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|topgame = ''[[The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion]]''
|topgame = ''[[The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion]]''
|predecessor = [[Xbox]]
|predecessor = [[Xbox]]
|successor = TBD
}}
}}
The '''Xbox 360''' (pronounced three-sixty), known during development as the '''Xenon''', '''Xbox 2''', or the '''Xbox Next''', is the successor to [[Microsoft]]'s original [[Xbox]] [[video game console]]. The Xbox 360 console was officially unveiled on [[MTV]] on [[May 12]], [[2005]], with detailed launch and game information divulged later that month at the prominent [[Electronic Entertainment Expo]]. Upon its release on [[November 22]], [[2005]] in [[North America]], [[December 2]] in [[Europe]], and [[December 10]] in [[Japan]], the Xbox 360 became the first console to have a simultaneous launch across the three major regions. It also serves as the first entrant in a [[History of video games (seventh generation era)|new generation of game consoles]] and will compete against [[PlayStation 3]] and [[Wii]].
The '''Xbox 360''' (pronounced three-sixty), known during development as the '''Xenon''', '''Xbox 2''', or the '''Xbox Next''', is the successor to [[Microsoft]]'s original [[Xbox]] [[video game console]]. The Xbox 360 console was officially unveiled on [[MTV]] on [[May 12]], [[2005]], with detailed launch and game information divulged later that month at the prominent [[Electronic Entertainment Expo]]. Upon its release on [[November 22]], [[2005]] in [[North America]], [[December 2]] in [[Europe]], and [[December 10]] in [[Japan]], the Xbox 360 became the first console to have a simultaneous launch across the three major regions. It also serves as the first entrant in a [[History of video games (seventh generation era)|new generation of game consoles]] and will compete against [[PlayStation 3]] and [[Wii]].

Revision as of 21:23, 24 May 2006

Xbox 360
Xbox 360 logo
Xbox 360 system and controller
Xbox 360 system and controller
ManufacturerMicrosoft
TypeVideo game console
GenerationSeventh generation era
LifespanNovember 22, 2005
Units sold3.2 million [1]
MediaDVD, CD
CPU3.2 Ghz PPC Tri-Core "Xenon" (codename)
Online servicesXbox Live
Best-selling gameThe Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
PredecessorXbox

The Xbox 360 (pronounced three-sixty), known during development as the Xenon, Xbox 2, or the Xbox Next, is the successor to Microsoft's original Xbox video game console. The Xbox 360 console was officially unveiled on MTV on May 12, 2005, with detailed launch and game information divulged later that month at the prominent Electronic Entertainment Expo. Upon its release on November 22, 2005 in North America, December 2 in Europe, and December 10 in Japan, the Xbox 360 became the first console to have a simultaneous launch across the three major regions. It also serves as the first entrant in a new generation of game consoles and will compete against PlayStation 3 and Wii.

Retail configurations and pricing

Microsoft's current retail strategy involves two different configurations of the Xbox 360 in most countries: the Xbox 360 SKU, frequently referred to as the Xbox 360 Premium Package; and an Xbox 360 Core System SKU. At launch, the Xbox 360 was priced at US$299 and US$399. The Core System is not available in Japan, instead Microsoft offers a package identical to the Xbox 360 SKU for ¥37,900. Japanese pricing of the console has drawn some criticism, as customers there are able to purchase the Xbox 360 full package, albeit one region-coded for Japan, for a lower price than in other countries. Additionally in Australia and New Zealand the Xbox-Live headset in the Xbox 360 Premium Package was not included (instead a DVD remote was included). The cost in the UK has been set at £219 for Core, £279 Premium.

BusinessWeek magazine compiled a report[2] that estimates the total cost of components in the "premium" bundle at $400 USD or $300 USD, sans manufacturing costs, meaning that Microsoft is losing money on every Xbox 360 system sold. It should be noted that the strategy of selling a console at a loss or near-loss is common in the console games industry, as console makers can usually expect to make up the loss through game licensing. Furthermore, since Microsoft owns the intellectual property rights to the hardware used in the Xbox 360, they can easily switch to new fabrication processes or change suppliers in the future in order to reduce manufacturing costs. This flexibility stands in contrast to the situation faced with the original Xbox, which contained a processor from Intel (a slightly modified Pentium III) and a GPU from NVidia (a modified GeForce 3). Because of the added expense of these chips and the inclusion of a hard drive component, Microsoft was never able to reduce Xbox manufacturing costs below the break-even point. As a result Microsoft's home entertainment division posted a loss through nearly every quarter of the console's lifecycle, including a loss of US$ 38 million during Microsoft's 2005 Q3, at the Xbox 360 launching.[3] Microsoft is predicting that with the Xbox 360, a greater market share and falling hardware costs will eventually make system sales profitable.

