There
is more to the latest console on the block than nifty hardware and
a weird control pad. Microsoft are being very shrude in launching
it now. Not only will the Xbox breath new life into the PC games market
but it will get microsoft and it's products firmly established into
our living rooms.Microsoft's Xbox is a Trojan horse. The company has conquered the desktop and now seems intent on sneaking a PC into your living room. It looks like a sleek video game machine, albiet a state-of-the-art one, but it incorporates built-in support for high-speed networking, an 8GB hard drive, DVD playback capabilities, and display support for HDTVs - to call the Xbox a games console is like calling Kunsten Dunst an okay 'teen comedy movie actress' - oh she is so so much more...
The PC games market is flagging and advanced games are the main reason the PC users feel the need to upgrade their PCs - without people upgrading their PCs Microsoft will die (possibly a touch melodramatic).
Bill Gates: "Here's the plan evil business men and fellow nerd dudes...we will make a games console based on a super PC we will initially make a loss on console manufacture but the games developed for the Xbox will be easily ported to the PC market. Add broadband access and DVD capability and we are back in business for squillions of decades to come - Yipee! - Anyone want to go to Taco Bell?"
Holly
gigantic mutha batman
It is a beast - with a front-loading disc tray, two buttons, and
four controller ports adorning the face, the monstrous case will
dominate your other home-entertainment components. Inside this eight-pound
box you'll find the power of a PC (a 733MHz Intel processor; 64MB
of RAM; and a custom Nvidia graphics board, the NV2A) and the heart
of a video game console. Still, as nice as all that processing power
is, what really matter is the onscreen results
.
Video enthusiasts will appreciate that the Xbox works not only with
standard 4:3 TVs but with HDTVs as well. If you have an HD-ready
set, you can set the Xbox to output 480p, 720p, and 1080i signals
in either normal or wide-screen (16:9) aspect ratios for your games.
Stepping up from 480p to 1080i on Dead or Alive 3, we found that
jagged lines were virtually wiped clean in 1080i. A nice complement
to this visual horsepower is the fact that the Xbox supports 5.1
Dolby Digital surround sound and deliver 256 simultaneous voice
channels--previously unheard of in a game system. All of this adds
up to some of the richest, most realistic experiences we've yet
to see in video games.
However, to get the most out of the system, you will have to spend some extra cash on optional accessories. The Xbox ships with composite video cables and RCA audio outputs like every other game console. But for improved audio and video performance, you'll have to spring for the $15 (UK price not yet released) Advanced AV Pack, which has an S-Video connector as well as optical digital audio jacks. The $20 High Definition AV Pack offers component video connectors (Y, Pb, Pr), plus the optical digital audio jacks. And what about DVD playback? Well, unlike the PS2, which plays DVDs right out of the box, you'll need to shell out an additional $30 for the DVD Movie Playback Kit. (Note to videophiles: Even with the extra kit, the Xbox won't output your movies in 480p, so hold on to that progressive-scan DVD player.)
It's
a bird, it's a plane, it's a PC with net access
While Microsoft makes you pay to unlock some features, it does include
some PC-like ones that can't be found in competing systems. First,
there's a built-in Ethernet adapter for broadband multiplayer gaming,
regardless of whether you're using a cable modem, DSL, or an office
LAN. Online gaming won't be available until early next year, but
we were able to link a pair of Xboxes via the office LAN to play
the game Halo against friends.
The console also comes with a built-in 8GB hard drive, so you don't
need to buy expensive memory cards to save your game progress. (Proprietary
memory cards are available to share files with friends.) That hard
drive also opens up some other possibilities. For starters, games
load quickly because they can cache levels on the speedy hard drive
rather than having to read all of the game's information from the
disc. Another fringe benefit is the ability to drop audio CDs into
the unit and copy songs to the drive. You can then use the console
to play your music rather than fumbling for your CDs. Too bad you
can't install whole game discs.
At
$299, the Xbox sells for the same price as the PlayStation 2 and
costs $100 more than the GameCube. Clearly, the Xbox has a lot of
power under the hood and sports some unique features (a hard drive,
an Ethernet adapter, support for HDTVs) that are missing from competing
systems. Does that make it a better choice than the PS2? While the
PS2 currently has a shed load of great games, the Xbox is off to
a very good start with rock-solid launch titles.
The Xbox performs well and is the best choice for those who want
more out of a system--especially high-end home-theater rig owners.
Those on a tighter budget should check out Nintendo's GameCube,
which is easier on the pocket and has good-looking launch titles.
