I just played an Xbox 360!

I was exploring DVD storage options at the Round Rock, TX, Best Buy, when I saw -- illuminated in a focused column of light -- an Xbox 360 kiosk. And there were angels singing.

OK, maybe not angels. And maybe the column of light was just my sleep-deprived eyes ghosting the store's florescent tubes.

But it was an Xbox 360 kiosk.

OK, I had 4 skepticisms answered when I played through the available demos:

1. That the new controller would be that good (game journalists keep saying things like "it feels like butter" (what does that mean?) and "it feels like a next generation controller should feel")
2. That Kameo: Elements of Power has risen from the ashes to show that Rare not only has the goods, but is bringing the next-gen heat to set the bar for the 360's platformer portfolio
3. That King Kong, as a licensed title, even with the involved powerhouses of Peter Jackson, Michel Ancel, Studio Weta, and Ubisoft could really be that good, and
4. That Call of Duty 2 can be a stellar game, given it's (a) a sequel, and (b) YAWWIIG (Yet Another World War II Game)

OK, so here's how we netted out in my (admittedly brief) play test:

1. The new controller was so comfortable, so natural, so good, and so ... unnoticeable (in a good way) -- I was shocked. It was well-balanced, responsive, buttons were not too springy, not too mushy. And, thankfully, it felt nothing like butter. It was a wired controller, so I hope the wireless are as great feeling and responsive.
2. Kameo shocked and pleased me. This thing is stylish, fun, unique, and it didn't have a foul-mouthed squirrel spewing 90s movie rehashes (though, I will say, Conker is the most gorgeous foul-mouthed squirrel on the Xbox)
3. King Kong is absolutely amazing, and we should bow down to Peter Jackson, Michel Ancel, and Studio Weta. Or at least acknowledge that they're beyond damn fine at their craft. King Kong may be one of the surprise most popular launch titles for the Xbox 360.
4. I think I need more time with Call of Duty 2, but I am more understanding of Team Ninja's boss Tomonobu Itagaki saying that if he were to make a war game, CoD2 would be what he'd do.

Other thoughts on the "play test":

Oddly, out of twelve games on the kiosk, only the 3 mentioned above had playable demos -- the rest only had videos (which I've seen -- and most of them in hi-def, thanks to the fine folks at TeamXbox.com).

The Samsung displays I mentioned would be part of the kiosks last May look sharp, and are a huge difference in the hi-def presentation of the demos.

One minor annoyance in the whole experience is that if someone grabbed the second controller attached to the kiosk and pressed any buttons, it interrupted all of my playing -- even if I was playing the single-player Kameo.

Summary? Today was a good day to be a gamer ...