[Doug]

Thanks for the knowledge and the welcomes. I'm really enjoying it here, and I'm glad to hear that at least one person doesn't regard me as a spammer.

BTW, my query as to Abe's Son's English was only an observation about his posting style, and I meant no disrespect to members or anyone else whose first language is not English. On the contrary, despite having some experience in 3 other languages, I would not be able to communicate on a message board in any of them, and I have nothing but respect and admiration for those who communicate here in a language other than the one with which they are most comfortable.

Shark, despite my expressed peeve about Microsoft exclusivity as to Munch, I find the X-Box quite impressive. If money (and time) were no object, I'd probably get one, even if just for Halo and Munch. I'm actually not that much of a hard-core gamer. I'm plodding along with a Pentium 166, and most of the games I play are several years old (hence my recent discovery of Abe and his fascinating universe), partly because I won't pay more than a certain amount for a game, and partly because my system can't handle anything that's come out in the past couple years. Even Abe slows down when there's a lot going on on the screen.

My other consideration is I've got 3 kids under age 12 that have an N64, and I'm thinking that if I have to get a console in the next couple years, it will have to be the GameCube. That didn't bother me too much because I had planned to upgrade my PC soon and would have my own toy, but parts have been falling off it at an unbelievable pace and I've put so much money into it that I've got to hold onto it a while longer.

Anyway, I'm not dissing the X-Box, and I'm looking forward to hearing how it is from you and other lucky souls who are getting one.