"It's Big and It's Black and it says Microsoft?"

Ah yes, the X-Box. It has been about a year and 2 or 3 months since the release date and it's still standing strong. Since the launch date, the X-Box has gotten very impressive games with INCREDIBLE graphics. Such as Metal Gear Substance, which is like Metal Gear: Sons of Liberty but with a twist of extras previous unreleased with the PS2 version. Another good examples is Splinter Cell by Ubi Soft, the graphics are really impressive and realistic. Anyway, enough with the games it's time to review the actual system and where I think it's going to end up in a year to two.

The Hardware

Graphics
Let's see, if we took apart the X-Box we would think it was a computer. That because it is very much like a computer/video game system. It has a graphic processor of 250MHz which I never seen before in a Video Game System.
BUT, that’s not it, its CPU power is 733MHz which doesn’t seem like a lot but this has never been done before.

The Score - 10/10

Sound

BOOOOOM!!!
That’s what you would hear all around you with the X-Box. Dolby Digital 5.1! That's 5 speakers with the humming of you car's motor or guns fireing in the back ground.

The Score - 10/10

Features

When you think about getting a PS2 or a GCN what do you think about getting first? A game and a Memory Card to save your games right? Well, if you bought an X-Box you don't need to spend $30 dollars on one because it has in internal Hard Drive. There are memory units out there if you need extra space or want to transfer memory into another X-Box. But you won't need extra space because has 300,000+ blocks of memory (even though you'd think it's smaller because it says only 50,000+ of memory on the X-Box). You're thinking how much is 300,000 blocks of memory in Megabits, it's about 8,000 MBs of 8 Gigs.

After all this, the question on your mind is can you play DVDs on your X-Box? Yes. But unlike the PS2 you need to buy a DVD playback kit to play them (which is basically a Remote controller). If you already have a real DVD player there is no use of buying one of these, unless you want to have 2 DVD players. A DVD playback kit is about $30 but it comes with a $30 mail in rebate.

GET READY TO RIP!!!
That's right, you can rip music off CDs and store them on your Hard Drive (don't worry though, a 60min soundtrack takes only about 4,000 blocks of memory). And the best part about this feature, is you can play the music you ripped while playing some of the games the support it. The only catch is that you can only rip CDs that you bought, the X-Box looks for the copyright layer (er, something like that).

The Score - 9.6/10

X-Box
I will answer some of your questions here.

How much is the subscription for it?
I think it's $9.95, not sure at this point.

What is X-Box Live?
X-Box Live allows you to play on line just like your PC with XBX Live compatible games.

I saw it in stores and it costs $50, should i get it?
I will weigh out the pros and cons about XBX Live for you.
PRO:
The starter kit includes and headset to talk to people with.
You get a year of it for free.
CON :
The $50 price tag.
You must subscribe to play (after the free year).
You MUST use broadband (no surprise there)

Okay, there is a little bit of information there, of course there is tons more out there about XBX Live. If you want the learn more about XBX Live to xbox.com to find out more, or if it's right for you.

The Controllers

Controller S

This must have been what everyone with small hands and had an X-Box was waiting for. This is an overall improvement of the original controller. It has been made into a smaller size and the place of the Black, White, Start and Back buttons have been put in different parts of the controller. The White and Black buttons have been placed under the A and B buttons which makes you so you don't have to stretch your thumb for it. The Back and Start button have been moved under the Control Stick and the D-Pad. The only problem with his you may hit the Start of Back button sometimes with you hand by accident.

The Score - 9.9/10

The Original Controller
This has about the same layout as Controller S but bigger and the A, B, X, and Y buttons have been tilted instead of a cross formation. The White and Black buttons are over the X and Y buttons and the Start and Back buttons are in the center of the controller.

The Score - 9/10 (If you have big hands 7/10 if you don't)

PROS AND CONS
PROS :
Memory Card not needed.
Graphics can be VERY impressive.
XBX Live
Rip music.

CONS :
Cost for XBX Live.
To watch DVDs you must buy the DVD playback kit.

Buy? or not?
This really depends what kind of games you like to play. The X-Box gets lots of Action games and not too may RPG for it. If you like sports games and that's what you mainly what you buy, get an X-Box. It can give you realistic graphics.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 01/10/03, Updated 01/10/03