I don't have it (more of a PC gamer) but everyone I know who has it likes it. MS did a really great job of creating a unified experience, and the 360 version is apparently especially nice. If your son enjoys playing competitively online, he'll be sure to like it. That said, X-Box Live like any online game community is a big bucket of foul-mouthed jerks, and can lead to obsessive gaming. Those are my caveats.

To start him up on Live you'll need one of these starter kit thingys. You'll also want a broadband net connection, but I imagine you already have that. And you'll want to make sure he has a game or two to play online while you're at it.

Thanks! I'm a little concerned about the obsession part, which is why that 3 month thing looks really good. He has Halo, and I'm not sure which other games are playable online, so I guess I should find that out. Don't we need some kind of wireless box to get online? Notice I use the generic term "box" because I sort of have no idea what I'm talking about, but am trying to appear as if I do ;)

Ah, from the link you gave me, someone says this in a review:

"Do you have a router and a switch or hub if needed?"

so the answer to that is no, and I guess I should find out what that means!

If you have a broadband connection, you should already have a router/switch/hub. It's what sits between your computer and your cable or DSL modem.

The Xbox IIRC comes with wired ethernet built in, so you should be able to plug it into the router like your computer. You'll just need a CAT5 cable of sufficient length. If you want to go wireless you'll need both a wireless router and a doohickey that makes the Xbox wireless.

Thank you. You have no idea how long I've been trying to find out that one thing. All I need is a cable...cool.

This is, of course, assuming you already have more than one computer hooked up to the internet. If your computer is just plugged directly in to the modem from your ISP, then you need a switch, what is like a splitter for yon internet.