Biography

by T.J. Deci

The follow-up to Microsoft 's Xbox debut into the video game console market, Xbox 360 was first officially unveiled in a half-hour promotional program that aired May 12, 2005, on MTV , and was further revealed at the 11th annual Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), held the following week.

The Xbox 360 is smaller and sleeker than its predecessor, and can be operated in a horizontal or vertical position, similar to the PlayStation 2 . The Xbox 360 was designed according to an "inhaling gesture" concept, and the longer edges of the console's front profile are slightly concave. The case is a silvery white color, but the unit accepts swappable face plates, available in a variety of colors and styles.

The front of the console features two slots for memory cards and two USB ports. No physical controller ports are required, as standard Xbox 360 controllers are wireless. Microsoft 's first-party Xbox 360 controller is similar in design to the "S"-style controllers manufactured for the original Xbox , though the "black" and "white" buttons have been moved to the spine of the device, as triggers. A globular, green, back-lit "X" button on the center of the controller offers gamers quick access to the console's built-in user interface, which is similar to the original Xbox 's "dashboard" but far more extensive. The standard Xbox 360 controller is manufactured in silvery white plastic, to match the console.

Xbox 360 uses a three-core, IBM -designed processor that runs at 3.2GHz and is protected by a water-cooled heatsink. The machine's graphics processor was designed by ATI , and features 10MB of imbedded DRAM. The unit has 512MB GDDR3 RAM, which is shared by the CPU and the graphics processor. A portable, 20GB hard drive attaches to the side of the console.

The Xbox 360 is backward-compatible with the most popular games for the original Xbox , and the machine can also play standard DVD movies and audio CDs, and read MP3 sound files and JPEG image files. The 360 is designed for easy LAN connections to contemporary Windows -based PC s, and an available remote control device supports the console's "Media Center"-style functions.

Of course, the nature of the games created for play on Xbox 360 will always depend on the skill and creativity of developers, but the console has been designed and marketed to encourage a few general themes which were established by the original Xbox . All Xbox 360 games are "Live Aware," allowing broadband-connected gamers to receive score updates and friends list notices, no matter which 360 game they're currently playing. Support for high-definition display and 5.1 surround sound are also requirements of all 360 games.