My new XBOX 360 immersed into a strange array of new graphics, sounds and game styles that I never imagined possible.

When mom and dad gave me the new XBOX for Christmas, I felt like I was joining a wonderful community of long-time gamers. After starting up my XBOX Live profile, I decided to download Monday Night Combat.

I'm pretty hyped about this game. One of my friends said that this was one of the best new multiplayer games on the console, available for only 600 Microsoft points. I also loved the art style, which looked like a weird cyber-punk version of those Monday Night Football shows.

At first, I had no clue what I was supposed to do to win a team battle. Each team has a moneyball. The object of the game is to destroy the moneyball, so that my team couldn't win tons of cash. However, I couldn't even shoot the ball, because the ball had shields on it.

After about two days, I was about to give up. Then I realized that this shooter was more like a real-time strategy game.

Each side has computer-controlled robots, who fight against the opposite side's robots. These are the actual enemies who can destroy the shields of the moneyball. Players actually have to defend their own side's robots by defending them around the arena, so that the robots can attack the ball.

It was the strangest twist I'd ever experienced in a game. All the devices in the game were set up more like a strategy game. I could use the money in the game to buy robots and defense turrets. I could even use the annihilator, a device that destroy all the robots on the opposite side, except for the giant jackbot.

I'd actually seen this style of first-person shooter a long time ago, when I first played a computer demo of Activision's remake of Battlezone in 1998. Unlike other shooters, the game allowed players to travel around the battlefield to buy new weapon upgrades, units and turrets for their own base.

Although the game was a brilliant idea, the tank was a little too hard to control. Players also had to move around to each unit, just to individually command each one.The system was a little cumbersome back in the old days.

I'm amazed to see this type of real-time strategy concept developed to this degree in Monday Night Combat. The computer-controlled robots make for effective opponents in the battle arena. In fact, players need them in order to destroy the moneyball.

I'm even more happy that I can play this game with an entirely new community of first-person shooter fans. My system is more like a Internet box of new gadgets and gizmos that provide more enjoyment than I ever imagined possible.

Sure, I'll still keep my old Wii system. However, the XBOX 360 has literally connected me to hundreds of people with a bizarre new form of entertainment. It's like a behemoth in a rectangular box.

What are your fondest memories when you first bought an XBOX 360? Feel free to write about them in the comments below.