Microsoft Xbox
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December 31, 2005 08:11
4.5/5
The Xbox is a monster. A performance, behemoth!
On the face of this gorgeous system, you have the power CD loading tray (not like the tray on the PS2 and GC, where you press a button and it loads on springs) to the top-left, a big button to open the tray in the center, and a small power button (on/off) for the console. Below it you have the 4 controller inputs for the controllers. On the front you have a great looking "XBOX" logo and a big 'X' that looks like a logo from the X-Men movie. Very, very good looking. Big, yes, but powerful. If your not a big baby as to it being not portable like the Ps2 Slimline or the Nintendo Gamecube, then you'll love how this looks. One note: Previously owning a Gamecube, I noticed that the connecter cables for the power outlet and the TV/VCR for the Xbox are very well done. What I mean is you can deffinetely tell that the GC cables are very, very cheaper feeling as oppose to the 'box's. That's what I call quality. and the Microsoft Xbox is deffinetely quality, you won't be disappointed!
Microsoft owns a huge chunk of the PC market, and decided to take their computer ranks in front of the TV. And they did it, again. The Microsoft Xbox as the same amount of power as the average (fast) computer. With a 733Megahertz, Intel Pentium 3, 8GB hard drive, it;s like a computer in your living room! Graphics are by far the best, and loading times are superior to the PS2 and the Gamecube, with 294.9 and 485 megahertz respectively. Also, the 8GB hard drive is well enough for most people, so you can easily save tons and tons of games to the hard drive without buying memory cards. The only problem is, like the Gamecube, with a memory card you can take it to your friends house and save games on it there. Not to worry, you can still buy memory cards for the Xbox anyways and put it in your Xbox controller, and take your controller to your friends house. No big deal, trust me.
What you can also do with the Xbox is play audio CD on it, and have the option of saving , or copying a selected track or album to the hard drive, so you don't have to put in your audio CD's into it every time. Pretty cool tech. An only downside, is that the 'box doesn't read CD-R/+R type format, or your typical burned CD that you did from your computer. Oh, one more thing, you can also make an 'album customization' feat where, when you have successfully copied your track(s) onto the hard drive, bring these track(s) onto your game, so that you can listen to your favourite CD while playing a game! One note is that not all games are compatible with this feature, so be sure to check it out.
Xbox Live is another feature, exclusively for the Xbox. What it basically is, with some games being 'Xbox Live enabled', let's you play your fav games that you have online with people around the world. Sounds pretty cool, though I have no expertise or experience with this, yet (though very interested). I don't believe in paying for an Xbox, to be able to pay even more money to play online. No way.
As I've said before, performance is amazing. It has the best graphics, sound, loading time, and all-round performance on any system to date (save the new Xbox 360). The 'box is capable of playing in 420p, 720p and 1080i. These are basically high definition resolutions; on-screen results. The only thing I don't like about this better res. support option is that it only works if you have a High Definition TV to play it on, which most of us don't have. No need to fret, though, Microsoft put in a custom graphic card in your Xbox by Nvidia. The Xbox also great blasted through 5.1 Surround Sound, which it is capable of. Those of you who have a HD set, you'll love this machine.
There are plenty of accessories for the Xbox, most of which are expensive (unless you buy a third-party product, such as MadCatz and HipGear, which work just as good). One accessory that you might need is the DVD remote control and input, which allows you to play DVD's on your Xbox!! Expensive, but ideal though, this thing can play your DVD's in 5.1 Surround Sound. I don't have one personally, because I have two perfectly good DVD players. I still fell that Microsoft should have included this, as the PS2 plays DVD's out-of-the-box, and felt that it was just another way for Microsoft to make money.
All in all, besides the fact that Microsoft nags you to cough up more cash for stuff, such as warranty options DVD playback and a HDTV to play your games and DVD's on, the Xbox is a media pleasure, and is sure to make your video gaming experience, as it did me over the past 5 days, a great one, and in my opinion the best system to date.
Review by: Musicman01
Dec.31/2005 -
March 1, 2005 09:18
4.0/5
This is Great system, but with only of handful of games that take advantage of it. Halo 1 and 2, and the splinter cells,are the only games i really care to play on it, probably because of the unintuitive controls. It is still worth it tho, for the aforementioned games. -
December 11, 2006 01:36
4.5/5
I have owned my Xbox since 2001, and it is still working like a champ. I do have to open it up every now and then to clean the optical eye on the DVD drive but have had no other issues.
It plays all my games without any problems, unlike the three PS2's I had. The PS2's never worked right and that is why I would never ever think of buying the PS3. My next game console will deff. be a Xbox 360.
Hyghwayman -
May 26, 2005 09:07
4.0/5
I like this to. Many people have told me that they are not going to buy this because microsoft hasn't made a console before. It is great. They games are so cool, graphics are good, you do not have to buy anything to play with four people at once. The DVD Player works pretty good to. There are alot of good games for this system that you can't get for anyother system. -
December 17, 2005 10:41
5.0/5
ps may be slim and cute but heres the bottom line. xbox may be big but its loaded in side. people say that l the xbox is is a computer hooked up to a tv. but the ps2 is a death trap. it over heats they aleady have a recall on the power cord.xbox has way better graphics and NOT a plain design.ALSO xbox has the 8gig hard drive so u can put a cd in rip it to the dive and play it without the cd. -
June 15, 2005 12:49
4.5/5
Man, I don't know. From reading some of the reviews, I have to say that there is quite a large selection of games for XBox...
Halo & Halo2, Doom3, Grand Theft Auto double pack, Unreal Championsip 1 & 2, and so on. With these titles alone, you can spend months playing; online, and off. But as I said there are lot of other titles to choose from.
I like the DVD kit. Even with my older (Xbox) Thompson CD, I can play backup homemade DVDs 99.9% of the time with really cheap DVD media.
I've had my system since 2001. It's getting long in the tooth, but it still works. My original PS1 however, died 2 yrs after I puchased it. So let's think about quality as well. If my Xbox last's untill Xbox360's release, that's amazing. In contrast to the PS1 that couldn't even make it out of the 20th century! -
October 30, 2005 01:56
Terrible
0.5/5
The Microsoft Xbox is the ugliest and biggest gaming console. It is even bigger than my outdated VCR. The Xbox controller is too big and uncomfortable to handle. Most of its small library of games are too bad and violent for kids to play. This filthy machine deserves a 1 out of 10. Its more like a PC than a REAL gaming machine. -
January 12, 2005 05:27
3.5/5
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April 8, 2005 05:54
Excellent
2.0/5
Microsofts first venture into the console gaming industry is in this gamers oppinion a success in sales but a failure in true inovation. The XBOX has many computer like functions that help make it a major competitor in the gamng industry, this mainly because they are essentialy a computer company but they come up far short in offering gamers a unique experience. First is the game selection. I like most people bought an XBOX because of the critically aclaimed Halo. I loved that game but haven't seen anything that as caught my eye since. Halo 2 was simply an overhyped major dissapointment. It took me 3hrs. to beat single player and the ending sucked. Inovation is not present at all in this system. The games feel almost ancient in formula and they haven't offered up cool gadgets like nintendo's bongo controller and GBA player or Sony's eye toy. The Idea of this system was to simply make it powerful, which it is. Some games available for this system look gorgeous but the game sucks. For example Tao Fang, I bought it, was in awe over the graphics, played the game and was bored in a matter of 5 min. I'd say Microsoft sould stick to their poor operating systems and Honduran built computer accesories. -
February 21, 2005 03:47
Spectacular
2.5/5
