Xbox360 Review
It’s now been roughly three days since the introduction of the new Microsoft Xbox 360 game console and I’ve finally gotten a chance to take it for a ride around the block. With all the hoopla about the new 360 and how hard it is has been acquiring this machine, one has to wonder whether the console is even worth all the hype. Today, we’ll take a look at the 360 and see what it’s capable of doing – both in terms of gaming and in digital entertainment. More importantly, we’ll take plenty of pictures of this new console and give you a taste for what’s in store down the road.
A look at the Xbox 360 specs
Let’s quickly go over the guts of the Xbox 360 console. Inside the 360, you’ll find three IBM custom designed symmetrical PowerPC based processor cores running at 3.2GHz. The graphics processor unit is a custom designed unit designed by ATI running at 500MHz. Microsoft claims that the Xbox 360 can process more than four times the number of polygons as the original Xbox console. You’ll also find 48 parallel shader pipelines inside the ATI GPU. The console itself uses a shared memory architecture built around 512MB of GDDR3 RAM.
The Xbox 360 is all about High Definition (HD). All games designed for the Xbox360 are required to be developed for 720p and 1080i resolutions. They are also optimized for 16:9 widescreen formatted displays. This doesn’t mean that you absolutely need an HDTV to run the Xbox 360, although your games and multimedia will look far better if you do have one.
The Xbox 360 has a detachable 20GB hard drive component placed on top of the console. You don’t need the hard drive to play Xbox 360 games but you won’t be able to save content onto your console without one. You also won’t be able to play legacy Xbox games on the 360 console without the hard drive since software emulators need to be downloaded to support the legacy games.
The console has three USB ports designed to allow you to easily connect a wide range of accessories and devices including portable music players. This currently includes the Apple iPod and the Sony PSP – at least until either company decides to not make the devices compatible with the 360. What this means is – you can stream music and photos from these portable devices directly to your 360 via the USB port.
Controller wise, the Xbox360 supports up to four lightweight wireless controllers in addition to wired controllers.
The flavors of Xbox 360
Initially, the Xbox 360 will come in two different packages - the Xbox 360 and the Xbox 360 Core System. The Core system is exactly that – what you need at a bare minimum to enjoy the Xbox 360 console (or so they say!). This includes:
The Xbox 360 package (otherwise known as the Premium package by some) comes with:
Initially, the Xbox 360 package will also include a media remote control which is ok at best but not the ideal solution for a full blown home theater setup.
Which package should you purchase? If you do the math on the costs of the extra components, the Xbox360 package is the clear winner. If you even want to even consider playing any of the original Xbox games, you’ll need the hard drive which means you might as well go for the Xbox 360 package. I could see the core system being an option if you want a second or third 360 system at home for networked environments or for streaming content from one room to another. More on this later on.
A look at the 360
We’ll focus the rest of the review on the Xbox 360 package. It’s important to note that the package reviewed here was actually purchased at the Zero Hour event. These packages included a media remote control which is available for only a limited time apparently.
Here’s a look at the exterior box. The Xbox 360 packaging is simple and compact yet it’s heavier than it initially looks. I had to carry this box and two bean bags across a hangar bay at Zero Hour – not a fun task when you also have to go through security checkpoints.
Open up the box and you’ll immediately see the Xbox 360 wrapped in plastic.
Underneath that, you’ll find manuals and the various accessories that come with the package.
Let’s focus on the Xbox 360 real quick. The front of the 360 looks as follows.
From top to bottom there is:
Here is a picture of one of the sides of the Xbox 360.
Here is a shot of the back of the 360.
From top to bottom you’ll find:
Setting up the Xbox 360
The Xbox360 setup is very straight forward although the documentation is unfortunately skimpy. If you’re familiar with electronics then installing the 360 will be a cinch otherwise it might take you some time.
Installing the 360 involves the following steps:
There are a couple of things to note. If you have an HDTV, you’ll need to flip a switch on the AV cable that switches the display ratio format from 4:3 to 16:9 otherwise you’ll only see 4:3 ratios on your widescreen display. This seems a bit old school but OK.
If you have a receiver capable of decoding digital audio, you’ll want to connect an optical cable from the A/V cable to the receiver. There’s an optical port on the back of the A/V connector to make this happen. The Xbox360 only supports optical digital cables – there are no ports for coaxial digital cables.
Here’s another reason to get the Xbox 360 package vs, the Xbox 360 Core package. The core package doesn’t come with component A/V cables. This means you’ll need to go out and pick up component cables if you want to fully utilize your HD display.
