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I've had an Xbox since 2005 and it rocks

 

 

Here is the official review

The Xbox 360 has been around since 2005 and is the successor to the original Xbox, which was released back in 2001 and has been a formidable opponent to the Nintendo Wii and the Sony Playstation 3.  The Xbox series are the first popular US made game systems since the days of Atari, with major Japanese companies like Sega, Nintendo, and Sony dominating the gaming market most of the time prior to 2001 (there were titles like the Atari Jaguar, Neo Geo, and 3D0, but none of them were nearly as popular as say the Sega Genesis, Nintendo 64, Play Stations one and two, and the Sega Dream Cast).  The Xbox 360 has gotten quite a bit of ground since it's release back in 2005. Xbox live adds lots of new interactivity with many games, especially first person shooters like the Halo Series, Quake, and Call of Duty 4.  There have also been plenty of classics hosted by the Xbox 360, including Halo 3, Call of Duty 4, Gears of War 1 and 2, Mass Effect, Castle Crashers (a fun arcade game released by Newgrounds), and Guitar Hero.  In addition, the Xbox 360 allows you to download and watch videos on your system, play arcade games on the Xbox Live Arcade (including classics like the Sonic the Hedgehog series, Castlevania Symphony of the Night, Metal Slug, and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3).

Benefits of Xbox 360

  •  plenty of fun games to choose from
  •  Awesome graphics, with 360 bit technology (blows away 128 bit).  This technology basically dwarfs 8 bit, 16 bit, and even 32 bit graphics (which were around not too long ago too).
  •  The default controllers are wireless and easy to use (prior to Xbox 360, controllers were usually plugged into the machine, but with Xbox 360, they feel more like remotes since they come with rechargable batteries and you can play the games from the comfort of your sofa instead of having to be very close to the machine to play).  The only downside to this change is that the controllers are battery powered, and so you will have to recharge the batteries after a while (or replace them if you use non-rechargable battery packs).
  • Xbox live arcade adds plenty more hours of fun and game play, along with interactivity with other players in addition to what is offered in the
    regular games.
  • The Achievements feature offers incentives to try and achieve the best score in the games you play and try to not only conquer games you play but go for extra stuff too (like side quests, finding secret items, etc).  Achievements
    can be handy for extra competitive players who want to compete for the highest scores in the games they play (by the way, achievements are reflected on your gamer card in Xbox live and is viewable by other players)
  • Xbox live makes multiplayer games addicting, especially when it comes to games like Halo 3, Call of Duty Modern Warfare, Quake, Gears of War, as well as the new MMRPG Knights of the Republic game that will soon come out. 
  • Plenty of titles to choose from.
  • The Xbox 360 does have a backwards compatibility feature that allows you to play certain original Xbox games on the 360

Negative aspects with the Xbox 360, like all game systems, the Xbox 360 is going to have its downsides:

  • Does get glitchy at times, especially with the notorious Red Ring of Death glitch plaguing some systems (has happened to me before too, btw the link above will take you to a website that is all about the Red Ring of Death clitch and has some information on what you can do about it.
  • The Xbox 360 is geared more towards the mature audience unlike the Nintendo Wii.  Some of the most popular games for the 360 (i.e., Halo, Gears of War, Fall Out 3, GTA 4, etc) all have ma 17 ratings, which means they are geared towards mature audience.  Of course, there are some games for the younger crowds, such as Kameo, Spongebob Square Pants, as well as most Xbox Live Arcade games.  If you are looking for a game system that is more "family friendly", then you might consider getting a Nintendo Wii instead.  The Nintendo Wii has plenty of kids games like Mario Galaxy, Kirby, Metroid, etc
  • Can be a bit pricy (especially if you get the elite kind). 
  • The backwards compatibility feature is not available to all Xbox games, and so you will want to check backwards compatibility list at http://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/backwardcompatibilitygameslist.htm has a full list of original Xbox games playable on the Xbox 360, so if they are not on the list, you will probably need to get an original Xbox to play them.
  • The Xbox Live feature is geared more towards competitive players, and so you will want to get some practice with them before using it.  One game I recommend if you want to get some practice doing death matches on FPS like Halo, Call of Duty, etc is Perfect Dark Zero.  Perfect Dark Zero is similar to Golden Eye on the N64 and has a huge multiplayer feature that allows you to practice against bots (and you can modify their personalities and difficulty levels allowing you to simulate a real deathmatch, which is nice).
  • Not quite as interactive as the Nintendo Wii since the Xbox 360 only has the regular controllers, the Nintendo Wii Nunchuck controlers make games much more interactive, though the Xbox 360 team is planning to rival Nintendo Wii's technology with upcoming games like Project Milo coming out in the future.

 

Bottom Line

Personally, I've had an Xbox 360 since it first came out back in 2005 and despite some drawbacks, such as the "red ring of death" glitch, the Xbox 360 is certainly a marvel that does not disappoint.  The graphics are awesome and there are plenty of timeless classics to play on the 360 (whether it is a deathmatch on Call of Duty Modern Warfare, playing cool Arcade hits like Castle Crashers, or even doing classic rpgs like Fall out 3, Oblivion, and Mass Effect) that will keep you coming back for more with the system.  In addition, gamers will also like the media center offered that allows you to watch videos, download new content for their games (such as expansion packs) as well as interact with other games.  Also, the Xbox live feature as well as the achievement system will certainly be a hit for competitive players who like to go up against other players in games they play (especially handy for people who like to join clans and go up against other clans).  On the other hand, if you are looking for a system that is more "family friendly" and has more interactivity, then you might consider getting a Nintendo Wii instead. 

 

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