Hardcore gamers everywhere braved the cold night on Nov. 21 to get their hands on Microsoft's latest gaming console, the Xbox 360. These gamers lined up and camped out, in some places as much as 72 hours, prior to the system's official release on the following morning, Nov. 22.
Within minutes of opening most retailers had put up their sold-out signs and many potential owners were left with $400 in their pockets and nothing to buy. The system, which comes in two packages, the Core Package for $299 and the Premium Package for $399, will be hard to get this Christmas season. About the only way to get one on its release day was by pre-ordering one before August or by waiting in line for at least one night.
Those who were able to get one were in for a treat.
The 360 console is a beautiful thing. The sleek design, wireless controllers and customizable faceplates make the Xbox 360 entertaining before the power button is even pressed. Once turned on, however, the 360 boasts incredible graphics, a revamped Xbox Live (Microsoft's online gaming service), an easy to use interface and, best of all, the ability to play a new generation of games.
It's the little details about the new games that make the difference between the Xbox and the Xbox 360 noticeable. Streets in racing games are no longer smooth surfaces, but actually have cracks and potholes in the asphalt, making the track come to life. Buildings reflect off the hood of the car in incredible detail. In shooting games, the physics of enemies as they react to being hit by bullets is so realistic it's scary.
Everything in a game has its own physical properties and will react to the way a player interacts with it, even if it's smoke, which will morph shape depending on what it bumps up against. Individual bricks look different from each other, water reflects light and explosions cause physical objects to turn into particles that rain down on players.
It is hard to deny these games are beautiful, but eventually once people get used to the impressive graphics, the gameplay will have to become more innovative. Currently none of the new games released provide an entirely different or original style of playing like some gamers were hoping for.
However, the 360 still has most of its standard console life of five years to impress gamers. Microsoft has big games planned for 2006 release, including Ghost Recon: Advanced Warrior, Gears of War and Halo 3, which is rumored to be released simultaneously with Sony's rival console the PlayStation 3.
It seems Microsoft is slowly trying to merge home media into one unifying product, beginning with the 360. The 360 not only plays games, but also plays DVD's, streams music from a PC and downloads music from an iPod or other MP3 player via one of its three USB ports, among other tricks.
However, the bottom line is that Microsoft still has an uphill battle if it wants to take Sony's spot as the No. 1 console manufacturer. Ultimately, anyone who owns a 360 will have fun, but its fate as a PlayStation killer will not be decided until late 2006 when all of Sony's and Microsoft's chips are on the table.