Microsoft Xbox 360 was invented and created by Microsoft, and it is a seventh generation of gaming devices. It is direct competition and Microsoft’s answer to Sony’s console – Playstation 3 and Nintendo Wii, Japanese bestseller. Microsoft Xbox 360 is manufacturer’s second video game console, developed after the popular Xbox.
Microsoft Xbox 360 is a console for mainly younger generation, and it was an excellent choice to launch it and unveil it on MTV, because their target audience is the exact same one that buys gaming equipment. After premiering on MTV on May 12th 2005, the console was shown later that month to all gamers and gadget lovers, at the Electronic Entertainment Expo.
Once the console was launched, it sold out in a very short notice. For less than 4 years, more than 31 million units have been sold all over the world. Microsoft Xbox 360 is available in 2 sub categories. One is called Arcade (and the improved version of Arcade is Xbox 360 Pro or simply Go Pro) and the second version is Elite. Each of these two sub versions has its own line of accessories and is very popular among the gamers and gadget fans.
Hardware, accessories and software (dashboard)
Hardware
The main unit of Microsoft Xbox 360 can be found in 2 versions: black and white. White one is officially called Arctic Chill. Its main feature is (positioned on top) a port to which you can attach a 20, 60 or 120 GB hard drive unit. Microsoft Xbox 360 has (as a CPU) IBM designed Xenon – triple core; and each core can process 2 threads at once. ATI Xenos handles all graphic processing and has excellent 10 MB (eDRAM). Main memory pool of Microsoft Xbox 360 is 512 MB.
Accessories
Microsoft Xbox 360 has a wide range of accessories: wired controllers and wireless models, faceplates (can be customized), headsets and webcams for audio/video chat, dance mats and Gamercize for physical exercise, memory cards (three different sizes), and hard drives also in three size varieties (120 GB, 60 GB and 20 GB). Each item mentioned above is styled perfectly to fit the Microsoft Xbox 360 console.
Software – Dashboard
Original graphical interface for the Microsoft Xbox 360 was the Xbox 360 Dashboard. It is a tabbed interface with five (it was four before) Blades originally designed by AKQA. The user could select what will the console do if there is a game in the tray, or if inserted when already on. Simplified versions of dashboard were developed along the way.
At the end of 2008, dashboard was changed from Blade version of interface to a new edition known as the new Xbox experience or simply NXE. Latest update was made to the Dashboard very recently on September 23rd 2009.
Tags: Xbox 360