My XBox360 Review

[WndrBr3d]

I arrived at my local Walmart at 4:15pm to discover I was the 14th person in line, and would probably receiving one of the FOURTEEN units my local Walmart would be selling at midnight. Lucky Lucky

After taking some time to set things up and playing with it for a few hours, I think I'm ready to give my review.

Hardware:

The new Xbox360 unit is slick. The exterior is very sleek and it's very modern. The reason for it's design has been described as "The 1st Generation XBox was trying to contain this great power, so it was convex. The new XBox360 is concave, to represent the inhale before impact."

The back of the unit has two 60mm fans which act as exhaust. Cool air is channeled in from the vented sides of the unit. Which brings me to heat.

The XBox360 runs HOT. Make no mistake, your XBox360 will need to be in a well vented and cool area or else it may overheat possibly causing damage to the hardware.

To keep the XBox360 cool, these fans run at all times when you're in the dashboard and occasionally after you've shut off the unit (as a car radiator would). When the XBox360 detects a game has been inserted, the fan cooling the GPU is kicked into 'high gear' and gets very loud. If playing a game at low volume the sound of the fans might wear at you.

So you're posed with a Catch 22. You want to put it in a closed cabinet to keep the noise down, but you also dont want your XBox360 to overheat.

Video:

The HD AV connector on the back has an interesting switch. If you have it set to 'SD', the unit will only output 480i no matter what you have configured in the control panel. This switch is set to SD by default, so when setting yours up be sure to change this switch to the 'HD' setting.

In the video settings you're able to change your TV type (Standard, Wide) and your output resolution (480p, 720p, 1080i).

XBox360 games run at 720p or 1080i native game resolution. The XBox360 also includes a video scaler, which means games running at 720p can still be displayed at 1080i (if your display device doesnt support 720p). The first round of games look awsome, of course.

I have noticed some VSync issues while playing need for speed, but only in graphically intensive scenes.

If you decide to play music on your XBox360, you will be able to use their full screen visualization libary, which resembles any WinAmp vis but in HD. Honestly, this was probably the most visually breathtaking part of the XBox360 video for me. The full screen vis ran so smooth at 1080i and just looked amazing with the rich colors and how smooth it seemed to flow.

Audio:

Your audio choices on the XBox360 are the same as on the 1st Generation XBox. Analog only offers mono and Dolby Pro Logic, where as digital on the other hand has been given a new mode, Dolby Digital with WMA Pro[/b]. I'm not sure off hand any receivers that even support WMA Pro, but I'd love to hear!

Points of Note or Issues:

I've read across the internet that people are having issues with their XBox hardware. I'm thankful for the last 24 hours I have not been one of the unlucky. For the most part, my XBox360 gaming experience has been without error.... for the most part.

It took about 5 minutes of restarting and reinserting Perfect Dark Zero before the console would recognize it as a game and not a Video DVD it was unable to play.

My only other 'issue' relates to the Media Connect features. In order to connect to a non-Windows Media Center PC, you have to install the Media Connect Server software (which uses .NET 1.1, so be sure to have the runtimes installed first). After setting it up, my file server saw my XBox360 on the network and authenticated it to access the files. But for whatever reason, my XBox360 is 'unable to locate' my file server.

Reading the official XBox forums, this seems to be a common problem. I hope a fix will be released eventually.

 

[j_garcia]

Thanks. But how do the games LOOK? My rack is open on the back and has mesh sides, but I can close the glass doors, so fans shouldn't be a problem.

 

[WndrBr3d]

The games that are out right now look OKAY. I say this because they're about on-par at the moment with PC graphics. For example, if I had to choose between playing Quake 4 at 720p on the XBox360 or 1600x1200 on my PC, I'm going to choose my PC hands down.

The problem with the first round of games that come out on the XBox360 (and PS3) is that game development to recently has been single threaded. The only modern game engine to make use of multiple CPU's was Quake 3 and even that did a poor job! (crashed a lot on Dual Athlon systems)

This has been because there wasn't a large enough target audience that would take advantage of multi-threaded code in games. So what has to happen now is game developers are going to have to change the way they think and the way their game engines are designed.

Game studios have come out and said that their games for the time being are only using one of the three cores on the XBox360 for their game engine, where the other two are used to offload I/O and Audio processing.

I'm excited about these next gen. consoles though because they'll lead the way in multi-threaded game development which will inevitably spread to the PC market, where dual CPU (core) systems are becoming more popular and wide spread.

But I digress.

As I said in my review, probably the most breath taking visual experience on the XBox360 is the full screen visualization during music playback.

