Enter the Xbox 360
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It's been four years since Microsoft entered the console market with the original Xbox. Despite being the most powerful console of its generation, many fans of Sony's popular 'Playstation' systems stuck with the PS2 and didn't give the Xbox a second glance. After a couple of years on the market it was clear to see the Xbox offered gamers many things which no other console could, such as a unified online service (Xbox Live), a built in hard drive with many advantages over memory cards, and an increasingly noteworthy array of exclusive game titles such as Halo and Project Gotham Racing. Over the 2004 Christmas period, the Xbox finally outsold the PS2 on its home turf, but for Microsoft there is still much to be done before they can dominate the competitive console market. The original Xbox made very little impact in Asian territories and is still far from becoming the number one selling games console overall.
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So let's take a look at the new Xbox 360 console. Firstly, the most important job for the console is to play good games, and the Xbox 360 has arguably one of the best launch line-ups of any console so far.
To be able to power 'next generation' games, the console itself must boast significantly improved specifications in comparison to the current systems. The CPU for example consists of three symmetrical cores running at 3.2GHZ, which means each one runs at over 4 times the speed of the original Xbox's CPU. The graphics card is always an important factor in any gaming devices and the Xbox 360 has a custom built ATI chip with an engine speed of 500MHZ and 512MB of DDR memory running at 700MHZ. Anyone familiar with PC components will know that a PC graphics card of similar spec on its own currently will cost over £250. Its no surprise that Microsoft actually lose money of every Xbox 360 sold then, but their long term strategy is to keep console prices down to maximise sales, however it has to be powerful enough to play cutting edge games in five years from now. Consequently Microsoft get their money from the games sold rather than the console itself (hardly surprising at £44.99 and £49.99 a pop).
The Xbox 360's greatest rival will almost certainly be Sony's mighty Playstation 3 when it's released, most likely towards the end of this year. The Playstation 3 is expected to be a little more powerful overall with a slightly faster graphics chip and an experimental new CPU called the 'Cell processor' which consists of 8 cores! The total maths performance of the Xbox 360 is 33.6 billion dot product operations per second, whereas Sony claim the PS3 can manage a stunning 51 billon. So the PS3 may be more powerful technically, but experts predict it will be very expensive and the quality of its online service has yet to be proven. That said, some massive games such as Metal Gear Solid 4, Killzone 2, Vision Gran Turismo and Unreal Tournament 2007 have already been announced for this challenger. Another area of possible competition for the Xbox 360 is the Nintendo Revolution, while Nintendo haven't boasted about technical specs and it generally isn't believed to be on the same level of power as the 360 and the PS3, Nintendo have an ace up their sleeves. The Big N believe the key to the next generation is through a drastically new controller which allows you to directly point to control things. While it's difficult to see developers taking full advantage of this feature straight away, this could take gaming to new dimensions. Nintendo plan to bring games such as Mario, Metriod, and Super Smash Bros to its new system.
Enough of the competition, back to the 360. You've seen a few technical specs but what does this mean in terms of the graphics, sound and gameplay being enjoyed by purchasers of the first next-generation system?
Graphically you will notice the biggest difference if you are lucky enough to own an HDTV, which the console supports at 720P level. However, 360 games do also look significantly better than Xbox games on a standard TV. We're not quite at the stage of photorealism yet but after a session or two of Project Gotham 3 it's clear to see we're not far off either! More polygons mean smoother and more convincing shapes with much less jaggy edges. The much improved textures really do help to immerse the gamer into the virtual worlds created for them. The extra performance of the console should also allow for higher frame rates, resulting in the smoother running of games. However, as already seen from the launch titles, no matter how powerful a console is, it is the developer who has the job of getting the most out of it. So when looking at some games, it is clear that corners have been cut to rush it out in time for release day. For instance, standing Project Gotham Racing 3 next to Tony Hawk's American Wasteland looks like a generation gap in itself, due to the fact that the latest Tony Hawk's game was designed for many different consoles unlike Project Gotham Racing 3, which was designed purely for the 360. Having an HDTV gives you the added luxury of higher resolutions which will make the picture look a great deal sharper. The 360 really is reason enough to make you consider upgrading from your current set to an HDTV as the difference really is impressive.
As far as sound is concerned you will need a good stereo system or surround sound speakers to fully appreciate the true quality of the Xbox 360s sound. Each and every game supports Dolby Digital 5.1 for surround sound and Dolby Digital Stereo for stereo systems. The more audio channels the system has, the greater the amount of sounds the system can handle, meaning you can actually hear each individual bullet fly past your head on Call of Duty 2, and the burning rubber of PGR3 in your own living room. It doesn't need to be said that the 360 leaves its predecessor in its wake in this department.
One of the original Xbox's trump cards was the ability to create your own custom sound tracks. You could rip music off CD's onto the internal hard drive and some games would allow you to play them in-game. Sadly not all games supported this but this is now a thing of the past as all Xbox 360 games will carry this option, and better still you can actually listen to music uninterrupted in loading screens and menus as well as in-game. Not only can you listen to music on your 360's hard drive but you can even stream it directly from many types of portable devices, such as MP3 players, Sony PSP's and USB data sticks; helping to realise Microsoft's claim of creating a media entertainment hub.
The Xbox was also well known for its online service, Xbox Live, allowing supporting games to be played online. All Xbox games which supported online play had a voice chat facility promoting a thriving online community, but the Xbox 360 takes this to the next level. Every Xbox 360 game is now online enabled and you can talk to any of your friends playing any game. This means you can chat to your buddy playing 'Call of Duty 2's single player campaign while you are competing in online races playing Project Gotham Racing 3. This is a tremendous technical achievement, allowing you pursue your dreams as a world class online gamer while your friends relax in their favourite games.
The New Xbox Live service the 360 offers allows the download of Music videos, game demos, film trailers and game videos as well as many other promotional materials from the 'Marketplace'. Although some of these command a price (which can easily be paid for in 'Microsoft Points'), the ability to download demos such as Quake 4 for free is fantastic. There are even some arcade games available for download. Microsoft Points can be paid for with a credit card or you can simply buy a voucher in your local store if the credit card is not a viable option.
In the accessories department, Microsoft haven't been found skimping either:
Microsoft has released two packages for the 360. The first is the 'bare bones' core system which costs £209.99 in the UK, and includes the following:
The premium package is designed for hardcore gamers looking to make the most out of next-generation gaming. It costs £279.99, and includes the following:
This concludes our introductory article to the world of the Xbox 360. It tells you all the information you need to know, hopefully helping you decide whether you really want one of Microsoft's overly-hyped boxes. What this article doesn't tell you is where to find one. They are still in very short supply and some pre orders still haven't been fulfilled yet, but rumours are the supply will be met by February, we'll keep you posted on all the latest.
