Microsoft Xbox 360: Still THE Console to Own in 2008

Intro: Why I Hate Reviewing Consoles
The launch of this generation of consoles was a bit depressing to me as it would be the first generation where I knew that I couldn't afford every system that I wanted. I'd reached a time in my life where things like Car Payments, bills, booze, and loose women had become monetary priorities over anything that had to do with gaming. So I had to do some research, and make some tough choices. Suffice to say after researching I made the Xbox 360 my first choice of this current generation. And in my review, I'll try to answer the question: "If I can only buy one console in this generation, which console should it be?"

I'd also like the mention that I waited this long to review any of the current consoles because I hate reviewing consoles, passionately. The task is so damn arduous because there's so much information to cover and so much explanation necessary involving things like technical specs, that the reviews generally get long winded and cluttered. This review will be no exception to that rule, either, so if you decide that you want to skip the BS and get to the goods, I urge you to jump down to the summary and the pros and cons. Or I can just tell you that I like the Xbox 360 and we can leave it at that.

Technical Specs: Let's get this nonsense out of the way

Custom IBM PowerPC-based CPU

* Three symmetrical cores running at 3.2 GHz each
* Two hardware threads per core; six hardware threads total
* VMX-128 vector unit per core; three total
* 128 VMX-128 registers per hardware thread
* 1 MB L2 cache

CPU Game Math Performance

* 9.6 billion dot product operations per second

Custom ATI Graphics Processor

* 10 MB of embedded DRAM
* 48-way parallel floating-point dynamically scheduled shader pipelines
* Unified shader architecture

Polygon Performance

* 500 million triangles per second

Pixel Fill Rate

* 16 gigasamples per second fill rate using 4x MSAA

Shader Performance

* 48 billion shader operations per second

Memory

* 512 MB of 700 MHz GDDR3 RAM
* Unified memory architecture

Memory Bandwidth

* 22.4 GB/s memory interface bus bandwidth
* 256 GB/s memory bandwidth to EDRAM
* 21.6 GB/s front-side bus

Storage

* Detachable and upgradeable 20-GB hard drive
* 12x dual-layer DVD-ROM
* Memory Unit support starting at 64 MB

I/O

* Support for up to four wireless game controllers
* Three USB 2.0 ports
* Two memory unit slots

Optimized for Online

* Instant, out-of-the-box access to Xbox Live features with broadband service, including Xbox Live Marketplace for downloadable content, gamer profile for digital identity, and voice chat to talk to friends while playing games, watching movies, or listening to music
* Built-in Ethernet port
* Wi-Fi ready: 802.11a, 802.11b, and 802.11g
* Video camera ready

Digital Media Support

* Support for DVD-Video, DVD-ROM, DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW, CD-DA, CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, WMA CD, MP3 CD, JPEG Photo CD
* Ability to stream media from portable music devices, digital cameras, and Windows XP-based PCs
* Ability to rip music to the Xbox 360 Hard Drive
* Custom playlists in every game
* Built-in Media Center Extender for Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005
* Interactive, full-screen 3-D visualizers

High-Definition Game Support

* All games supported at 16:9, 720p, 1080i and 1080p, with anti-aliasing
* Standard-definition and high-definition video output supported

Audio

* Multi-channel surround sound output
* Supports 48KHz 16-bit audio
* 320 independent decompression channels
* 32-bit audio processing
* Over 256 audio channels

Physical Specs

* Height: 83 mm
* Width: 309 mm
* Depth: 258 mm
* Weight: 7.7 lbs.

I'm not going to lie I took(read: stole) all of this from Microsoft's tech spec listing and I really have no idea what the hell half of this stuff means. What I can say is that the Xbox 360 is a powerful gaming machine that is capable of performance levels that I'm guessing no game designed for it will ever reach. If you decide that you want to research these stats against those of the PS3 or the Wii, more power to you. And I promise this review will become more competent as it continues to unfold.

Out of the Box: Why You're a fool if you purchase the arcade system instead of the premium
One of the several widely positive things about the Xbox 360 premium system is that it more or less comes with everything that you need to game from the factory. Included in the package in the actual Xbox 360 console, 1 wireless controller, 1 power adapter, a set of AV cables(both standard AV and HD compatible, an ethernet cord for online gaming, an internet headset for the same function, and a 20gig hard drive. Now the premium edition retails at $350, while an "arcade" version is also available at $279. While 70 dollars sounds like a lot of money to save, there is no more egregious error possible in all of gaming than to buy the arcade version over the premium. The arcade package lacks the ethernet cord, headset, HD cables, and hard drive, and doesn't come with a chromed out disc drawer, yo. Buying all of these things separately(and they're all pretty necessary) will cost you over 150$, so save yourself some money in the long run and pay the extra 70$ now.

Functionality: The Xbox360 Dashboard, ect
Gaming systems used to be just that, consoles used to play video games on, but no a days, they've become multipurpose machines. The Xbox 360 has functionality well beyond gaming, and most of it is controlled through the new "dashboard". The Dashboard is essentially the main system menu, allowing gamers to control and edit the various functions of the 360. Included in the dashboards easy to use interface are sub-pages for things like system settings, which lets you edit things like audio, video, and internet settings, Xbox live to manage your online account(s), and Marketplace, which allows you download demos, game updates, videos, and a plethora of other things, useful and otherwise. The Xbox 360 also comes with USB connections, to be used with peripherals such as Guitar Hero's guitar, or to sync your 360 with other multimedia devices such as your IPOD or digital camera. So not only can you use your 360 to game, you can also use to it to watch DVDs(factory ready), listen to Music(either ripped off of CDs or directly from an Ipod, Rent and watch movies, and download a lot of random stuff. To be honest, the Xbox 360 has so many capabilities that I've owned it essentially since its launch in the winter of 2005, and still haven't tapped into all of its functions.

