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If Microsoft didn't have enough of a stranglehold on the computing market, along comes the new Xbox 360.
However, it’s worth pointing out now if you haven't pre-ordered one, or started queuing outside your local HMV, you might find it a struggle getting hold of one.
They're going to sell like hot cakes and word has it that most shops will be in short supply. But, as usual, that hasn't prevented us from getting our mitts on one.
From a technical angle, the Xbox 360 is the most powerful games console to date.
It uses a trio of 3.2GHz processors, a custom 500MHz graphics card developed by ATI and 512MB of GDDR3 Ram. This allows it to calculate a jaw-dropping 500 million triangles per second.
Needless to say, games look absolutely stunning. But, this sort of processing power also requires a fair amount of cooling. Despite using liquid cooling technology, the Xbox 360, much like its predecessor, is a noisy beast.
All games developed for the 360 support a 16:9 screen ratio, at least 720p resolution (the minimum required to be classed as HD-ready), anti-aliasing and 5.1 audio. Some games will also support a higher resolution of 1080i.
It can connect to a television using a standard Scart cable, but to make the most of this high-powered games machine you will want to hook it up to an HD-ready display and surround-sound decoder, using its component HD-AV cable.
The Xbox 360 houses a 12x progressive-scan DVD player, which will play all types of disc, apart from DVD-Ram, straight out of the box. A 20GB hard disk can also be mounted on top of the device and used to store ripped audio CDs, videos, photos and downloads.
Digital cameras, mp3 players, external hard disks, and even Sony's PSP, can be plugged into any of the three USB2 ports (two at the front, one round the back) for playing back media.
While gaming is obviously the major selling point for the Xbox 360, it also has a media-streaming element to it. Using Microsoft’s Windows Mediaconnect technology, it will stream music and photos from any computer with Mediaconnect installed.
It is able to stream video too, but only from computers using Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 (MCE2005). The Xbox 360's integrated Media Center Extender also gives users all the features of MCE through their Xbox – even PVR functionality.
Surprisingly, the Xbox 360 doesn't have wireless networking built in. If you don’t fancy using the wired Ethernet method, you can invest in a wireless networking adapter. Microsoft has its own adapter specifically designed for the Xbox 360, but third-party Wifi-certified devices will work just as well.
Design-wise, it's smaller, lighter and sleeker than the original Xbox. Its curvy edges are replicated in the new Dashboard interface (now called the guide). Wireless controllers will also work as standard.
As expected, the Internet features heavily and Microsoft has integrated plenty of features for live-chatting with other Xbox users, playing multiplayer games, watching online game trailers and downloading mini-games.
Of course, you'll need a broadband connection to take advanced of these features, along with an Xbox Live Gold account, which currently costs £40 per year.
If you decide the Xbox 360 is for you, and you can actually find somewhere selling them, you'll have to choose between the two available packages. The Core package (£210) includes the console itself, a wired controller, a standard AV cable and Ethernet cable.
The Deluxe bundle offers the console, a component HD-AV cable, a wireless controller, a 20GB hard drive, a headset and a few other extras for £280. We’d definitely recommend paying the extra for the latter.
With the Xbox 360, Microsoft has developed far more than just an advanced games machine. The Media Center element might even give Microsoft’s much maligned entertainment operating system to boost it so badly needs.
You’ll need a fair amount of equipment to take advantage of all the console has to offer, but you certainly won’t be disappointed with it.
See also:
Not even the eye of Sauron could stop the Xbox juggernaut launching its latest weapon in the highly competitive gaming market.... 13 May 2005
As Microsoft steams into the gaming world, we wonder if the Xbox has what it takes to toast Sony's PlayStation 2. Not quite, but it's going to be a good fight. 11 Jan 2002
A battle for the hearts, minds and trigger fingers of gamers everywhere. 23 Nov 2001All Home Entertainment
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