Gates stated that by the time the Nintendo Wii and PlayStation 3 ship, nearly 10 million Xbox 360 units will have been sold. This was stated at E3 during their press conference.[4]

Xbox 360 Xbox 360 Core System
Premium chrome finish Yes No
Detachable hard drive (20 GB) Yes No
Gamepad 2.4 GHz wireless Wired with a 3 m/(~9 ft) break-away cable
Xbox-Live headset Yes No
Cables Component HD-AV cable Standard AV cable
Xbox Live Silver membership Yes Yes
One month trial membership for Xbox Live Gold Yes Yes
Ethernet cable Yes No
Suggested retail price by region
Xbox 360 Xbox 360 Core System
Pricing on release
Australia (AUD) $649.95 $499.95
Canada (CAD) $499.99 $399.99
Europe (Euro)[5] €399.99 (€409.99 for Finland, Ireland, and Portugal) €299.99 (€309.99 for Finland, Ireland, and Portugal)
Japan (Yen) ¥39,795 Not available
Latvia (LVL) Ls320.00 Ls240.00
Mexico (Pesos) $4999.99 $3999.99
New Zealand (NZD) $718.95 $549.95
Norway (NOK) 3395,- 2595,-
Singapore (SGD) $660.00 $535.00
South Korea (Won) ₩419,000 ₩339,000
Sweden (SEK) 3995:- 2995:-
Taiwan (TWD) NT$12980 (originally 13888) NT$9970 (originally 10888)
United Kingdom (GBP) £279.99 £209.99
United States (USD) $399.99 $299.99

Launch

Main article: Xbox 360 launch

The Xbox 360 was released on November 22, 2005 in United States, Canada and Puerto Rico, December 2 2005 in Europe, December 10 2005 in Japan, February 2, 2006 in Mexico and Colombia, February 24 2006 in South Korea, March 16 2006 in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan and March 23 in Australia and New Zealand after a 3-week delay. Very recently, an official launch for the Philippines was announced.[6]. On E3 2006 Microsoft announced the console will be officially launched in eight new countries: South Africa, Chile, India, Brazil, Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic, and Slovakia.[4]

Because of a manufacturing bottleneck Microsoft was not able to supply enough systems to meet consumer demand in Europe or North America.[7] Many potential customers were not able to procure a console at launch and the dearth of availability led to Xbox 360 bundles selling on eBay at grossly inflated prices. By year's end Microsoft had sold only 1.5 million units; including 900,000 in North America, 500,000 in Europe, and 100,000 in Japan.[8] Low Japanese sales are partly attributed to the poor selection of launch titles in the region - only six games were initially offered and eagerly anticipated titles like Dead or Alive 4 and Enchant Arm were not released until several weeks after launch.

Components and accessories

Controllers

Up to four controllers are supported by the Xbox 360, including wired and wireless gamepads. The wired gamepads may be connected to any of the three (two on the front, one in the rear) USB ports located on the console, or to a USB hub. A USB keyboard is also supported, but only for inputting text.

Gamepad

The Xbox 360 gamepad design is similar to the Type-S gamepad from the original Xbox. Unlike the Type-S, the Xbox 360 gamepad features only two analog (pressure sensitive) buttons - the left and right triggers. Also the black and white buttons have been replaced with the right and left bumpers and an Xbox Guide button has been added to the center. Wired gamepads feature a nine foot (2.74 m) long cord with a break-away feature. They can be used with any USB and Windows equipped computer. Wireless gamepads have a range of about 30 feet (~9 m) and use either two AA batteries or a NiMH rechargeable battery pack. When a gamepad is plugged in, or - in the case of wireless gamepads - turned on, a quadrant of the LED "Ring of Light" around the power button is lit up, indicating connection and ordering (1st player corresponds to the upper-left quadrant, 2nd player to upper-right, etc.). The "Ring of Light" also adorns the Xbox Guide button; it will flash in case of a low battery warning on the wireless gamepad.

As a first for console controllers, the wired version can be used as a PC gamepad out of the box without the use of any converters. Regardless of the green Xbox 360 packaging or the red PC packaging, it is the same controller either way- the only difference being that the PC package comes with a driver disc included, while the standard package requires users to download the PC drivers. The downside is that the Xbox Guide button is currently inoperable, but future driver updates are expected to support it. At E3 06, Microsoft announced a wireless adaptor, which would allow wireless gamepads to be used on PCs.

