continued from page 3
page 4
expensive, the premium bundle is easily the
better deal in our book. With it, you're getting at
least $210 worth of accessories for only $100
more. The hard drive--which alone retails for
$100--is a must-have accessory. Not only is the
20GB hard drive a far more capacious solution
than the memory cards that will set you back $40
apiece and hold only a paltry 64MB of data, it's
absolutely necessary if you want to play games
designed for the old Xbox console and enjoy the
360's more advanced media features. Want to
buy an XBOX 360, Wii, PS3, PSP or PS2 game
system? Unlike previous game consoles, the Xbox
360 was designed from the ground up to be
ready for the HDTV era. As such, all the games
have been designed to at least 720p resolution
(1,280 x 720 wide-screen), which the system can
also upscale to 1080i (1,920x1, 080 wide-
screen). In order to see the graphics in HD, of
course, you’ll need to be connected to an HD-
ready TV or monitor via the component-video
adapter, which is included in the premium $399
Xbox bundle. Alternately, you can pick up VGA
video adapters from Microsoft($40) or Joy tech
($20), which let you connect to HDTV’s and PC
monitors that offer a standard 15-pin VGA/RGB
connector. The VGA adapter offers a handful of
other PC monitor-friendly high-def resolution
choices, including 848x480 and 1,024x768. At
this point, however, the 360 offers neither DV In
or HDMI digital video connections, nor a 1080p
resolution option. By contrast, Sony has pledged
to include 1080p support and an HDMI output on
the console’s $600 package when it's released.
Don't worry if you don't have an HDTV—the Xbox
360's component adapter includes a fall back
composite output,and the system can output
good ol' standard 480i resolution with formatting
for squarish 4:3(non-wide-screen) sets. Want to
buy an XBOX 360, PS3, Wii, PSP or PS2 game
system? Just like the old Xbox, the new system
offers top-notch Dolby Digital audio. In-game
soundtracks are rendered in full real-time
surround, creating an immersive sound field that
envelops you in the game world. All of the A/V
cables include an optical audio output, but you'll
need to supply the optical cable, as well as the
compatible A/Receiver or home-theater system.
Each A/V cable also comes with standard analog
stereo connections for connecting to a TV or
stereo, but you’ll lose the surround effect, of
course. While it's primarily a game machine, the
Xbox 360 is a formidable digital media hub as
well. Plug a digital camera, a flash card reader, a
thumb drive, or a music player into the Xbox 360's
USB port, and if it’s compatible with a Windows
PC, you’ll likely have plug-and-play access to
browse your photos and listen to your MP3s.
Digital media on your home network are similarly
accessible: just install Microsoft's Windows Media
Connect software (a free download) on any PC
running Windows XP, and the 360 will be able to
stream music and photos from the remote PC. If
your PC is running Windows Media Center
Edition, the integration is even tighter. The 360
doubles as a Media Center Extender, letting you
access your TV recordings--including those in
high-def--from the networked MCE PC. Want to
buy an XBOX 360, PS3, PSP or PS2 game
system? One of the major successes of the
original Xbox was Xbox Live. The online gaming
and communications network is an even more
intrinsic part of the Xbox 360. Every model
(assuming access to a broadband Internet
connection and a storage option--either the hard
drive or a memory card) has a base-level
membership called Xbox Live Silver. That offers
the ability to create a list of friends, view their
gamer cards, and communicate with them outside
of a game via voice chat and voice messaging
using the headset; text messaging is also
possible. Later this year, an Eye Toy-like video
camera will be released for the 360, allowing face
mapping and video chat in a few games. Silver
members also have access to the Xbox Live
Marketplace, Microsoft’s online bazaar. In order
to play multiplayer games, you'll need to upgrade
to Xbox Live Gold, which is basically the same
$50-per-year service from the old Xbox. Existing
Live subscribers can easily transfer their
subscription to their new 'box. While the Xbox
360's online experience is quite impressive, Sony
promises to deliver a similar-scale service for free
on the PS3, though it remains to be seen whether
the company can deliver(a few of the PS3's
original features have been scrapped). For its
part, Microsoft periodically offers free full
subscription weeks and weekends to Xbox Live
Silver members. Want to buy an XBOX 360, PS3,
PSP or PS2 game system? The Xbox Live
Marketplace offers up free movie trailers and
game demos, as well as premium content, such
as Dashboard themes, gamer tag pictures, and
extra content featured games. Items are
purchased by using Microsoft points, which is the
proprietary 360 currency that’s purchasable
through the system or via prepaid cards (the
going rate for1,600 points is $30, for example).
Arguably the biggest draw for the Xbox Live
Marketplace is the wide range of titles available
for Xbox Live Arcade. There’s a healthy mix of
completely original titles and classic PC and
arcade games freshened up with high-def visuals;
some even include online multiplayer. Each of the
games is playable as free demos, but in order to
compete online and earn achievement points,
you're going to have to pony up the Marketplace
dough. While the 360's library is slowly growing
after a long, post launch lull, it can also play more
than 200 games designed for the original Xbox.
