Xbox 360

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Xbox 360
Xbox360new.png
White Xbox 360
Release Date 2005/2006
Developer Microsoft
Game Chronology:
Xbox Xbox 360 Xbox One

The Xbox 360 is Microsoft's second video game console and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and the Nintendo Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles. It was succeeded in November 2013 by Microsoft's Xbox One.

Details

The Xbox 360 was officially unveiled on MTV on May 12, 2005, with detailed launch and game information divulged later that month at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3). The console sold out completely at release and, as of 25 April 2008, 19 million units have been sold worldwide according to Microsoft.

Historically the Xbox 360 came in four different versions:

  • Xbox 360 Core Edition
  • Xbox 360 Arcade Edition
  • Xbox 360 Premium Edition
  • Xbox 360 Elite Edition

Each had its own selection of included and available accessories. These versions have since been discontinued. At the moment (December 2013) there are two versions on sale:

  • Xbox 360 S with 250 GB hard disk
  • Xbox 360 S with 4 GB of flash memory

The Xbox 360 S is a slim version of the original console.

The integrated Xbox Live service allows players to compete online and download content such as arcade games, game demos, trailers, TV shows, and movies.

Technical

The Xbox 360 features a three core Xenon processor (based on PowerPC technology) build by IBM as the CPU and a Nvidia GPU. It contains 512MB of unified memory, combining system and graphics memory.

Games are sold on DVD media or as digital downloads and Savegames can be stored on the internal hard drive (or flash memory in case of the 4GB slim version) or - since a Firmware upgrade - on USB sticks. Nowadays savegames can also be uploaded to cloud storage.

Internet connection is realized through a 100Mbit Ethernet port for Xbox Live connectivity. Am additional USB wireless stick was available for the older models, while the Xbox 360 S has build in WiFi 802.11g/n.

Tomb Raider Games for Xbox 360

Lara Croft Games for Xbox 360

As an additional feature there are Tomb Raider themed Avatar Items that can be added to the player's avatar on the Xbox start screen.

Console War

The "Console War" has been going on since the release of the PlayStation 3 after the release of the Xbox 360, and gamers worldwide have been fighting verbally, sometimes even physically, over which system is considered to be 'better'. There's also a neutral party who's aim is to show the feuding console fans the logical side in which they're both video game consoles, regardless of what has better graphics, accessories, or online functions. There is also a growing number of users owning both consoles to enjoy the multiple exclusive games.

Red Ring of Death

Some early models of the Xbox 360 suffered from a hardware failure known as the Red Ring of Death (or RRoD for short) where the console would not start up anymore and three of the four LED segments around the power button would glow red. This problem seems to be solved in the newer versions of the console. It has some similarity to the Yellow Light of Death (or YLoD)) experienced by some of the older ("fat") PlayStation 3 systems.