Steering wheel

File:DSC 3253.jpg
Force Feedback steering wheel.

At E3 2006 an official wireless Force Feedback steering wheel was announced. [citation needed]

  • The link between the XBox 360 and the controller is wireless.
  • As well as having force feedback, the controller also includes a rumble feature that can be used in unison for added realism.
  • The rumble feature will run off an XBox 360 battery pack, and has a similar lifespan to the XBox 360 controller.
  • The controller can be used completely wirelessly with rumble support being powered by the battery and gas/break hand pedals behind the wheel.
  • The force feedback and active resistance features require the controller to be plugged into an AC power supply.
  • Included floor based gas & brake pedals that can be wired to the controller.
  • The controller can be used on the lap or can be in a fixed location using the included mounting attachment on a flat surface.
  • The standard face buttons from the standard controller, including the guide button, are available on the front of the steering wheel.

Faceplates

The default white faceplate can be replaced with a range of custom designs, each to be sold separately. The prices of these custom designs are around $20 with more to be released by third party manufacturers. Microsoft has also distributed two promotional faceplates, one for those present at the E3 2005 unveiling and one for VIP X05 attendees. While the face plate exists for aesthetic reasons, it still serves several other functional roles like airflow direction, dust and particle deterrence, and protection for the DVD-tray and memory slots.

AV connection

Adapters and cables are available for TOSLINK, RCA (audio and video), S-video, Component video, VGA, D-Terminal, and SCART connections, depending on regional standard.

HD DVD Drive

File:2841-drive.jpg
Xbox 360 External HD DVD
File:2841-drive2.jpg
HD DVD connected to the Xbox 360

At E3 2006, Microsoft officially announced and presented their new external HD DVD Drive. The new drive is set to be released before the release of the Playstation 3 on November 17th 2006, or just after. Microsoft also stated that it may begin producing new Xbox 360's with the HD DVD built in, or they will begin to bundle it in with the console in a new package. And also Microsoft said that the new package with the HD DVD Drive will be more expensive than the Premium edition when it comes out, however it will still be cheaper than the 60Gb Playstation 3 package. The new drive will be able to play the next generation of digital media storage, High-Definition DVD (HD DVD), able to play very high quality media on disc that have a greater data capacity than DVD's. HD DVD has been welcomed by several huge international companies including many film companies and of course Microsoft. The only other big competitor in the next-gen digital media storage is the Blu-ray Disc which has been created by Sony, the makers of Playstation 3. Microsoft HD DVD Drive will not have a HDMi port, and so it will connect to the Xbox 360 using USB. As the two USB ports at the front of the console may be in use by controllers, mp3 players etc., and the USB port at the rear of the console maybe in use by a wireless networking adapter, Microsoft have built another four USB ports into the back of the HD DVD drive, and in a sense, the drive can act as a USB Hub. The drive also has slots on the back of it, for Microsoft's official wireless network adapter to clip on.

