What is the right home games console for me? The Xbox

What is the right home games console for me? The Xbox…

In today’s gaming market there are three giants of the console world; Microsoft’s Xbox 360, Sony’s PlayStation 3 and Nintendo’s Wii. These monsters of the industry have found their way into millions of homes across the globe as mainstream gaming market continues to boom.

But with such a great line-up of consoles available it can be difficult to pick the right one for you or your family. Below is a guide to Microsoft's Xbox 360 - hopefully this will give you a bit of direction when it comes to choosing your console.

The History of the Xbox

Since 1995 the home console market had been dominated by Sony and the original PlayStation. Many console producers tried to depose the PlayStation from it’s top spot, such as the N64 and Dreamcast, but to no avail. Microsoft, already dominating the PC market, decided to release their own console in 2001 with the original Xbox, intended to rival the power of its then counterpart the PlayStation 2. The Xbox’s major selling point was the Xbox Live service provided by Microsoft, enabling gamers to play online with other subscribers and download exclusive content directly to the system’s hard drive. Since its conception and release in 2002, Xbox Lives’ user-base have risen from one million subscriptions in 2004 to over 20 million in 2009, showing the meteoric rise in online gaming popularity. Many attribute the soaring numbers to the fantastic Halo 2 that exponentially bumped up the subscription numbers.

The Xbox 360 was the second console to be produced by Microsoft and was subject to a worldwide release in late 2005. The 360 improved upon the initial success of the first console, with enhanced graphics, more licensed games and an improved Live service. The 360 came complete with a new “dashboard”, allowing users to manage their system, friends and games in cohesive and slick fashion. The dashboard paved the way for many types of new media to surface, such as the popular Inside Xbox, informing players of new releases, interesting titles on the horizon and tips on how to beat the latest games.

In the years since the 360’s release the console has grown immeasurably in popularity, seeing many exclusive titles released solely on the 360 platform, such as Halo, Gears of War and Fable.

Another innovative addition the 360 offered gamers was the Achievements system, rewarding players with points for completing tasks in any game. The points rack up and count to an overall score which can be viewed by other gamers – it’s all for bragging rights!

The 360 currently exists in two formats, the Arcade and the Elite, each coming with their own accessories - the main difference being that the Arcade has no hard drive; instead it comes with a 256mb memory card allowing small game and profile saves. This is shown in the pricing, with the Elite currently listed at £199.99, and the Arcade for £99.99.

Those looking for a "complete" gaming experience are best to go for the Elite as the hard drive offers the potential to download huge amounts of content that the Arcade version would miss out on.

Next year will see the eagerly anticipated launch of Xbox Natal (dubbed Project Natal), which has the potential to change the world of gaming interactivity forever. The idea behind Natal is difficult to explain - it is similar to the Wii in many ways, with the interactivity of the Wiimote and the motion tracker. Natal, however, uses the entire body as a controller rather than using a remote device. It can pick up movements with frighteningly accurate detail, holding a lot of potential for some amazing games to be produced in the future. Check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2qlHoxPioM for a bit more info!