chuckyj360's Full Review: Microsoft Xbox 360 Pro (60 GB) Console
So here is Microsoft’s latest entry into the gaming wars. I will dig deep into a lot of issues and reveal what I think of the latest and 1st next-gen console. Here is the breakdown…
Retail SKU’s/Price point… 75/100 “Core” system includes
The Console
A Wired controller
Composite AV cables
For a grand total of 299.99
Premium system includes
The Console
20 Gig Hard Drive
Wireless controller
Xboxlive headset
Component cables HD ready
Ethernet cable
For a grand total of 399.99
If there is one problem with the xbox360 I would say it would be the 2 different retail SKU versions of the system. While MS did research and said it’s what the consumers wanted I personally believe the Core system (with out the hard drive and wireless controllers) is a waste of money. Why? Because, when the 64MB Memory cards cost almost $50 apiece you would need to buy at least 2. Then if you only have 2 you will need to worry about running out of space and maybe buying another or deleting other information stored on the card. Well you just spent an additional $100-150... When you could have just bought a 20 Gig hard drive for $100 and never worry about hard drive space again. When you could just buy the Premium package deal and get the wireless controller and the hard drive for just $100 more.
Xbox360 specs and information
IBM PowerPC-based CPU
Three symmetrical cores running at 3.2 GHz each
Two hardware threads per core
VMX-128 vector unit per core; three total
128 VMX-128 registers per hardware thread
1 MB L2 cache CPU Game Math Performance
9 billion dot product operations per second Custom ATI Graphics Processor
10 MB of embedded DRAM
48-way parallel floating-point dynamically scheduled shader pipelines
Unified shader architecture Polygon Performance
500 million triangles per second Pixel Fill Rate
512 MB of 700 MHz GDDR3 RAM
Unified memory architecture Memory Bandwidth
22.4 GB/s memory interface bus bandwidth
256 GB/s memory bandwidth to EDRAM
21.6 GB/s front-side bus Overall System Floating-Point Performance
1 teraflop Storage
Detachable and upgradeable 20GB hard drive
12x dual-layer DVD-ROM
Memory Unit support starting at 64 MBI/O
Support for up to four wireless game controllers
Three USB 2.0 ports
20 Gig detachable hard drive: This is the Xbox360 20GB Hard Drive. It is detachable, which allows owners of the xbox360 to store their game saves, music and downloadable content from Xbox live such as trailers, levels, demos and more.
Game Format Duel layer DVDs with 17GB of data.
HD TV support 480p, 480i, 720p, 1080i
HD DVD movie support (through a HD DVD add on accessory)
Backwards compatibility Well this is where the 360 ran into trouble, because they changed graphic card makers from Invida (GeForce) to Ati. That change means that MS basically has to set up an emulator to run the games, then make each game compatible. While there are 100’s of games on the compatible list there are lots of games left off that list. These usually come in updates on xboxlive. It will automatically download the most current games every time you connect. If you do not have access to xboxlive then you are stuck with the initial maybe 100 games that were available at launch of the system. While this sucks as the 360 library grows this will be less and less of a problem.
Console design… 95/100
Microsoft has come up with a much better design the 2nd time around. Not only is the size and shape a lot better this time around, but it also comes with a detachable 20 Gig hard drive, for future upgradeable hard drives. On a lesser note it also has a detachable faceplate for further customization. It may not be the coolest feature of the console, but there are some pretty nifty faceplates that may appeal to a lot of people. You may also place the console vertically or horizontal while you are playing your game. The console is also designed so that you can connect just about any electronic gadget to the 360 through the USB ports. MP3 players, digital cameras, laptop computers, desktop computers, you name it and you can probably connect it.
Controller design… 90/100
There are two different controls that are available right off when you purchase the 360, they have the same design, but one is wired and the other is wireless. The wireless controller is a much better way to go, but if you get it I would recommend the rechargeable battery pack accessory. While the wired is not bad and provides plenty of cord, the freedom of the wireless is where it’s at. Other then that the design of the controller is almost perfect and fits right into your hands for your gaming enjoyment. There are a total of 8 gameplay buttons to include A, B, X, Y, Rb, Rt, Lb, Lt… then you have the two analog sticks which are very responsive, and a directional pad. Then there is the 360 symbol in the middle of the controller which can connect up your wireless controller to the 360, or bring your xbox live 360 gamer profile up during the game. And it also has the back and start button. Overall this is one of the better designed and comfortable controllers you will use.