Other

  • Detachable hard drive: An optional detachable SATA 20 GB hard drive is used for the storage of games, music, downloaded trailers, levels, demos, player preferences, and community-created content from Xbox Live Marketplace; it may also be used to transfer such content between Xbox 360 units. It is required to play original Xbox games. Only 13 GB of this hard drive are available to the user; the rest is reserved for the system and games. According to J Allard, the chief of Microsoft's Xbox division, Microsoft may sell larger capacity detachable hard drives for the Xbox 360 in the future, and territories outside of North America may have a differently sized hard drive in the retail unit.
  • Rechargeable battery pack: This nickel metal hydride battery pack provides up to 30 hours of continuous gaming for the wireless controller. It is recommended in place of disposable AA batteries (which differ slightly in voltage). It also ships as part of the Play & Charge Kit.
  • Play and Charge kit: allows the controller to be recharged while playing a game by plugging the wireless controller into one of the USB ports. Also includes the rechargeable battery pack. It should also be noted that the Play and Charge kit allows you to use a wireless controller with the battery pack removed, however it does not allow the wireless pad to be used as a wired controller on a PC.
  • Memory Unit: a portable 64MB device which allows the transfer of saved games, in-game achievements and unique gamer profiles to other Xbox 360 consoles. Microsoft also announced a 256MB version on E3, 2006, which will be avaliable in Q4 2006, price yet unknown.
  • Wireless Networking Adapter: The Wi-Fi (802.11a, 802.11b, and 802.11g) adapter is sold separately and will be sold for $100. Using an official or third-party wireless bridge the console will automatically detect and link up with other Xbox 360 consoles that are within range and form a mesh network.
  • Headset: allows gamers to talk to each other when plugged into the controller's expansion port and connected to Xbox Live. Some upcoming Xbox 360 titles may benefit from voice command too. It has an in-line volume control and a mute switch. It is worth noting that you do not need an official headset for your controller, any standard 2.5mm socket handsfree set from a mobile phone will work as a headset which is preferable to some users as it can work out cheaper and can be of much higher quality compared to official headset which is prone to causing excess pressure on the head and breaking. There are also wireless headsets coming this year.
  • Universal Media Remote: assists in the playing of DVD movies and music (although the console can play such media without the remote) , and offers controls for a TV or Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005-based PC. The universal media remote is a bigger version of the media remote that was initially shipped with the premium version of the console (which is no longer available). Both remotes allow basic control of games, along with being able to navigate the dashboard. The remote controls interface with the Xbox 360 via infra-red.
  • Quick Charge Kit: Charges your two rechargable battery packs in less time than the Play and Charge Kit. Comes with one new battery pack.
File:Livevisioncam.jpg
The Live Vision Camera.
  • Live Vision Camera: At E3 2006 the Xbox 360 camera was offically announced for release this fall, at present there is one Live Arcade game which has camera functionality included, the game UNO. Texas Hold-Em Poker is scheduled for release in the fall. That will also have Digimask technology included, accessed only by the Vision. The ability to create an in-game representation of yourself can be done with this camera.

User interface

Dashboard

A unique feature of the console is its robust graphical user interface, the Xbox 360 Dashboard. This GUI is launched automatically when the console boots up without a game/media disc, or when the disc tray is ejected. A simplified version of it can also be accessed at any time via the Xbox Guide button on the gamepad.

The Dashboard utilizes a tabbed interface that features four "Blades", each leading to a different menu.

Blades

  • Xbox Live/MarketPlace - Allows the user to connect to Xbox Live. Includes management options for the user's friends list, Xbox Live messages, and Xbox Live Marketplace transactions.
  • Games - Allows the user to keep track of played games and earned achievements. Includes access to Xbox Live Arcade and downloaded game trailers and demos.
  • Media - Allows user to manage media content and offers Media Extender functionality.
  • System - Allows the user to alter the system, privacy, and security console settings.
DirecTV

According to the March 2006 issue of the Official Xbox Magazine, a new blade may be added to the dashboard, pursuant to a long-term agreement between Microsoft and DirecTV[9]. The DirecTV Blade would offer the user an opportunity to "download TV episodes in high definition, HD movies on demand, and [use] standard-definition streaming DVR (i.e., TiVo) functions. However, since this news hit the internet there has been no further proof showing this to be anything more than a rumor."[10]

Media Center Extender

The Media Blade on the Dashboard includes a Media Center Extender feature that allows the user to stream media content from a Windows XP or Windows Media Center equipped PC. A Windows Media Connect utility allows users to stream various formats of digital music and pictures to their Xbox 360 console (video cannot be streamed with the Windows Media Connect software).[11]

The Xbox 360's Media Center Extender Capabilities also allow users to run other third party applications such as emulators[12] and mapping software such as Google Maps[13]. There is also the ability to browse the web with limited controls.[14]

Xbox 360 Guide

The Xbox 360 Guide is a simple user interface that is accessed by pressing the Guide Button (located in the centre of the controller) on any Xbox 360 controller. It offers the following menu selections:

  • Xbox Gamer Card
  • Xbox Live Messages, Friends, and Recent Players lists
  • Xbox Live "Private Chat" with friends
  • Personal Settings
  • Music controls

Once in the Xbox 360 Guide the user may boot the Dashboard interface by pressing the Y button on the gamepad, switch the current user profile with the X button, and shut down the console or wireless controller by holding down the Guide button.

