Gradual Panic!

As promised here is our follow up to yesterdays Nintendo Wii post and today we are focusing on the Microsoft Xbox 360, so without further ado let’s get started.

Microsoft Xbox 360

Now in its sixth incarnation, the 360 has slimmed down from its original fat self (how many of us have wanted to do that!) by taking a leaf out of the PlayStation 3 which did exactly that a year prior. The system has been out since 2005 and is the biggest selling consoles in the present market and uses both the standard controller that many are accustomed to but also the recently released Kinect. A motion tracking camera in which you are the controller, but more on this later.

The slimmed down system measures (mm) 270 x 75 x 264 and is the second largest of the three current generation systems behind the PS3 and comes in varying versions, the only real difference is the hard disk capacity. The lowest you can buy is a 4Gb whilst the other a 250Gb however both contain the same hardware and like the Black Wii and PS3 comes in a glossy black to sit in with most living rooms without drawing too much attention.

Features

One of my pet peeves that I had with the earlier Xboxes was that they had no WiFi adapter which meant that you either had to use an Ethernet cable to connect it to your Router or part with another £40 to get a USB Wireless adapter which slotted into the back of the console. Fortunately, Microsoft have finally relented and placed one inside it so at least the technology has caught up with the Wii and and PS3.

Now another area Microsoft make more money is through Xbox Live. XBL is the network service offered by Microsoft that lets its subscribers play multiplayer enabled games as well other online services like Last.fm, Twitter and amongst others Facebook. If that isn’t confusing enough XBL comes in three flavours: the standard Free version which lets you chat to other players, add friends on the XBL Network; the ‘Gold’ standard which is what lets users access the aforementioned services and more for £40 (rumoured to be going up); and, finally the family pack ‘Gold’  pack which seems to be four gold subscriptions for the family managed under one main account.

Unfortunately for Microsoft the 360′s have (as of April 2010) a failure rate in the region of 40% in which the console was returned more than once for repairs, usually as a result of poor soldering or a warping of the clamps which hold the motherboard to the chassis. It is believed that the new generation of consoles significantly reduce the amount of failures that plagued the system but Microsoft have apparently moved the internal hardware locations to prevent overheating.

Games

The 360 has got some spectacular titles gracing it, from the mammoth Role Playing Game series Fable to the critically acclaimed Halo First Person Shooter adventure there is something for everyone.  Now I’m not going to spend a great deal of time on the 360′s and PS3′s game line up mainly because apart from having certain games as exclusives on each system a lot of games tend to be multi-format so what you can get on one, you usually can get on another. But, what may pique some people’s curiosity is the aforementioned “Kinect”.

Kinect is essentially a webcam and microphone bundled together into one sealed unit that sits in front of your TV pointing outwards, much like the Wii Sensor bar does. However, unlike the Wii it doesn’t rely on any peripheral for the user to be holding in order for it to track you. It captures the person(s) in front of the camera and you are the controller.

Imagine if you will, you’re playing a game of Tennis and instead of swinging a controller in time to hit the ball you slap your hand forward in the location of where the ball will be and the system takes care of the rest. Couple this with the built in microphone you can actually talk to the console and get a response, for instance if you’re watching a DVD you can tell the console to pause by saying “Xbox, pause.” and “Xbox, play.” to resume.

I think Charlie Brooker can sum the Kinect up better than I can.

Summary

The 360 is undeniably more powerful than the Wii and has better features in terms of Parental Controls as well as direct access with Social Networking sites like Twitter, Facebook and LastFM (where you allow it) but what takes strong consideration is the on-line pay-to-play. Do you really want to spend more money paying for an on-line multiplayer service when other consoles offer it for free?

The 360 can be purchased from any good electrical retailer or online shop from £150 (for the basic 4Gb package) to £200 for the 250Gb system.

Finally tomorrow the PlayStation 3.

I’m sure by now that the majority of you have played on a Wii and if you were blown away by this modern technology you may be surprised to know that montion control isn’t all that new. Check out the video below to see that Nintendo have been working on said concept since the 80′s.