"Well, the actual Hardware is top-notch, but can it get the software support it needs?"

When Microsoft announced that they were going to release a console video game system, it was met with considerable skepticism. After all, it was an American company first, which is the antithesis of modern day video gaming. Plus, as many of you probably know, as you're probably viewing this on a windows based system, Microsoft's products aren't exactly known for their stability. Luckily for us, Mr. Gates proved us all wrong…

System & Controller Design

The Xbox is by an far the biggest of the three systems, and heaviest. Hey, when you pack so much into a system, it's gonna weigh a lot. Personally, I like the actual design, but then again, green's my favorite color and I like the letter X (Notice the screen name).

The Box's controller design has met with mixed results. The big controller isn't THAT big, and I actually prefer it for FPS games. That being said, the Controller S is probably better overall. It's just a little bigger than your standard Dual Shock, and it's perfect for just about any game.

Hardware

The Xbox's triumph is the hardware. If you compare the Xbox to any other system, it will destroy them in terms of system specs. The processor is a 733 MHz as opposed to the GameCube's 405 and the PS2's measly 295. The graphics processor is a custom made Nvidia chip that clocks at 233. The other two aren't THAT far behind with the GCN's 205 and PS2's 148. There are other specs I could give you, but I think you get the message. The Xbox Hardware is far superior to any system on the market today.

Just being a superior machine would be enough, but Microsoft decided to throw in a nice little bonus to their system, a hard drive. The idea is so simple I'm amazed that no one thought of it. See, back in the day, we had cartridges. Some of these were battery backed and you could save to the cartridge. Well, since the advent of the CD, we haven't been able to do this, we had to buy memory cards. Well, with the Xbox, you don't need a memory card (though they do offer one) because you can save to your system! This is great for rental games, since it doesn't matter what copy of the game you get, and no one can erase your file except you (and possibly a nosy younger sibling)! This has helped in so many ways. Did I mention that the Drive was huge? It has Eight GB, EIGHT!!!! If you check the memory, it will say that there are 50000+ blocks available. Trust me, there are FAR more than that. My Box has over 50000 blocks of music, plus the numerous games that I've saved to it!

Wait, music? That's right. The Xbox is capable of ripping music from CDs and saving it to the hard drive. Newer Xboxes can read CD-Rs, too (the older ones couldn't, from what I've seen). To make things even better, some games even allow you to use the music from your hard drive in the game. It's a great feature.

But wait, there's more! The Xbox is also capable of DVD playback, and at a much more successful rate than the PS2, let me say. The Xbox has played every single DVD I've tried. However, you're forced to purchase a remote to play DVDs. This, my friends, is stupid. It's not like a controller couldn't be used to control the DVDs. The PS2 does it! Basically, it's like paying an access fee. It's sort of a rip-off, but it's the only way to play DVDs on the Xbox.

Games

Well, um, yeah. This would be the Xbox's weak point. It's not that there aren't any good games for Xbox, because there are. Games like Halo, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, and Medal of Honor: Allied Assault are all of the Xbox. However, for the most part, most of the games can be acquired for other systems. Also, the Xbox lacks a good volume of certain genres, RPGs, for instance.

The Xbox also faces the same problem that the PS2 does, almost all of the big hits are developed by an outside source. While Microsoft is trying to rectify this (mostly by buying companies), there's still the danger that the company could lose future big hits. Also, the Xbox lacks big name franchises. Sure, it's got Halo, but that's just one game (though soon to be two). The only thing the Box has really is the Dead or Alive series. Which is good, but not quite as big as some other franchises.

Online

Wanna play your games online? Xbox is the place to be. Assuming you have Broadband. The Xbox Live network supports only broadband, which is a drag for the dial-up users, but awesome for the broadband users, as it almost eliminates lag. Because of the ease of Xbox Live (the broadband modem is included), many games come out with at least a little bit of online content. The future looks bright for online gaming and the Xbox, unless, of course, you want to play football. You see, EA Sports only supports Online gaming for the PS2 in all of their titles. True, Microsoft has its own line of sports games that are Live enabled, and you can play the Sega titles through Live as well. But, well, EA makes the best sports games, so, you're just out of luck there.

The Future

The future is bright for the Xbox. It's in third for ownership, so there's nowhere to go but up. More importantly, the Xbox is backed by Microsoft, who has enough money to last through a long storm.

Summary

The Xbox is definitely the best piece of hardware. However, that doesn't necessarily make it the king of the console wars. It lacks RPGs and heavy hitting franchises. A lot of its games are available for another system as well. Still, there no denying that if developers adopt the Xbox as their system of choice, it will outdo any of its competitors.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 01/29/04