Xbox Live

Main article: Xbox Live

With the launch of the Xbox 360, Microsoft's online gaming service, Xbox Live went through a major upgrade adding a basic non-subscription service (Silver) to its already established premium subscription-based service (Gold). Xbox Live Silver is free of charge and allows users to create a profile, join on message boards, access Microsoft's Xbox Live Arcade, and talk to other members. Silver members are not allowed to play any games online. Microsoft has also announced there will be trial weekends for Silver members to access the full features of Gold service temporarily. Xbox Live supports the headset for voice communication and the forthcoming Xbox Live webcam that will come out in the Spring of 2006 for video, according to Xbox 360 kiosk stands and Official Xbox Magazine. Xbox Live Gold has the same features as Silver plus online game playing capabilities. Microsoft has allowed for previous Xbox Live subscribers to maintain their profile information, buddy lists, and games history when they make the transition to Xbox Live Gold. To transition an Xbox Live account to the new system the user needs to link a Microsoft Passport account to their gamer tag on Xbox.com. Then when the user goes to add a Xbox Live enabled profile to their console, the user just needs to provide the console with their passport account information. An Xbox Live Gold account costs $49.99 USD, £39.99 Pounds Sterling, €59.99 per year (or, in the UK, a 3-month Gold membership is available for £11.99).

Marketplace and Arcade

Main article: [[:Xbox Live Marketplace, Xbox Live Arcade]]

The Xbox Live Marketplace is Microsoft's online distribution center for priced and promotional content. In order to download priced content (such as Xbox Live Arcade games or Gamertag images) users are required to purchase Microsoft Points for use as scrip.

Software development

Microsoft XNA

Main article: Microsoft XNA

Microsoft XNA is a set of tools and technologies which include XNA Studio which provides versions of key production tools such as asset management, defect tracking, project automation and work lists. These tools are designed to work together to automate common development tasks and present interfaces tailored to the different functions within the team. John Carmack stated at QuakeCon 2005 that the Xbox 360 had "the best development environment" he has seen for a console. Microsoft XNA also includes other components such as the XNA Framework and XNA Build.

Procedural synthesis

Main article: Procedural synthesis

In traditional video games, all content is statically stored and generally immutable; that is, textures, meshes, and other game content is stored on a storage medium. As complexity in each rises, the demand for storage rises as well. A newer approach to generating content is utilised for Xbox 360 titles, a method referred to by Microsoft as procedural synthesis. Procedural synthesis is an approach to generating game content via algorithms. For example, trees are one of the most complicated objects to render in a game, due to their organic complexity. A game with only one model for a tree will appear odd, as nature is far more random; the game loses some of its immersion as a result. Instead, a general recursive algorithm will generate the tree's model and textures, so that each tree looks different from the next, and do so with high efficiency.[15]

Backward compatibility

Further information: List of Xbox games compatible with Xbox 360

Backward compatibility is achieved through software emulation of the original Xbox hardware. Emulated games offer graphical enhancements because they are rendered in 720p resolution with anti-aliasing enabled rather than the Xbox standard of 480p. Some games also benefit from an improvement in the rendered draw distance, possibly due to the system's greater memory bandwidth. However there are also games that do not perform well in emulation; these often exhibit a lower framerate on the Xbox 360.[16]. Some suffer from bad coding, which have random quirks appear in the game. (e.g., Imprinting of the screen on Halo 2, the constant moving of Star Wars: Battlefront 2.)

A hard drive is required to enable backward compatibility. Hard drives purchased separately or as part of the console package include an early version of the emulator that includes emulation profiles for games Halo and Halo 2. Updated emulation profiles can be obtained through Xbox Live, by burning a CD with profiles downloaded from Xbox.com, or by ordering an update disc from Microsoft.[17]

The full list of backward-compatible games is maintained at Xbox.com. Although the current U.S. list includes over 200 games, fewer titles are listed as backward compatible in European and Japanese markets.[18] Microsoft has stated that they intend to release more emulation profiles as they become available, with a goal of making the entire Xbox library playable on the Xbox 360.[19]

Hardware specifications

Specifications are also available at the official Xbox 360 website.[20]

Central processing unit

File:IBMxenon.jpg
Xbox 360 CPU with some thermal paste left on it

The central processing unit (CPU), named Xenon (Microsoft) or Waternoose (IBM) is a custom IBM triple-core PowerPC-based design.[21]

  • 90 nm process, 165 million transistors, 65 nm process SOI revision in 2007 [22]
  • Three symmetrical cores, each one SMT-capable and clocked at 3.2 GHz
  • One VMX-128 (IBM's branding for AltiVec) SIMD unit per core
  • 128×128 register file for each VMX unit
  • 1 MB L-2 cache (lockable by the GPU) running at half-speed (1.4 GHz) with a 128bit bus
  • 34 gigabytes per second of L-2 memory bandwidth (256bit x 100 MHz)
  • dot product performance: 9.1 billion per second
  • 98 GFLOPS theoretical peak performance
  • ROM storing Microsoft private encrypted keys

Graphics processing unit

File:R500gpu.jpg
Xbox 360 GPU; note the smaller eDRAM die to the left of the main Xenos die.