The games look okay, but arn't earth shattering. I sort of feel like my previous XBox just got a video card upgrade.

Then again, as I said, what else can you expect from 1st generation games? I'm sure over time the XBox360 will proove itself.

 

[majorloser]

WndrBr3d now that you've had a chance to play with it, was it worth the wait? I want to step up from the XBOX but think it might be a little premature from what you're saying.

 

[WndrBr3d]

WndrBr3d now that you've had a chance to play with it, was it worth the wait? I want to step up from the XBOX but think it might be a little premature from what you're saying.

I have a Pre-Order (paid in full) at my local GameStop, but because of supply I probably wont be getting it until December.

I went the Walmart route because I seriously wanted an XBox360 that bad.

Now that I own one and played some of the games that are out for it, I feel that there are no games on the XBox360 that I couldn't have lived without.

What's really disappointing is it looks like the next batch of games wont be rolling out until January/February of next year. So it looks like we're stuck with the current batch for a bit.

 

[j_garcia]

That's kind of why I'm waiting too... Similar to when the original XB was released, there weren't many titles that you MUST have. The reviews pretty much all said that about the 360 too - there is no defining title that screams "You need a 360 just to play this game". I also want to see at least the first round bugs worked out.

 

[Sheep]

The games that are out right now look OKAY. I say this because they're about on-par at the moment with PC graphics. For example, if I had to choose between playing Quake 4 at 720p on the XBox360 or 1600x1200 on my PC, I'm going to choose my PC hands down.

The problem with the first round of games that come out on the XBox360 (and PS3) is that game development to recently has been single threaded. The only modern game engine to make use of multiple CPU's was Quake 3 and even that did a poor job! (crashed a lot on Dual Athlon systems)

This has been because there wasn't a large enough target audience that would take advantage of multi-threaded code in games. So what has to happen now is game developers are going to have to change the way they think and the way their game engines are designed.

Game studios have come out and said that their games for the time being are only using one of the three cores on the XBox360 for their game engine, where the other two are used to offload I/O and Audio processing.

I'm excited about these next gen. consoles though because they'll lead the way in multi-threaded game development which will inevitably spread to the PC market, where dual CPU (core) systems are becoming more popular and wide spread.

But I digress.

As I said in my review, probably the most breath taking visual experience on the XBox360 is the full screen visualization during music playback.

The games look okay, but arn't earth shattering. I sort of feel like my previous XBox just got a video card upgrade.

Then again, as I said, what else can you expect from 1st generation games? I'm sure over time the XBox360 will proove itself.

So your saying if you have a decent gaming computer already, buying an Xbox has really no benifit? Just curious cause all these new consoles seem ot be doing what computers have been doing for a year or so now, but they don't run OS's.

SheepStar

 

[WndrBr3d]

So your saying if you have a decent gaming computer already, buying an Xbox has really no benefit? Just curious cause all these new consoles seem ot be doing what computers have been doing for a year or so now, but they don't run OS's.

SheepStar

What used to make a console a console, was that it was a simple all in one solution for playing games that had better quality graphics than anything you could buy in its price range.

For example, in 1985 you could buy a Nintendo for like $199 and get a machine that only required you to plug in a controller, a cartridge and turn it on.

Where as you could buy a $2,000 computer, learn how to operate the OS, buy the game, buy a controller and hope it runs with your hardware.

So when early consoles came out, they made sense for the common household user.

Now a days, you could pick up a cheap Dell PC for less than you'd pay for a complete XBox360 bundle.

What sets consoles apart now is the content. The games and the games alone I feel. What made Halo was not the fact that its graphics were ground breaking and it was this earth shattering game, but the fact that it was an XBox only title that let XBox players experience a new type of game play.

Consoles defiantly aren’t for everyone though, so it's really a personal decision.

Consoles do run OS's. In fact, Sega Dreamcast ran WindowsCE (well, could... long story ). The XBox ran its own version of WindowsCE that was called 'the dashboard'.

 

[Shadow_Ferret]

Thank you for the review and a big thank you to all you guys who had to have it first. You guys are the beta testers. You'll find all the bugs and by the time I get around to buying the XBox360, all the problems will have been ironed out and there will be a whole slew of XBox360-only games available.

 

[Sheep]

What used to make a console a console, was that it was a simple all in one solution for playing games that had better quality graphics than anything you could buy in its price range.

For example, in 1985 you could buy a Nintendo for like $199 and get a machine that only required you to plug in a controller, a cartridge and turn it on.

