HD becoming a necessity for gaming?

I was testing a Xbox I repaired this weekend with an Assassin's Creed II disc that SHOULD NOT have been in my hands. AC2 was accidentally left in a broken Xbox I purchased on ebay, so I'm sending it back to the seller. The Post Office has these neat little machines that print out shipping label stamps for you with the weight and all. Too bad it wasn't good enough and they returned the disc to me demanding another $0.58 postage on Saturday. Since it wouldn't go out until Monday, I actually decided to play the game.

I do my Xbox repairs in my kitchen. I don't really have a desk or workbench, so I end up using my counter and kitchen table. It's doubly convenient since I already have a wireless network bridge and a working Xbox in the kitchen. Last night however, I discovered that the SD LCD screen fails horribly at these new games. When it comes to visually searching paintings for clues in AC2's "Where's Waldo" type minigames, your eyes are going to bitch. Apparently, the slightly red orbs in all the paintings were apples. There's no way I could see that in standard def, especially on a 19" screen.

After having strained my eyes multiple times over the course of several hours, I had enough. The Xbox was performing fine, so I shut it down and migrated back to my bedroom with the 42" HD Plasma. So much better....I could actually see the details! Solving those puzzles took half the time.

With all the hubbub on Capcom putting miniscule text on Dead Rising and other games, I'd say it's probably time for gamers to get over it and just go HD. LCDs and Plasmas have dropped significantly in price, so there's less excuse not to bite. Besides, those heavy CRTs are a safety hazard, and I vote properly recycling them ASAP. Your eyes will love you for it.

As for Blu-ray...I'm still not sold. With the passive nature of movies, the HD is a perk, not a necessity. The occasional (and cheap) HD streams from Netflix are good enough for me.

My Status

If anyone out there still pays attention to this site, I fully apologize. I'm sure it was expected that I would at least review Aliens vs Predator, but I am doubtful it is going to happen.

I do have AvP and I mildly enjoyed the Alien campaign, but the game disappoints me. Rebellion was the wrong choice for the game in my opinion. While the first AvP on the PC was decent, it felt clumsy and the continue system was aggravating. Overall, I found it less enticing than the sequel made by Monolith. 'Lith does dark and creepy quite well, and they paced the game quite well on all the campaigns. The reasoning for not bringing them back for the continuation of the frachise eludes me.

Sadly, I've spent more time fixing xboxes for acquaintances than actually playing games. All three of my 360's are running strong, but fixing broken 'boxes has become somewhat of a hobby for me. That doesn't mean I'm here to hand out advice...search the internet.

Half my weeknights are spent doing MMA and boxing, so I have very little energy for games when I get home. Honestly, I'm not too heartbroken about it either. CODMW2 has been a blast, but it only works for me since it's very pick-up-and-play. There's no time constraints or saving to worry about. I can quickly do 1-2 matches and call it a night. Maybe that's the kind of games I'm going to have to stick with until I have more free time.

Thanks to those who still value my opinion! If I get more opportunities to post here, I will.