The "Xenos" graphics processing unit (GPU) is a custom chip designed by ATI. (Developed under the name "C1", sometimes "R500")[23] The chip contains two separate silicon dies: the parent GPU and the daughter eDRAM.

  • 315 million transistors total
  • 500 MHz parent GPU (90 nm TSMC process, 235 million transistors)
  • 300 MHz 10 MB daughter embedded DRAM framebuffer (90 nm process, 50 million transistors)
  • 48-way parallel floating-point dynamically-scheduled shader pipelines
    • 3 groups of 16 arithmetic logic units
    • 1 ALU per fragmentpipe for vertex or pixel shader processing
    • Unified shader architecture (This means that each pipeline is capable of running either pixel or vertex shaders.)
    • Support for DirectX 9.0 Shader Model 3.0 and DirectX 10 Shader Model 4.0
    • 2 Shader operations per pipe per cycle
    • 40 Shader operations per cycle across the entire shader array
    • Shader performance: 48 billion (48,000 million) shader operations per second (96 shader operations x 500 MHz)
  • 14 Filtered & 16 unfiltered texture samples per clock
  • Maximum polygon performance: 500 million triangles per second
  • Texel fillrate: 8 gigatexel per second fillrate (16 textures x 500 MHz)
  • Pixel fillrate: 4 gigasamples per second fillrate using 4X multisample anti aliasing (MSAA) or 1 gigapixel per second without multisample anti aliasing (8 ROPs x 500 MHz)
  • Dot product operations: 24 billion per second or 33.6 billion per second theoretical maximum when summed with CPU operations
  • 1 TFLOPS theoretical peak performance of CPU and GPU combined

Memory

System bandwidth

Xbox 360 Bandwidth Diagram
Xbox 360 Bandwidth Diagram

The system bandwidth comprises:

  • 22.4 GB/s memory interface bus bandwidth (700 MHz × 2 accesses per clock cycle (one per edge) on a 128 bit bus)
  • 256 GB/s eDRAM internal logic to eDRAM internal memory bandwidth
  • 32 GB/s GPU to eDRAM bandwidth (2 GHz × 2 accesses per clock cycle on a 64 bit DDR bus)
  • 21.6 GB/s front side bus (aggregated 10.8 GB/s upstream and downstream)
  • 1 GB/s southbridge bandwidth (aggregated 500 MB/s upstream and downstream)

Audio

  • All games must support at least six channel (5.1) Dolby Digital surround sound
  • Support for 48 kHz 16-bit audio
  • 320 independent decompression channels
  • 32 bit processing
  • 256+ audio channels
  • No voice echo to game players on the same Xbox console; voice goes only to remote consoles
  • Voice communication is handled by the console, not by the game code. This allows players to communicate online even if they are playing different games.
  • Uses XMA codec (based on WMA Pro)

Video

All games are required to support a 16:9 aspect ratio, and a HD resolution of 720p with 2x full scene anti-aliasing enabled. The GPU can crossconvert the native 720p to other display resolutions (including 480i SDTV and 480p) and dynamically crop or scale 16:9 to fit 4:3 screens. Some games will optionally support 1080i and 480p native rendering, instead of rendering at a fixed 720p resolution and then crossconverting.

Supported resolutions

Resolution Aspect Ratio Megapixels Standard Output (RGB via VGA connector or SCART)
640x240 interlaced

(640x480 effective)

4:3 0.15

(0.31 effective)

480i Composite video \ S-Video \ Component video \ RGB
640x480 4:3 0.31 VGA \ 480p Component video \ RGB
848x480 16:9 0.4 WVGA \ Widescreen 480p RGB
1024x768 4:3 0.79 XGA RGB
1280x720 16:9 0.92 720p Component video \ RGB
1280x768 16:10 0.98 WXGA RGB
1360x768 16:9 1.04 WXGA RGB
1280x1024 5:4 1.31 SXGA RGB
1920x540 interlaced

(1920x1080 effective)

16:9 1.03 interlaced
(2.07 effective) 		1080i Component video

Supported codecs

DVD drive

A 12X DVD-ROM SATA drive, capable of reading DVD+R/DVD+RW discs and DVD-R/RW, is part of the console, with game titles shipping on single or dual-layer DVDs. The disc drive also supports the CD-DA, CD-ROM, CD-R/RW, WMA-CD, MP3-CD, and JPEG Photo CD formats as well as DVD movies. There are two known suppliers of these drives for the Xbox 360: Hitachi-LG and Toshiba-Samsung. The Hitachi-LG drive is considerably noisy, so the Toshiba-Samsung drive has replaced it in the new shipment of consoles and is reasonably quiet.