The console itself isn't "perfectly" designed, but it's a hell of an upgrade from the original Xbox. While the original looked bulky, rugged, and far from the cutting edge, the 360 looks like a slimmed down, teched-up upgrade. The things that you'll notice and utilize on the 360 are the Giant power button(where a red light means very bad), 2 memory card slots, which I haven't used at all, 3 USB cords for the aforementioned peripherals and media devices, a disc drawer to house games and dvds and such, and the audio/video and power supply slots in the back. Also noteworthy is that all Xbox 360s with hard drives are mostly backwards compatible. I say mostly compatible because not all games will work on the 360, but all of my original Xbox games(read: good games) seem to work just fine.

The Controller: Quite an upgrade from the original Xbox Controller
Last generation, upon the release of the original Xbox system, I "praised" Microsoft's flagship product, calling it the "fat chick" of video game systems and noting that it's launch controller was the arguably the worst peripheral in the history of consoles. Microsoft took notice to my criticism apparently, later releasing the smaller Controller S into the market. The S, by the way, quickly became one of my favorite devices ever, and the rest is history. That all said, the Xbox 360 controller improves even over the S design, setting the standard in the industry for wireless control. The 360 has integrated most of the aspects of the S, with the seamless wireless capabilities of the Nintendo Wavebird, and some of the features of the Sony Dual Shock 2.

As I more or less stated above, anyone familiar with the second generation Xbox controller will feel right at home here. Like its predecessor, the controller features dual analog sticks, a D pad, trigger buttons on both sides, and 4 main action buttons on the right side of the controller. There are some differences though, too. Gone are the white and black buttons on the left hand side, which have basically been replaced by the "right" and "left" buttons located on the top of the controller. Also added is a giant green button in the direct center of the controller, which can do magical things like bring up menu screens and turn your 360 on and off. Aesthetically speaking the 360 controller is also quite an upgrade also, but the most noticeable difference here is the controller's wireless capability, which allows players to game freely anywhere within about 40 feet of their console.

Xbox Live
Most gamers with any extensive knowledge of last generation's consoles would argue that the Xbox featured the best online support of any of the big three. The 360 follows in the footsteps of its father console, remaining the champion of online gaming in the current generation. The positives of the 360's online system are pretty substantial and fairly obvious. The first thing that you'll notice is that online play is an integral aspect of almost all of the 360's most popular games in the library. From Halo 3, to Forza 2, to Guitar Hero 3, to Gears of War, to Madden 2007, there are just a plethora of games that sold over a million units that dedicate a decent sized piece of their gameplay to internet play. Gamers will also take note of the fact that Xbox 360 live has the most dedicated servers of any of the current consoles, and the best, easiest to use interface.

With all the good comes a bit of bad too, though. The Xbox 360 is also the only current generation gaming console to charge gamers for online play. Both the Wii and the PS3 support free broadband online gaming. A gold membership to Xbox Live, which is what you'll need to play, runs gamers 60$ a year, or slightly more if you pay for it on a month by month basis. While I, like everyone else, would prefer this service to be free, I don't find it too heinous to spend the equivalent of one game's cost for a year of online gaming.

Games
I'm not going to spend hours writing a short synopsis of all of the dozens of games worth owning because frankly I'm lazy, and I plan on fully reviewing most of them anyway. I will however, give you a breakdown of the developer support that the 360 is receiving and some of the exclusives that you should know about. First and foremost, I can say that almost all third party developers will be developing and or porting almost all of their most popular games onto the 360. This is because the 360 has sold some 18 million units as of February, and because Microsoft has given developers fairly juicy deals to produce for their system. That said, 360 gamers will get games like GTA4, Call of Duty 4, full support from EA and Sega Sports, and probably close to complete support from companies like Activision, Konami, Sega, Take Two, and any other 3rd party developer that you deem important.

On the exclusives side, Microsoft also has the support of a couple of important developers and series'. Leading this list is, of course, Halo 3(developed by bungie) which has sold over 8 million units and is arguably the best FPS of all time. Another noteworthy exclusive would be the Forza series, with is Microsoft's response to the Gran Turismo series.(although almost everyone would prefer the GT games to Forza head to head) Microsoft also bought out Rare from Nintendo's grasps last generation, but this isn't really noteworthy considering they haven't produced anything actually worth playing since Perfect Dark 64. Throw in a couple of other exclusives like BioShock, and you have a pretty decent list. Essentially all you'll be missing out of with the 360 are Nintendo's platformers, the Gran Turismo series, and Metal Gear Solid 4(probably the best reason to buy a PS3 IMO), but overall, the 360 has as good a selection of games as any console.

Costs to Own: Hooray Math
I think this is a category that gets overlooked a little during reviews, but what you're going to find is that home video gaming is pretty damn expensive these days. Start with the 360 premium console which goes for $350. Add in an extra controller at $50, a year subscription to XBL for 60 bones, and 3 games at 60$ each, and you're talking about 640$ plus tax from the get go! That's like a whole 6 barrels of oil...or something. Anyway, in terms of cost, the PS3 is even a little more on the pricey side, while the less powerful, but oddly better selling Nintendo Wii is considerably cheaper. The point of all of this is, if you're considering taking up gaming, don't quit your day job.

Overall
I'll wrap this all up with the most important bit of information. If I could only own one console this generation, it would be the Xbox 360, period. I do, however, also own a Wii, and wouldn't mind having a PS3, but when push comes to shove, the 360 is just the best mix of game offering and value that's available. So get one.

Thanks for reading,
-Pav