Around the Christmas tree, once all the gifts have been unwrapped, the topics of conversation invariably roll around Xbox video games, and the old Auntie I've become feels completely lost. So I've decided to step right into the 21st century and to get to know the amazing machine a little better. I've learned that the Xbox is a game console of the sixth generation... a baffling fact since I never knew about the previous five. I also discovered that ten millions of the Xbox 360 have been sold in the U.S. alone... not quite as many as the Hula Hoops when it first came out in 58, but pretty close considering the difference in price. I've got a lot of information from the kids, of course. One of them is a regular of the free video game forum and knows all there is to know about Xbox games, while another explained to me at length why the Xbox 360 elite is truly the Rolls Royce among gaming consoles. I was, I admit, speechless, when they began enumerating the games they're so familiar with... from the Hyborian Adventures to Captain Blood to Command and Conquer. Fortunately, one of the mother explained, used Xbox games can be found to somewhat ease the budget; the father didn't seem to mind since he's himself a fanatic gamer. Truth be told, I'm now tempted to go take a stroll on Middle-Earth myself and I've started shopping for an Xbox controller... One is never too old, I'm told.
