Did Microsoft Jump The Gun…
Or Were Sony and Nintendo Just A Little Too Late?
The Xbox 360, a clear successor to the Xbox. Microsoft released the 360 nearly a year to the date before Sony’s release of the PlayStation 3 and Nintendo’s Wii. So early in the game, can the 360 hold up against the competition, or does it fall short of glory?
The Xbox 360 Didn’t Come From a Stork…
Known by many names during its surprisingly short development – NextBox, Xbox Next, and even Xenon – it was finally settled as simply the Xbox 360. In February of 2003 the software planning began, and that same month Microsoft held a massive event for four hundred developers. They were looking to recruit members. Sounds cult-like, doesn’t it?
Released in November of 2005, it was the first seventh generation system out. It beat Sony’s PlayStation 3 and Nintendo’s Wii by about a year. Cool? That isn’t even the beginning.
Xbox Live – Golden, man. Golden.
When the 360 first came out, Xbox Live got a facelift, of sorts. In addition to the Silver account of Live, it got a Gold account. The annual cost for Gold is $49.99, and in addition to everything you get with Silver, Gold supports multiplayer gaming – so you too can get beat by a kid in China or North Korea who has been up for thirty hours straight. Nice, huh?
And if you started with Silver, you can transfer your friends, profile information, and game history to a Gold account. All you need to do is link a Windows Live ID with your gamertag on Xbox.com. Simple, easy, and beautiful.
Three Xbox 360’s? What?
When the 360 came out, the Core system and the Premium system were the only available systems. The core console’s biggest drawback, of course, is that it has no hard drive at all, and without that hard drive, you can’t play any Xbox games.
However, you can buy a detachable 20 gigabyte hard drive for your Core system, allowing you to play Xbox games. The Core system doesn’t come with component cables, or HDMI cables.
The Premium system is the second ‘version’ of the console. It comes in matte white with chrome, instead of a plain white like the Core, and has a wireless connection, instead of a wired. It comes with a 20 gigabyte hard drive, an Ethernet cable, component and composite cables, and a month free of Xbox Live Gold Membership.
The Elite system, to be released on April 29th 2007, is the newest Xbox 360 to be released. It comes in a striking matte black with chrome, and is arguably the most attractive of the 360’s. It comes with a 120 gigabyte hard drive, Ethernet cable, Xbox Live headset, HDMI cables, component and composite cables, and a month free of Xbox Live Gold. Also? It’s completely wireless.
But why was the Elite system released more then a year after the Premium and Core systems where?
The answer is quite simple, of course. Microsoft needed something to keep people interested in the Xbox, since Nintendo’s Wii and Sony’s PlayStation 3 came out just days apart.
Well, Microsoft did it. Combine the amazing graphics of a 360 with 120 gigs of hard drive space, and a sleek, extremely attractive finish, and they have one beautiful machine there.
If you own the Premium and Core system, and want the massive hard drive space the Elite has, you can buy it for $179.99, which includes a data exchange cable, so you never have to lose any vital data while switching.
The reaction to the release of the Elite system has been mixed, at best. Some 360 gamers feel betrayed that they didn’t have the chance to buy the Elite system when the Core and Premium came out, but Microsoft argues that they aren’t trying to sell to those who already own a 360, but trying to push one onto gamers who don’t.
Bottom Line?
The 360 is a powerful gaming machine. It has to capacity to draw 500 million triangles in one second, and everyone will agree that the graphics are incredible. It is smaller, and easily more attractive then the original Xbox.
Some worried Microsoft had ‘jumped the gun’, so to speak, with the Xbox 360 – that it wouldn’t hold up to other seventh generation systems after a year. But there is no question about it. The 360 still holds it own, and it’s not going anywhere.
