Xbox 360

Xbox 360 is Microsoft's successor to their Xbox video game console previously refered to during development as "Project Xenon". The console is expected to be released in November of 2005 in the U.S., and the launch in Europe is expected only a few weeks later. The Xbox 360 will compete for marketshare against the PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Project Revolution. The Xbox 360 was officially unveiled on MTV on May 12, 2005, a week before E³. The system's retail price has not yet been confirmed, but is speculated to be between $299 and $399 U.S. Dollars.

With the launch of the Xbox 360, Microsoft's online gaming service, Xbox Live will go through a major upgrade adding a basic non-subscription service (Silver) to its already established premium subscription-based service (Gold).

In March 2004, Microsoft announced a new game development software strategy dubbed "XNA", believed to be for the Xbox 360.

Hardware specifications

Significantly, the Intel processor of the Xbox has been replaced by the IBM PowerPC architecture as the basis for the platform, due to its reduced heat output, improved performance and reduced latency.

According to the official Xbox website, the final specifications of the system are:

Custom IBM PowerPC-based CPU

• 3 symmetrical cores at 3.2 GHz each
• 2 hardware threads per core
• 1 VMX-128 vector unit per core
• 1 MB L2 cache

• CPU performance
  • 9 billion dot product operations per second
  • 500 Million Polygons per second (transform & lighting) (Microsoft figure)

Custom ATI R520 Based Graphics Processor

• 600 MHz
• 10 MB embedded DRAM (shares system RAM as well)
• 48-way parallel floating-point shader pipelines
• Unified shader architecture

Memory

• 512 MB GDDR3 RAM
• 700 MHz DDR

• Memory Bandwidth
  • 22.4 GB/s memory interface bus bandwidth
  • 256 GB/s memory bandwidth to EDRAM
  • 21.6 GB/s frontside bus

Overall System Floating-Point Performance

• 1 TFLOP

Audio

• Multichannel surround sound output
• Supports 48khz 16-bit audio
• 320 independent decompression channels
• 32 bit processing
• 256+ audio channels

Controller

• Each controller has 4 numbers around the X Jewel, which light up to designate what controller "port" you are currently using.
• The Black and White buttons have been moved to above the left and right triggers.
• The system will support 4 wireless controllers
• There are 3 USB ports for wired controllers (2 in front, 1 in back)
• Wired controller cords are 9 feet long and breakaway
• The Xbox 360 emblem (which replaces the jewel on the old controller) can be pressed to bring the Xbox 360 out of sleep mode and instantly bring up the Xbox Live menu.

Media

• Support for DVD-video, DVD-Rom, DVD-R/RW, CD-DA, CD-Rom, CD-R, CD-RW, WMA CD, MP3 CD, JPEG photo CD
• All games support a 16:9 aspect ratio, and 720p and 1080i video modes.
• Anti-Aliasing will be required in every game
• Customizable face plates to change appearance
• 3 USB 2.0 ports
• Support for 4 wireless controllers
• Detachable 20GB hard drive
• Wi-Fi ready (802.11a, 802.11b, and 802.11g), using an Xbox 360-specific or third-party wireless bridge accessory. Xbox 360 consoles will automatically detect and link with other Xbox 360 consoles within range.

Backwards Compatibility

Microsoft has yet to officially announce what (if any) backwards compatibilty Xbox 360 will have with original Xbox games. As IGN.com notes, "The problem with backwards compatibility is that the original Xbox ran on an nVIDIA graphics processor. When software makes calls to a chipset to produce visuals it uses code specific to that hardware. Xbox 360 runs on an ATI graphics chip meaning that code from last generation games will need to be recompiled or emulated in order to work on the system. Does this mean that consumers will have to chuck their beloved Xbox libraries? Not necessarily." (Xbox 360 FAQ – IGN)

Marketing

The marketing for Xbox 360 began on March 14, 2005 with the opening of an Alternate Reality Game and viral marketing website called Ourcolony.net. Through March and April the website would give challenges to its community and if they were solved would give out a reward, usually a picture of the system or an obscure screenshot from a launch game.

The official unveiling of the system occurred on Thursday, May 12, 2005 on MTV in a program hosted by Elijah Wood that was recorded on May 5. It was also broadcast in the following countries and local times:

Note that, in order to comply with ITC regulations regarding the advertisement of videogames and consoles, the UK showing had to be heavily edited. As a result, it featured few images of the Xbox 360 console and its games.

Gallery

Horizontal position	Controller, see the details	Remote control	Skins
Dashboard: Media center	Dashboard: Downloads	Dashboard: Video chat

Further reading

• Official Xbox 360 site
• Video of J Allard presentation at the GDC 2005
• The Xbox Reloaded – Wired Magazine
• GameInformer information on Xbox 360
• Taking a spin with the Xbox 360 – Team Xbox
• Xbox 360 Inside & Out – Gamespot
• Xbox 360 FAQ – IGN
• OurColony Xbox 360 Video

See also

• List of Xbox 360 games

External links

• Xbox 360 Home Page
• MTV Official Launch
• Xbox 360 – IGN
• Xbox 360 – GameSpot