It's official: Xbox 360 surpasses Star Wars as a cultural phenomenon

Last month we were amused (yet strangely enthralled) by the flurry of attention directed toward the Xbox 360’s external power supply (aka “the brick”). As you remember, there were a multitude of online stories, blurry camera phone photos and discussion threads regarding the beast. All of this activity certainly proved one thing: the gaming community was desperate for new 360 news immediately prior to its release.

Which was very good for Microsoft. The Xbox 360 had reached the tipping point. The last time we saw that kind of self-fulfilling buzz was just prior to the release of The Phantom Menace in 1999. The world couldn’t get enough Star Wars then and any news associated with the brand was headline news. We remember laughing hysterically when the Episode I font was announced with great fanfare and was subsequently picked up by the likes of USA Today and other mainstream media outlets.

Which leads me to this bit of similarly ground-breaking news: the Xbox 360 joined Star Wars at the top of the cultural buzz heap last month with the announcement of the Xbox 360’s custom fonts. Several online outlets ran with that story as well. We won't mention specific sites by name, but, thankfully, Xbox 360 Fanboy is above that type of headline grabbing tactic.

At least it looks like the Xbox 360 came out better than Episode I did.