Bill Gates has confirmed during his keynote speech at CES 2006 that an external HD DVD drive will be released for the 360 during 2006.[24] However, Peter Moore has stated that if HD-DVD loses the format war, Microsoft may also release an external Blu-Ray drive. This was later denied by Microsoft. [25] According to Japan's chief of Xbox operations Yoshihiro Maruyama, Microsoft will not release Xbox 360 games in the new disc formats.[26]

The price for the Xbox 360 and the HD-DVD bundle will apparently be lower than the price of the Premium PlayStation 3. [27]

Cooling

Both the GPU and CPU of the console have heatsinks. The CPU's heatsink uses heatpipe technology, where a hollow copper pipe containing a substance with a low vaporization point transfers heat from one end to the other very efficiently [28]. The heatsinks are actively cooled by a pair of 60 mm exhaust fans that push the air out of the case (negative case pressure). Active cooling makes the Xbox 360 considerably louder than passively cooled console would be, although much of the noise produced by the 360 is actually a product of the DVD-ROM drive rather than the thermally controlled fans. There have been third-party modifications that watercool the console.[29]

Physical characteristics

Console

  • Weight 3.5 kg (7.7 lb)
  • 30.9 cm (L) x 25.8 cm (W) x 8.3 cm (H) (12.16 x 10.15 x 3.27 in)

Power supply

  • 21.3 cm (L) x 7.6 cm (W) x 5.7 cm (H) (8.4 x 3 x 2.25 in)

Miscellaneous

Technical difficulties

Diagnosing errors and troubleshooting

File:Xbox360 bsod 02.jpg
Photo of the Xbox 360 error screen on a Wal-Mart kiosk

The Xbox 360 will display a "Screen of Death" if the system experiences a serious error. In such instances the user is prompted to contact Xbox customer support.

In the case of certain specific errors the Xbox 360 system will display a diagnostic pattern of red lighting in place of the standard green "Ring of Light" around the power button. These patterns indicate the following:

Quadrants lit in red Indicated error Troubleshooting
4 The A/V cable is either not properly connected to the Xbox 360 system, or is not being detected.[30] Check cable and connector.
3 Console is experiencing a hardware failure Contact Xbox customer support
2, left Console is overheating Turn console off, unplug power supply
1, bottom left General hardware failure Contact Xbox customer support

System errors may also occur without any indication or error messages.[citation needed]

Overheating

Because of its high power consumption, the Xbox 360 console poses a moderate risk of overheating if users do not follow the guidelines prescribed by the user manual. Users are advised not to obstruct air flow to the enclosure vents or power supply. Problems associated with overheating include reduced system performance and instability that may result in crashing or hardware failure. Some Xbox 360 owners have even installed custom cooling solutions in their consoles as a preventative measure.

Microsoft has been working with a Singapore-based company, Chartered Semiconductor, to create new 65-nanometer chips. These new chips will be cooler, have higher energy efficiency, and be cheaper to make than the old 90-nanometer chips, while not reducing performance; and may have the capacity to increase performance. [22]

Xbox Live connection failure

When you are booted out of Xbox Live and testing the connection shows an MTU failure, there is nothing wrong with your Xbox 360. You will receive this error message anytime the Xbox Live service is down for maintenance. [citation needed]

Disc scratching

When a user moves the Xbox 360 from its vertical position to its horizontal position or vice-versa while the system is reading from a disc, the angular momentum of the disc causes it to brush against the drive's pickup-assembly and results in scratches. The manual that comes with the Xbox 360 specifically warns against moving the system while it is powered on. Microsoft cannot replace scratched discs, by simply replacing the media, because they do not own the rights to the games. However they do offer a free copy of a Microsoft Game Studios Xbox 360 title as a replacement for scratched disks. [31].

Disc drive noise

Compared to previous generation game consoles the Xbox 360 is quite loud, much of this noise is produced by the disc drive when it reads a game disc. Because games can be played both with and without the detachable hard disc, the drive spins close to its maximum 12X speed to reduce load times. The drive generates less noise while reading video DVDs, audio CDs, or other non-game discs since these do not require as high of a transfer rate and are not spun as quickly (lower scanning velocity, see also constant linear velocity).

