Why should you own it?
So what is Microsoft offering for your money? It's now clear there won't a price drop just before the release of the PS3 and Wii, so you can pick up the Premium 360 pack for £279.99. Luckily Microsoft has spent a great deal of time and effort making amends going into 2006.
The 360, despite a rocky start, is a powerful system, with a lot to offer gamers. Systems are now readily available in British stores, with Microsoft fully able to meet demand.The 360 is also the first HDTV compatable system available, and the difference in quality and clarity of the games is enough to bring a tear to an old gamers eye. And with the release of the HD-DVD drive add on in November 360 owners get the chance to enter the 'joy' of the video format war for the sucessor to DVD.
But it's really all about the games and that's where Microsoft needed to turn things around.
The price of being first off the block was that developers didn’t have as much time as they might have needed to get to grips with the true power of the 360, but that’s all changed. The second tier of games after release included quality titles like Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter and EA's Fight Night Round 3, games that first gave a real sense of the power of the next generation machine and The Elder Scrolls IV : Oblivion from Bethesda underscored the generation gap once and for all. But one only need look at mid card and cross platform releases like Prey, Hitman: Blood Money and Tomb Raider Legends to see the slow but steady improvement in the look of 360 games compared to those on last generation consoles. And now with that run up, many of the software houses are now finally reaching for true next generation quality and original games.
Dead Rising, with more Zombies than an Amsterdam cafe, even a really big one!
This summer saw the release of a range of titles on Microsofts machine that you'd be hard pushed to produce as well on any current console. Ranging from the good like Dead Rising, the tougue in cheek survival horror game from Capcom, with it's multitudes of zombies in a shopping mall and Saints Row, the fun first attempt at a GTA style game on 360, to the bad and the ugly, with the technically impressive but shallow Just Cause and Ninety Nine Nights. Even with the less sucessful games on the 360, it's clear to see how developers have taken to stretching the machines muscles, which bodes well for the future. The 360 also looks set to give console gamers an introduction to the best of PC gaming. Since July we've had EA’s excellent looking port of PC Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle Earth 2. This is the game that finally shows RTS games can work on console, opening the door for others and giving a better taste of the shifting power of the machine.
High quality online play is another compelling reason to own an Xbox 360. Xbox Live on the 360 is a great experience, invoking a strong sense of involvement and community. Xbox Marketplace, Gamer Cards, achievement points and Xbox Live Arcade are all excellent innovations that no one else currently offers. Xbox Live Arcade continues to flourish, with Xbox 360 owners now able to relive the fun and fury of gamings yesteryear with titles like Doom and Street Fighter 2 online. Quickly ensuring that fan favorite Halo 2 was backwards compatible shortly after launch was a smart move too.
The ability to download demos, movie trailers, community videos and other goodies give gamers plenty of reasons to spend time in the 360 dash board. While more constant updates on Live would be nice and Microsoft is missing a trick by not being more proactive with it, look for them to up their game as Sony release their own version of Live.
GRAW brought forth the ture power of the 360 with deep gameplay and very pretty explosions
