.: Microsoft Xbox 360
Video Game Console Review

Until the introduction of Xbox 360, video-game consoles were characteristically perceived as entertainment devices, with pretty limited possibility. You plug in a game, the game works, you have fun. The stylish Xbox 360 is dramatic leaps forward of all three present consoles, including its predecessor the Xbox, in high-definition gaming and entertainment experiences rather than just a games machine.

Don’t make the mistake of pronouncing X360 a toy, as it’s really a powerful system designed to appeal to a wider swath of consumers thanks to a raft of multimedia features.

With Xbox 360 you've got one central place to listen to all your music CDs and watch progressive-scan DVD movies on the best sound system in the house. Just put together the connection, and Xbox 360 instantly streams the digital media stored on your MP3 player, digital camera, Media Center PC, or any Microsoft Windows XP-based PC. You can also plug portable devices, like iPods, Sony PlayStation Portables (PSPs), and Portable Media Centers, into one of the Xbox's USB ports, and interact with the content on those devices. ( Xbox 360 cannot, however, access protected AAC format music. )

True surround sound fully engages you in a gaming experience that is more expansive, dramatic and lifelike- in fact the tantalizing audio improves your actual game play, with many games having specific audio clues to tell you where danger is coming from. Plug X360 into a high-definition TV and things get even better to look at. One can watch all Xbox 360 titles at 720p and 1080i resolution in 16:9 widescreen, with anti-aliasing for smooth, movie-like graphics.

Unlike the PS3 which will be sporting a Blu-ray optical drive, Microsoft has stuck with a standard DVD drive for the X360. The console comes fitted with a 12x dual-layer DVD drive that can play back Xbox 360 games and is compatible with virtually every DVD- and CD-based optical disk format on earth, including DVD-Video, DVD-ROM, DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW, CD-DA, CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, WMA CD, MP3 CD, and JPEG Photo CD.

To connect your Xbox 360 console to a computer, all you need to do is to go to www.xbox.com/pcsetup where you’ll find the necessary setup software. This site will automatically detect your operating system and provide the link for the corresponding software. Mac or Linux users cannot use Windows Connect and thus cannot play their music or see their photos through the console.

At the console’s heart is a 3.2 Ghz IBM-designed PowerPC microprocessor Xenon with 3 cores – or tiny computing engines – that run simultaneously. Each Xenon core can execute two concurrent threads, so in theory Xenon is able to execute six threads simultaneously. This power enables, among other things, programmers to give an immense amount of commands to the Central Processing Unit without strain. What is strange is that there is only 1MB of Level 2 cache shared by all three cores – the 3.2GHz dual core Pentium Extreme Edition has 1MB of cache per core! Only time will tell if this proves to be an issue, but you can expect all early games to be running in a single threaded environment anyway.

As any hardcore gamer will state, the only thing more important than the CPU is the graphics processing Unit (GPU) – here Microsoft swap duty from nVidia (used in the original Xbox) to arch-rival ATI. Unlike PC graphics chips which have a number of vertical shaders and a number of pixel shaders, X360’s GPU implements a unified shader model which dynamically acts either as pixel shaders or vertex shaders, thereby eliminating vertex or pixel shaders bottlenecks visible in PC hardware. 

The GPU is supported by a Samsung 512MB GDDR3 Graphics Memory, 8 times more than the original Xbox. A dedicated memory just for graphics means you can enjoy system-heavy games even with all the visual effect turned on. This is where that lovely anti-aliasing is processed. General memory bandwidth is 5.4 GHz, with 21.6 gigabytes per second on the frontside bus connecting the CPU and the GPU.

There's a built-in Ethernet adaptor for broadband multiplayer gaming, regardless of whether you're using a cable modem, DSL, or an office LAN. Removable hard disk feature is another well thought solution offering users convenience to take all of their 360s content with them if they visit a friend. The optional hard drive is too small at 20GB (nearly half of that already consumed with pre-loaded demos, film clips and other freebies.) to be a genuine repository of digital music tracks or video.

Gamers can experience wireless freedom with the Xbox 360 Wireless Controller which lets you enjoy a 30-foot range and up to 40 hours of life on two AA batteries-and when they run low, you're given ample warning so you can connect a Play & Charge cable for uninterrupted play. Xbox video console has the ability to support four wireless controllers simultaneously.

There are two versions of the Xbox 360 available, the basic ‘Core System’ and the pricy ‘Premium System’ package. The Core system is not really worth buying. Not only do you lose on disk storage, but you get a controller that’s tethered to the system. There’s no remote, headset or other accessories that would easily top $100 if purchased separately.

Premium bundle comes fully loaded and includes the Xbox 360 console, a 20 GB hard drive, a wireless controller, a removable Xbox 360 faceplate, an Xbox 360 headset, a component HD-AV cable, and a Media remote control.

Regardless, you’ll have to buy the games separately- neither system includes any beyond a few demos and the simple boards and puzzle games. At the moment, there's not a really outstanding game that would make you pester your parents to fork out the money for a new Xbox 360 console. Further the new console is only backwards compatible with a limited number of the top-selling Xbox game titles, and a hard drive is required for this function. This is easily resolved by downloading a software update from the Microsoft site, and it will then play all of the old games as well.

Every X360 console comes with a free Silver account for access to Microsoft’s online gaming service “Xbox Live’ that allows players to play games with or against other Xbox Live players from around the world. The peripheral, which works with Xbox Live, allows up to five users to simultaneously communicate with each other on the TV screen. The free "silver" version is very limited allowing you ú– to download previews, play online game for selected weekends and buy some games from Microsoft's online store, Marketplace.

But if you want to play against other people, you'll have to pay for an upgrade to a Gold account, requiring a subscription fee of USD 70 or GBP 40 which allows online game play. With intelligent matchmaking, access to all your achievements and statistics, video chat and video messaging, and an enormous selection of games, Xbox Live Gold delivers your competition, on your terms. If you have an existing Live account, the remaining amount of time on your Live subscription will be treated as a Gold membership.

With the Xbox Live Camera, video chat and video messaging with your friends becomes more than just a feature set; it is an integrated part of the Xbox Live experience. Now you can moon your XBox Live rivals in realtime! High-end online camera supports up to VGA 640x480 video at 30 frames per second and takes 1.3-megapixel still photos. The camera includes a microphone that connects to the controller, so everyone in the room can chat online with their friends.

Xbox 360 is also more customizable than the original Xbox. The exteriors of 360 can be modified with custom faceplates that will let the device match any mood or room style. Even your face can be imported into games and can also be placed next to your name on leader boards for even more recognition or fame.

One can save games, unique gamer profiles and in-game achievements within X360 memory unit (64 MB) which requires no setup. The device can hold up to two memory units allowing you easy upgrade to more storage. Moreover the memory units are portable and can be easily transported in a carrying case.

To draw this review to an end:

Gaming is a billion-dollar industry and in this respect Xbox 360 is a cash cow for Microsoft in ways that Windows has never been. Overall, the X360 is a winner on most counts, especially performance wise its amazing light years ahead of anything seen in a console before.  The only part that is a bit let down is the lack of top-flight games. But these are early days for the console. With the inclusion of more digital content the console could become an entertainment hub of every living room. Currently, the PlayStation 2 dominates the video game world with 56 percent of the market in North America. Microsoft controls 25 percent of that market, and Nintendo mops up the remaining 19 percent.

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