The Xbox 360 comes in two flavors, Standard and Elite. To be clear, this is a review of the standard Xbox 360. The Elite comes with a much larger (160 GB) hard drive, is black in appearance, and has an HDMI cable for improved picture quality. The standard Xbox 360 is white, and is roughly the size of a large textbook. It is semi-stylish looking due to its subtle curves, but doesn't look overly modern or out of place. The internals, however, are very impressive for any computer. It boasts three 3.2 GHz processors, 512 MB of 700 MHz GDDR3 Ram, and a detachable 20 GB hard drive (which, as mentioned earlier, can be upgraded or exchanged). The 360 is a lean, mean, game-playing machine that will be pushing the limits of game designers for some time. Microsoft wanted their console to have the components necessary to be able to run the latest, most demanding games for some time -- so long in fact that the company was willing to take a 125 dollar loss on each console sold.
If Microsoft expects the console to remain relevant for long, great games need to be released constantly so that users do not lose interest. Thankfully for 360 users, this has remained true. The Halo series, which helped the original xbox, is still selling very well on the Xbox 360. Other games, such as Fallout 3, Brutal Legends, and Madden 10 (all released on other platforms as well) have helped keep the Xbox 360 community alive and well.
While the games are great, the feature that sets the 360 apart from its competitors is Xbox Live, a system of playing online games against people across the world. Live runs across games, so regardless of which game a user happens to be playing, it is still possible to communicate with another user who is playing a completely separate game. Live also features a friends system, voice communication, customizable avatars, and downloadable content (such as game demos, music videos, game trailers, etc). Furthermore, Microsoft has teamed up with Netflix so that Xbox Live users can stream movies over their 360 at any time with a Netflix account. Gameplay on Xbox Live is easy to understand, and typically runs without lag. But the Xbox 360 doesn't stop there. It can play DVDs, and stream music, movies, or pictures from computers on the same network. This means that the Xbox 360 is a complete home entertainment system. It can play music, show movies, communicate with friends, and play video games.
Controlling all of this is the Xbox 360 controller, which is comfortable to hold and easy to use. The batteries tend to ware out quickly with these controllers though, so always keep a couple AA batteries around.
The Xbox 360 is a solid entertainment system. It is basically like a specialized computer -- so much in fact, that it will behave like a computer from time to time. This means locking up, and potentially overheating. Microsoft had a problem with the 360, known as the Red Ring of Death, which received a lot of attention from the media. I have had the Red Ring of Death on a 360 console, but Microsoft fixed it for free (including shipping AND packaging). While it was a hassle, I was pleased that it didn't cost me anything.
Having used the 360 for a few years, I am very impressed, especially with the leaps and bounds that Microsoft was able to make in making Xbox Live seem so integrated with the console. Look past some of the old technical problems (have been addressed and fixed in new 360s), and you have a very solid console that can do way more than play games.
Thank you to gamingconsolenetwork.com and Brown University for the images.
2 comments:
.....Halo 3. That's all that needs to be said. And to be completely honest, it's more hilarious than anything else. I'm used as comedic relief during ANY Halo games and for that reason alone, will most likely never purchase one. Ever.
Halo 1 was a very solid game, which will work on the 360. Halo 2 was okay, but I agree when you say that Halo 3 wasn't very good. The newest edition, ODST, actually feels a lot better, and a lot more like the original.
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