The backward compatibility is enabled through
downloadable emulation profiles; they're free, but
you'll need the hard drive to install them. In fact,
the software for Halo and Halo 2compatibility is
preinstalled on the hard drive. Unfortunately,
while 200-plus sounds like a high number, that
leaves more than 400 old Xbox titles unplayable
on the 360 for the time being. Microsoft is working
to broaden the list--it's added about 10 new titles
since launch--but there's no announced timetable
as to when the remaining games will be ported
over, and it certainly seems as though not every
game will be included. Want to buy an XBOX 360,
PS3, PSP or PS2 game system? The guts of the
Xbox 360 comprise what is, for all intents and
purposes, a very powerful computer. The
customized IBM PowerPC CPU boasts three
processing cores running at3.2GHz each, each
offering two hardware threads, while the ATI
graphics processor is said to be able to pump out
500 million triangles per second. We could go on,
recounting the 360's supposed 16gigasamples-
per-second fill rate using4X antis liasing and 48
billion shader operations per second--not to
mention, of course, the 48-way parallel floating-
point dynamically scheduled shader pipelines and
the 9 billion dot product operations per second.
But, frankly, even if we understood what half
those impressive-sounding specs meant, we'd
have no way to verify or benchmark them. What
we can say is the Xbox 360graphics varied widely
from game to game. With its amazingly lifelike
cityscapes and photorealistic Ferraris, Project
Gotham Racing 3 offers what’s probably the best
example of the 360'sHD-enabled graphical
prowess--you could almost smell the exhaust of
the cars as they darted over a dead-on re-
creation of the Brooklyn Bridge. Similarly, Call of
Duty 2 had us ducking for cover as we slogged
through some of the toughest firefights of World
War II. Meanwhile, the boxers in Fight Night
Round 3 looked astonishing--when a knockout
blow was landed, a close-up replay would reveal
the copious amount of spit, sweat, and blood
emanating from the victim of pugilistic brutality.
On the flip side, though, was Tony Hawk's
American Wasteland; what was an average-
looking game on the Xbox1 and PlayStation 2
suffers in the...
Go to Page 5
page 4
expensive, the premium bundle is easily the
better deal in our book. With it, you're getting at
least $210 worth of accessories for only $100
more. The hard drive--which alone retails for
$100--is a must-have accessory. Not only is the
20GB hard drive a far more capacious solution
than the memory cards that will set you back $40
apiece and hold only a paltry 64MB of data, it's
absolutely necessary if you want to play games
designed for the old Xbox console and enjoy the
360's more advanced media features. Want to
buy an XBOX 360, Wii, PS3, PSP or PS2 game
system? Unlike previous game consoles, the Xbox
360 was designed from the ground up to be
ready for the HDTV era. As such, all the games
have been designed to at least 720p resolution
(1,280 x 720 wide-screen), which the system can
also upscale to 1080i (1,920x1, 080 wide-
screen). In order to see the graphics in HD, of
course, you’ll need to be connected to an HD-
ready TV or monitor via the component-video
adapter, which is included in the premium $399
Xbox bundle. Alternately, you can pick up VGA
video adapters from Microsoft($40) or Joy tech
($20), which let you connect to HDTV’s and PC
monitors that offer a standard 15-pin VGA/RGB
connector. The VGA adapter offers a handful of
other PC monitor-friendly high-def resolution
choices, including 848x480 and 1,024x768. At
this point, however, the 360 offers neither DV In
or HDMI digital video connections, nor a 1080p
resolution option. By contrast, Sony has pledged
to include 1080p support and an HDMI output on
the console’s $600 package when it's released.
Don't worry if you don't have an HDTV—the Xbox
360's component adapter includes a fall back
composite output,and the system can output
good ol' standard 480i resolution with formatting
for squarish 4:3(non-wide-screen) sets. Want to
buy an XBOX 360, PS3, Wii, PSP or PS2 game
system? Just like the old Xbox, the new system
offers top-notch Dolby Digital audio. In-game
soundtracks are rendered in full real-time
surround, creating an immersive sound field that
envelops you in the game world. All of the A/V
cables include an optical audio output, but you'll
need to supply the optical cable, as well as the
compatible A/Receiver or home-theater system.
Each A/V cable also comes with standard analog
stereo connections for connecting to a TV or
stereo, but you’ll lose the surround effect, of
course. While it's primarily a game machine, the
Xbox 360 is a formidable digital media hub as
well. Plug a digital camera, a flash card reader, a
thumb drive, or a music player into the Xbox 360's
USB port, and if it’s compatible with a Windows
PC, you’ll likely have plug-and-play access to
browse your photos and listen to your MP3s.
