Xbox 360 launch in Utrecht

Just returned from a pre-launch party organized by the Sandfire team. Sandfire brought the city of Utrecht and Microsoft together, culminating in a green spotlight for the Dom of Utrecht symbolizing the Xbox 360 launch on December 2. In Utrecht you can get a bachelor in games design, the city is now even positioning itself as "the gaming city of the Netherlands". Combined with the national games days currently taking place in Utrecht, Microsoft could have picked a worse place for its long awaited launch. At the party in gallery De Kunstsalon, painter Adri Dijkhorst put his version of the Xbox 360 on display, which quickly became a collector’s item at Microsoft NL offices – he was asked to produce a second one. There were two Xbox 360 machines present at the gallery and I tried the  Project Gotham Racing 3 game for a few minutes, crashing every 10 seconds (my car, not the Xbox) despite the amazing graphics quality and advanced remote control. Spoke with 22-year old John Jonk, who is a professional game player. Professional means crossing the world to participate in game matches and making thousands of dollars per event. Some gamers make a living out of it, earning even more dollars. My kids at home have been complaining that "its about time we get a PlayStation 2 at home, everyone else has one". I have set a milestone before we go and buy one. When they heard about my invitation for the pre-launch party, there expectations rose. However, as there are a lot more (kids-friendly) games available for the PS 2, we won’t opt for the Xbox 360 (yet).