Present support… 95/100
Whether you are a fan of the 360 or not you can’t claim it’s not getting developer support. Every major and just about every minor development team is signed on to include heavy hitters such as: EA, Capcom, Konami, Sega, UBI Soft, Tecmo, Midway, As well as smaller more unknown but trying to make a name for themselves developers such as… Phantagram (Kingdom Under Fire, xbox), Q Entertainment (Ninety-Nine Nights, xbox360), Mist Walker studios (Blue Dragon, xbox360)… If a company makes games and are a 3rd party developer (makes games for any console) they are on this list… Even Square Enix has made Final Fantasy XI while it is a 1.5-2 year old MMORPG rumor has it Square-Enix is hard at work on a Final Fantasy XIII spin off called Final Fantasy XIII: Heiress for the 360, plus they have announced a game called Project Sylph in production right now for the 360. The support for the xbox360 will stay very strong throughout the consoles life span. You will not see any developer drop support for this console, but you may see new startup company developers sign on.
Present games… 85/100
While there are some triple A titles out right now to include… DOA 4, Project Gothom Racing 3, Elder Scrolls 4 Oblivion, Perfect Dark Zero, Call Of Duty 2 (Call of Duty 2 Game of year edition), Fight Night round 3, Ghost Recon: Advanced war fighter, then you have games like Madden 06, The Outfit, Top Spin Tennis 2, Quake 4, Tomb Raider: Legend, among some others… The point is some games have taken a while to come out… And while the selection is really good and diversified it could use more games coming out at a quicker pace, while sustaining the quality if not improved upon what is already out.
Future games…. 100/100
While only 1 game would really needed to be listed here…. Cough *Halo 3* cough… there are plenty of other triple A titles that can squeeze into this category such as… the heavily anticipated Gears of War, Crackdown (from the creators of the Grand Theft Auto series), Brother in Arms 3, Resident Evil 5, Too Human (Trilogy), Mass Effect, Blue Dragon, Splinter Cell Double Agent, Forza Motor sport 2, Ninja Gaiden 2, Viva Piņata, Bioshock , Fear, Bomber man: Act Zero, Madden 2007, Phantasy Star Universe, Huxley( it‘s a MMORPG first-person shooter, Grand Theft Auto 4(that will have exclusive downloadable content on xboxlive), and of course the list is long and extensive.
Xbox360 Live/Arcade… 100/100
Xbox live/Arcade was started after the first year of the original xbox. Xbox live started out with a boom on the original xbox and has continued to grow at a startling rate currently there are millions of subscribers worldwide. It is the only real legitimate online gaming service for the big three consoles. There are already a lot of 360 games that supports online multiplayer gaming. Sure, yes you do have to pay a fee to sign up, but the $49.99 entrance fee is definitely worth the asking price. While the xboxlive market place is just a beast of it’s own. There are hundreds of downloadable content ranging from new weapons, cars or levels for various games, to a huge downloadable roster of xboxlive arcade games. Some of the downloads are free, while other downloads are premium (must pay a small fee) how much that fee is varies just depends what they charge (not usually over a couple bucks) of course you use currency called MS points and not actually credit or cash. While the xbox live arcade just think of it as retro gaming. They are usually very simplistic games that are very easy to pick up and play. Some of the more popular ones that are already for your down load enjoyment are: Marble blast Ultra, Gauntlet, Smash TV, Geometry wars Retro Evolved, Texas Hold’em poker, among others. But, there are a few classic games that will become available very shortly here in the near future games such as: Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, Street Fighter 2 Turbo Hyper fighting, cyberball, Paperboy, Sonic games etc… The point is xboxlive Arcade is taking off very fast and many companies are trying to get a piece of the xboxlive arcade pie.
Bottom line: Sony’s online service is going to be free however, that will not stop other companies from charging you to play their games… but, there is a reason that Sony’s basic service is free, because it’s a bottom feeder while xboxlive is top notch and offers a lot more then just an online game service.
Bottom Line: With the games already on the store shelves and the games to follow in the coming months ahead there is no reason not to own an xbox360 if you’re a gamer. It is a sleek looking powerful game system, that has a ton of connectivity with electrical gadgets. The xbox360 is a sound investment that will stand the test of time.
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