Digital media on your home network are similarly
accessible: just install Microsoft's Windows Media
Connect software (a free download) on any PC
running Windows XP, and the 360 will be able to
stream music and photos from the remote PC. If
your PC is running Windows Media Center
Edition, the integration is even tighter. The 360
doubles as a Media Center Extender, letting you
access your TV recordings--including those in
high-def--from the networked MCE PC. Want to
buy an XBOX 360, PS3, PSP or PS2 game
system? One of the major successes of the
original Xbox was Xbox Live. The online gaming
and communications network is an even more
intrinsic part of the Xbox 360. Every model
(assuming access to a broadband Internet
connection and a storage option--either the hard
drive or a memory card) has a base-level
membership called Xbox Live Silver. That offers
the ability to create a list of friends, view their
gamer cards, and communicate with them outside
of a game via voice chat and voice messaging
using the headset; text messaging is also
possible. Later this year, an Eye Toy-like video
camera will be released for the 360, allowing face
mapping and video chat in a few games. Silver
members also have access to the Xbox Live
Marketplace, Microsoft’s online bazaar. In order
to play multiplayer games, you'll need to upgrade
to Xbox Live Gold, which is basically the same
$50-per-year service from the old Xbox. Existing
Live subscribers can easily transfer their
subscription to their new 'box. While the Xbox
360's online experience is quite impressive, Sony
promises to deliver a similar-scale service for free
on the PS3, though it remains to be seen whether
the company can deliver(a few of the PS3's
original features have been scrapped). For its
part, Microsoft periodically offers free full
subscription weeks and weekends to Xbox Live
Silver members. Want to buy an XBOX 360, PS3,
PSP or PS2 game system? The Xbox Live
Marketplace offers up free movie trailers and
game demos, as well as premium content, such
as Dashboard themes, gamer tag pictures, and
extra content featured games. Items are
purchased by using Microsoft points, which is the
proprietary 360 currency that’s purchasable
through the system or via prepaid cards (the
going rate for1,600 points is $30, for example).
Arguably the biggest draw for the Xbox Live
Marketplace is the wide range of titles available
for Xbox Live Arcade. There’s a healthy mix of
completely original titles and classic PC and
arcade games freshened up with high-def visuals;
some even include online multiplayer. Each of the
games is playable as free demos, but in order to
compete online and earn achievement points,
you're going to have to pony up the Marketplace
dough. While the 360's library is slowly growing
after a long, post launch lull, it can also play more
than 200 games designed for the original Xbox.
The backward compatibility is enabled through
downloadable emulation profiles; they're free, but
you'll need the hard drive to install them. In fact,
the software for Halo and Halo 2compatibility is
preinstalled on the hard drive. Unfortunately,
while 200-plus sounds like a high number, that
leaves more than 400 old Xbox titles unplayable
on the 360 for the time being. Microsoft is working
to broaden the list--it's added about 10 new titles
since launch--but there's no announced timetable
as to when the remaining games will be ported
over, and it certainly seems as though not every
game will be included. Want to buy an XBOX 360,
PS3, PSP or PS2 game system? The guts of the
Xbox 360 comprise what is, for all intents and
purposes, a very powerful computer. The
customized IBM PowerPC CPU boasts three
processing cores running at3.2GHz each, each
offering two hardware threads, while the ATI
graphics processor is said to be able to pump out
500 million triangles per second. We could go on,
recounting the 360's supposed 16gigasamples-
per-second fill rate using4X antis liasing and 48
billion shader operations per second--not to
mention, of course, the 48-way parallel floating-
point dynamically scheduled shader pipelines and
the 9 billion dot product operations per second.
But, frankly, even if we understood what half
those impressive-sounding specs meant, we'd
have no way to verify or benchmark them. What
we can say is the Xbox 360graphics varied widely
from game to game. With its amazingly lifelike
cityscapes and photorealistic Ferraris, Project
Gotham Racing 3 offers what’s probably the best
example of the 360'sHD-enabled graphical
prowess--you could almost smell the exhaust of
the cars as they darted over a dead-on re-
creation of the Brooklyn Bridge. Similarly, Call of
Duty 2 had us ducking for cover as we slogged
through some of the toughest firefights of World
War II. Meanwhile, the boxers in Fight Night
Round 3 looked astonishing--when a knockout
blow was landed, a close-up replay would reveal
the copious amount of spit, sweat, and blood
emanating from the victim of pugilistic brutality.
On the flip side, though, was Tony Hawk's
American Wasteland; what was an average-
looking game on the Xbox1 and PlayStation 2
suffers in the...
Go to Page 5
Want to buy a
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PS3 Video Game
Console?
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PS3 Video Game
Console?
Read the top
guide VIDEO
GAME
CONSOLES and
FIND WHAT
YOU'RE
LOOKING
FOR!
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Site is updated
hourly.
Visit us daily to
get the best deals!