Where as you could buy a $2,000 computer, learn how to operate the OS, buy the game, buy a controller and hope it runs with your hardware.

So when early consoles came out, they made sense for the common household user.

Now a days, you could pick up a cheap Dell PC for less than you'd pay for a complete XBox360 bundle.

What sets consoles apart now is the content. The games and the games alone I feel. What made Halo was not the fact that its graphics were ground breaking and it was this earth shattering game, but the fact that it was an XBox only title that let XBox players experience a new type of game play.

Consoles defiantly aren’t for everyone though, so it's really a personal decision.

Consoles do run OS's. In fact, Sega Dreamcast ran WindowsCE (well, could... long story ). The XBox ran its own version of WindowsCE that was called 'the dashboard'.

Ok.

I feel console games, atleast the older ones, focused too much on useless features, rather then smooth game play. Take NFS Underground 2. The console version has NO graphics features. Can't turn off the stupid things like motion blur, light streams, etc. Thusly, the picture had to be so dumbed down inorder to run these visual effects. I have it for computer, and it slaughter the concole version. I can drive better with a keyboard on my computer simply because it looks better.

Now that consoles game reproduce decent graphics, games like HL2, Doom(graphics wise, the game blew), FEAR, BF2 need to be put on them. These are way better then console games. Imagine counter-strike over the net on a decent HT.....awwwwwww *drools*


SheepStar

 

[WndrBr3d]

Thank you for the review and a big thank you to all you guys who had to have it first. You guys are the beta testers. You'll find all the bugs and by the time I get around to buying the XBox360, all the problems will have been ironed out and there will be a whole slew of XBox360-only games available.

We're the crash test dummies.

The only crap thing is it comes with only a 90 day warranty. 90 DAY!

 

[HookedOnSound]

I am so glad I opted out of getting one for Christmas.

So much hype about nothing! Sounds like they would have done a better splash by wtg for spring on the release and offer more/better game selections.

I can't wait to see the comparison between Xbox360 and PS3 once both units are on the market.

Thanks for the reviews/comment

 

[STRONGBADF1]

Thanks, Great Info!

I think I'll buy some games for my new PC.

SBF1

 

[majorloser]

I guess I'll just wait.........

Seems like I'll just wait for PS3 to come out and see what the offers will be. It might be worth the wait if it really adds Blu-ray disc play ability as a bonus.

I usually wait a year or more before I buy a console. Hey for those of us who wait, January will be a good time to pick up old games since the owners of the new consoles will need extra cash

 

[korgoth]

i second the wait for the ps3.

the 360 has better graphics, but not that much better. i can play those same games on my ps2 and be perfectly happy.

once they come out with new games it might be worth it. but i think the ps3 will prove to be a bigger step in quality than the 360 is.

 

[WndrBr3d]

i think the ps3 will prove to be a bigger step in quality than the 360 is.

hard to tell, technically they're neck and neck.

 

[1khpsupra]

Nice to see someone review the 360. I played Day of Defeat at Best Buy and was very impressed. I really liked the feedback of the weapons, not so easy to run and gun. Graphics were very impressive, much better than Halo on the detail sid. Never even an hicup with so much action occurring. Interesting to see how the 360 holds up long term.

 

[Rock&Roll Ninja]

Well this, and the PS3, may finally get me to spend $$$ on the HDTV after Xmas. For now I think I'll let someone else discover just how long the XBox has to run before it melts.....

 

[SilverMK3]

Audio:

Your audio choices on the XBox360 are the same as on the 1st Generation XBox. Analog only offers mono and Dolby Pro Logic, where as digital on the other hand has been given a new mode, Dolby Digital with WMA Pro[/b]. I'm not sure off hand any receivers that even support WMA Pro, but I'd love to hear!

This year's Pioneer receivers do WMA Pro decoding . I wonder how they're doing Dolby Digital AND WMA-PRo at the same time though?

With Microsoft* we co-developed a Windows Media* Audio 9 (WMA-9) Professional Decoder, allowing you to listen to two-channel and multi-channel WMA compressed audio files.

 

[Cosmo Kramer]

Well this, and the PS3, may finally get me to spend $$$ on the HDTV after Xmas. For now I think I'll let someone else discover just how long the XBox has to run before it melts.....

What's funny is that right now the PS3 doesn't even have any cooling vents, so how's that going to work? I'm sure they will get them, but that just shows you that the PS3 may have overheating issues too when they launch.

Question- Is it worth buying an HDTV for the 360? Does the 360 have a noticeable difference on a SDTV?