Microsoft Xbox
Microsoft tries their hand at consumer electronics hardware
In Nov. 2002 Microsoft put its considerable muscle into the task of hijacking the highly competitive console game systems market with the release of the Xbox. But they had a little more in mind than simply becoming another player in the video games industry.
Microsoft had an eye on what they see as the future of computing, internet and the consumer entertainment experience. It was a vision that Sony and Philips collaborated on when they developed CD-interactive, a non-web connected set- top box that tried to bring computing to the non-PC savvy public back in the early 90s.
Sony and Philips' next set- top creation would be bought outright by Microsoft. WebTV was another effort to bring computers to the non-techie, but this time it offered the internet. Microsoft bought the right to produce the doomed product, getting their first foot into the larger and well-established world of the console games industry.
The Xbox was developed with PS2's market share in its sights and would leapfrog over the technologically inferior Gamecube (Microsoft's two biggest competitors).
- Hardware Highlights
- 733 MHz CPU by Intel
- 250 MHz Graphics Processor by nVIDIA
- 64M DDR RAM at 200MHz
- Mem bandwidth 6.4G/second
- Polygonal Performance 125 M/sec
- 5X DVD ROM optical storage
- 8-10G Hard Drive
- Max video resolution of 1920x1080
Through a built- in Ethernet I/O that was broadband- enabled, gamers could connect to what would quickly become the world's largest and most supported single online gaming community, Xbox Live. No time for dial up on XBL, its high- speed- only requirement meant that users must have a high speed subscriber line to their house (DSL or Cable), which boldly cut out a lot of potential XBL subscribers for sake of performance. This was to pay off in the long run and grant those high- speed users with the best possible online gaming experience.
The Xbox also supports DVD playback through an upgrade package that includes remote and sensor that plugs into a gamepad connector. Video output supports HDTV up to 1080i with the appropriate video upgrade package, of course. The Xbox's HD support is actually "in game," which means that it'll present gamers with true HD resolutions (on certain games written with high- definition video) while playing, not simply limited to cut scenes, as HD resolutions are in PS2 games. High- speed- only XBL and HD support showed that Microsoft developed the Xbox looking firmly ahead at how these technologies would unfold in years subsequent to its 2002 release date when very few actually had HDTV and high speed internet access was in a minority of households.
Xbox proved Microsoft had learned how to create a full- featured, internet- ready set set-top box. Although Xbox never did knock the crown off the head of Sony and its PS2, which is still by the far the most popular and supported games platform around. Many of the Xbox's loyal fans will tell you the PS2's overwhelming popularity is due to its firm establishment in the games community and definitely not due to technical superiority.
Microsoft's game system is unique in consoles because it's basically a PC. It has a hard drive, CPU graphics processor that all works together much like a PC. Perhaps this allowed certain PC games to have an easier time porting to the new Xbox platform and why some established Japanese games manufacturers have been loath to port their games to Xbox.
Xbox is of course only round one of a major clash of consumer electronics titans -, Sony vs Microsoft in the battle of console games. Round two is the PS3 versus vs the Xbox 360, due between Q4 2005 and 2006. But before either next- generation console is released, Xbox may not be number one in terms of popularity but it's certainly the most powerful, feature- rich games console ever made.