A final note about installing the Xbox 360 – the power cable has a huge transformer attached to it – yes it’s a brick. You’ll need to find a good location to store the transformer since it’s easily a quarter the size of the Xbox 360 console itself.
Once connected, you’ll run through several setup sequences on the Xbox 360 console. When the software setup is finalized, you’re presented with the Xbox Dashboard interface.
The Dashboard
The Dashboard interface has been completely redesigned for the Xbox 360. It now utilizes a vertical tab interface which you can flip through using your controller’s joystick knob or your remote’s navigational buttons. Microsoft has often been criticized for their poor user interface designs but the Xbox 360 UI is a step ahead of the rest. The tabs are intuitive and easy to navigate through. The choices are clear and easy to read – especially on a wide screen display for which the Xbox 360 was designed for.
There are four major tabs to sift through. They are:
One of the cooler features of the Xbox 360 UI is the ability to call up your member profile tab no matter what you are doing. Press the X button on your controller or the remote and you'll get this overlayed on your screen.
The Xbox 360 experience
At first glance, it’s easy to wonder what all the hoopla is all about. The Xbox 360 doesn’t look particularly amazing nor does it look entirely futuristic. However, once you set up the console and start playing a few games, you’ll quickly realize the potential that the Xbox 360 brings to the table.
First and foremost – the 360 is all about advanced gaming in High Definition. The key word here is High Definition as all games are required to be authored in 720p and 1080i. This means you’ll ideally want an HD capable television set to get the full effect of the Xbox 360. Pop in a few games and you’ll quickly see how incredible and immersive the games really are. Of course you can easily get these resolutions on the PC but that’s not the point is it? There’s something fundamentally different about playing a game on a large television set in the living room with friends and family around you.
Although there aren’t any specific game reviews in this review of the Xbox 360, the games that I did get a chance to play with at Zero Hour were truly beautiful. The graphics were sharp and the game play was fluid. Yes you still have long load times but there is no apparent lag in any of the games that I enjoyed at the launch event. At home, I’ve been playing Project Gotham Racing 3 and the game moves along at a brisk pace with plenty of high resolution details throughout.
Some of the more notable launch titles are Call of Duty 2, Kameo, Perfect Dark Zero, King Kong, and of course, Project Gotham Racing 3. If there’s anything missing from the launch title list, it’s the “must have” factor. There really isn’t any game that particularly stands out (except for possibly Call of Duty 2) right now – this wasn’t true for the original Xbox launch where Halo practically saved the Xbox.
Gaming aside, the Xbox 360 opens the doors to the vast online network of Xbox Live. With Xbox Live, you can connect with friends, send messages, and play cooperative or competitive games with one another. You can also purchase and earn points on the Xbox Live network which you can then use to purchase other items in the Xbox Live Marketplace.
Xbox Live also opens the doors to downloadable content. This includes high definition video such as movie and game trailers and possibly downloadable full length movies in the future. There are classic game titles which you can purchase and download via the Xbox Live marketplace. This also opens the door to downloadable full titles in the future via Xbox Live. The possibilities are practically endless with Xbox Live and a broadband connection.
The 360 isn’t all about gaming of course – Microsoft intends to make the console the center piece of your digital entertainment living room. How will it do this? First off, the Xbox360 is capable of playing back DVDs and Audio CDs just like before. When you insert an audio CD into the console, the Dashboard interface transforms into a simple Media Player interface. You can manipulate tracks and display visualizations while the music is playing. You can also rip music straight to your 360’s hard drive.
The Xbox 360 is also a streaming media player being able to connect to networked Windows XP machines and using Windows Media Connect to share content. Audio and Digital Photographs can be shared to your 360 and streamed to your television set. What about video? If you own a Windows Media Center, the Xbox 360 has built in Windows Media Center Extender software which will essentially remote desktop to your MCE box and display nearly everything your MCE is capable of performing. Though you still can not stream DVD content from an MCE, you can now stream Hi-Definition content from an MCE box to an Xbox 360. This is arguably the best implementation of a Media Center Extender out there today.
Summary
This is only the beginning of the Xbox 360 revolution. Although the initial launch titles are good if not underwhelming, the upcoming titles for 2006 should reveal the true power and potential of the Xbox 360. If you’ve already subscribed to the Microsoft vision of digital home entertainment, them the Xbox 360 neatly complements this vision. If you don’t have an MCE box, nor care about streaming multimedia content, then you can probably wait on the 360 until supplies meet the demand for the console. Whatever the case is, the Xbox 360 is finally here and it’s definitely here to stay.
Stumble It! | Posted by Paul on November 26, 2005 8:17 AM
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