about 8 years(with occasional and optional upgrades). I think that the 360 is still going to be purchased by people who like to waste money, but Ive written this to keep you, the consumer, informed of the choices that you should be making when purchasing something like this.