First let me say that the tutorials on the site are great. I've worked with a lot of developers and understand the basics of development but nothing related to games. These tutorials are helping me grasp a better understanding of games and how they are controlled. Thank you for taking the time to create and host these.
With that said I would also like to add a note to your Xbox 360 controller. I recently picked up a "Charge and Play" kit for the 360 controller and it turns out that it will only charge the controller (I know, it says that in the name but everyone seemed to think it would work). Just to clarify, you must have either a wired 360 controller or the wireless receiver for 360 controllers ($20 at GameStop).