Features
The Xbox 360 has seen an assortment of different models released, with a glut coming in the past couple of years. Abandoning the HD-DVD format two or three years into its development cycle, the Xbox 360 has focused instead on providing a good spread of features throughout its models. Primarily a video games console with excellent online support, the Xbox 360 also houses an assortment of multimedia features as well as providing ease of use for all users.
The new Xbox 360 S model was launched in the summer of 2010 and provided significant enhancements to features from the previous Elite, Pro and Core models, as well as a much more aesthetically pleasing design. These new S models come with a redesigned chip architecture, allowing for smoother running and more space. The top of the range model features a 250 GB hard drive built in to the system, offering storage space for the many downloadable Xbox games available from the Xbox Live Marketplace. With six USB ports (one specially designed for the new Kinect sensor), along with built-in wireless internet, the Xbox 360 S is much more suited to a modern entertainment system than its predecessor.
All Xbox 360s now come with HDMI ports, allowing a much easier connection and a higher quality picture than could be had with the old component cables supplied with the console. The Xbox 360 also allows streaming directly from a Windows Media Centre enabled PC, meaning that video or music can be played from the Xbox on your television. The video player uses H.264 codecs, providing excellent playback quality and an excellent rate of streaming through the wireless connection. Netflix is also available on demand in some regions, offering the direct movie streaming service through your television.
The Xbox 360 comes in 250 GB and 4 GB models, with the hard drive size being the only significant difference between the two.
Games
The Xbox 360 has a huge range of Xbox games that can be played straight out of the box. Microsoft often pushes very hard for exclusivity for third-party games and has a good number of first-party developers it uses regularly.
The Halo series of Xbox games are exclusive to the 360, with the original Xbox series also available to play. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare 1 and 2, as well as Black Ops all have extremely busy multiplayer servers.
Aside from the AAA blockbuster titles from Activision and Microsoft, there are plenty of Xbox games that will appeal to any level of gamer. Microsoft has recently been pushing their casual gaming product line, previously dominated by the Nintendo Wii. The Xbox Kinect sensor has a solid line up of Xbox games for all skill levels; each Xbox Kinect sensor comes with a copy of Kinect Adventures to get started with as well.
Beyond the casual and shooter genres, the Xbox offers everything from adventure games and RPGs to racing games and sports simulations. Forza Motorsport is an Xbox game exclusive to the Xbox 360 and the original Xbox console, offering an unparalleled racing experience with excellent AI and a ground breaking physics engine.
On top of this, the Xbox Live Marketplace has a great collection of primarily exclusive games available to download. These are known as Xbox Live Arcade Games, or XBLA for short. The Xbox Live Indie Arcade game store was opened recently and contains a number of games developed by very small developers. Some of these are available free or with a free demo, while others cost as little as £1. These often offer an afternoon’s entertainment, but can provide much more. Cthulu Saves the World is one example of a top Xbox Live Indie Arcade game.
Xbox Live is another feature-rich component of the Xbox 360 multimedia package. Customers who sign up for a Gold Account get access to Facebook, Twitter and Last.fm services as well as exclusive downloadable demos.
Of course, the main benefit of Xbox Live has to be the ability to play games online. Xbox Live is the primary online gaming service in the world and attracts a lot of people. Most games now have some sort of multiplayer component to them allowing the game to be expanded past the end credits; indeed, some multiplayer-only games have come out requiring an internet connection to be played.
Accessories
The Xbox 360 comes complete with a large number of features that those with previous Xbox consoles had to pay for. The wireless adaptor and digital audio connectors no longer need to be bought separately as they are both integrated into the console. With a 250 GB hard drive, the Xbox 360 has plenty of space, and profiles can be transferred or kept on USB flash drives for backup or transportation purposes. This eliminates the need for the first-party Xbox 360 memory units, saving further money.
However, there are plenty of peripherals available for the new Xbox, starting with the Xbox Kinect. This infra-red depth perceiving camera also can be used as a webcam. Once plugged in and calibrated, the Kinect camera will allow for facial recognition, gesture controls and movement based game play. This takes the motion control idea developed by Nintendo with their hugely popular Wii console and removes the controller entirely. The hardware itself is extremely powerful and the accessories available are likely to show signs of continued development as the developers begin to utilise the system to its full potential.
In addition to the ultra high-tech Xbox Kinect, there are plenty of other peripherals and add-ons available. The Xbox 360 plays DVDs without any modifications required, but there is a good range of specialist controllers available, many of which are compatible with the PC.
Wireless controllers are available in black and white, with other colours made available sporadically in limited editions. Resident Evil 5, for example, offered a special red controller as part of the game’s special edition.
Arcade sticks range from inexpensive and functional to professional grade tournament sticks, priced accordingly. With the success of Xbox games like Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Street Fighter IV and the BlazBlue series on the 360, third party arcade stick support has never been higher. The MadCatz series of official fight sticks are very popular and are available for around £70.
An official Xbox steering wheel is available for racing games, but third-party support is strong in this area also, with anything from very basic non-force feedback wheels all the way up to boutique manufacturer branded items costing many hundreds of pounds available. The official wheel generally receives good reviews from customers and professional reviewers alike, and with the level of realism games are offering in this console generation, a wheel is a very good choice for any hobbyist.
In addition to the video game apparel available for the Xbox 360, a DVD remote is available from a number of sources . This can certainly be much easier to use than the controller when managing DVD playback.