With the third, and most recent production run of the Xbox 360, the original Hitachi DVD drive (model GDR-3120L) was replaced with a slightly quieter Toshiba/Samsung DVD drive (model TS-H943). The Toshiba/Samsung model uses the same laser unit as the old LG/Hitachi drive, so the reading capabilities remain identical between the drives. [32]

Hacks and Homebrew

In March 2006 news spread about the console being hacked. A hacker group, The Specialist, announced that they managed to hack the firmware of the xbox dvd drive and also released a video of a copied game being played on the xbox 360. [1][2] Later the hacked firmwares for Samsung and Hitachi drives released to public and many tutorials about applying the firmware come out. [3][4]

Sales data

Total number of Xbox 360s shipped:

  • Total: 3.2 million units (March 2006)
  • Quarterly Data
    • Q4 2005, 1.5 million units
    • Q1 2006, 1.7 million units [33]

See also

Articles

References

  1. ^ "Microsoft Says 3.2 Million Xbox 360s Sold". Retrieved 2006-05-23.
  2. ^ Arik Hesseldahl (November 22, 2005). "Microsoft's Red-Ink Game". BusinessWeek. McGraw-Hill.
  3. ^ Paul Loughrey (April 28, 2004). "Microsoft reports Q3 losses on Xbox 360 division". gamesindustry.biz. Eurogamer.
  4. ^ a b Vladimir Cole. "Engadget & Joystiq's live coverage of Microsoft's Xbox 360 E3 event". Engadget. Retrieved 2006-05-23.
  5. ^ "Xbox 360: Higher price in Ireland - inconsistencies in Microsoft’s VAT reason", gamestoaster.com, 15 September 2005
  6. ^ Joey Alarilla (may 8, 2006). "Microsoft Philippines to launch Xbox 360". INQ7. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  7. ^ "Xbox 360 sells out within hours", BBC, 2 December 2005
  8. ^ "Microsoft FY2006 Quarter 2 report, page 14" (Powerpoint). Microsoft. January 26, 2006.
  9. ^ "DIRECTV and Microsoft Announce Long-Term Agreement to Expand the Reach of Digital Content Throughout the Home and on the Go", Microsoft, 5 January 2006
  10. ^ "DirecTV blade coming to 360 Dashboard?", Joystiq, 17 February 2006
  11. ^ "Stream DivX movies to your XBox 360 using MediaCenter". brains-n-brawn. Retrieved 2006-04-11.
  12. ^ "Play NES games your XBox 360 using MediaCenter 2005". Max Console. Retrieved 2006-04-11.
  13. ^ "Use Google Maps your XBox 360 using MediaCenter", Colin's Blog 26 March 2006
  14. ^ "Adding extra programs to MediaCenter including web browsing". The Man From Delmonte. Retrieved 2006-04-11.
  15. ^ "Inside the Xbox 360, part I: procedural synthesis and dynamic worlds", arstechnica.com, 24 May 2005
  16. ^ "Backward Compatibility Playtest", ign.com, 11 January 2006
  17. ^ "Backward Compatibility FAQ", xbox.com, 7 February 2006
  18. ^ "Backward Compatibility Games List", Microsoft Japan
  19. ^ "Q & A: Backward Compatibility", xbox.com
  20. ^ "XBOX 360 - Feel the Power", Microsoft
  21. ^ "Application-customized CPU design", Brown, Jeffery, IBM developerWorks, 2005
  22. ^ a b "Xbox 360 getting new CPU", GameSpot, 23 April, 2006
  23. ^ Wavey Dave Baumann. "ATI Xenos: XBOX 360 Graphics Demystified". Beyond3D. Retrieved 2006-04-11.
  24. ^ "Gates Outlines Vision for the Digital Lifestyle and Showcases New Products and Technologies From Microsoft, Microsoft, 4 January 2006
  25. ^ "Moore: Blu-ray Xbox 360 add-on possible", Gamespot, 10 January 2006
  26. ^ "No HD-DVD games for 360", Eurogamer, 1 November 2005
  27. ^ "MS talks HD-DVD add-on price". Eurogamer. May 16, 2006. Retrieved 2006-05-17.
  28. ^ "Xbox 360 cooling hardware images"
  29. ^ "Xbox 360 WaterCooling Project"
  30. ^ "Xbox 360: Four lights flash red on the Ring of Light", Microsoft, 24 November 2005
  31. ^ "Microsoft Xbox 360 refuses to replace scratched discs", gameshout.com, 1 December 2005
  32. ^ Xbox 360 DVD Drive Comparison (URL accessed on April 1 2006)
  33. ^ "Xbox marks the sore spot", money.cnn.com, 28 April 2006
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