Microsoft Xbox

Console Information

The Xbox marked Microsoft's entry into the world of video game consoles in 2001. The North American release was November 15th 2001, the Japanese release was February 22nd 2002 and the Australian/New Zealand/European release was March 14th 2002. With their experience with computers, they made a super consoles using many computer elements. Some people said it was too much like a computer.

The console features an Intel 733 MHz CPU, a much higher speed than other 128-bit consoles. It also has four controller ports, a front-loading DVD tray, Ethernet port (for online gaming) and a 8GB hard drive. The hard drive is an excellent idea. The Sega Saturn had one, but it wasn't very big. Other consoles relied on memory cards (Xbox still has these as well) which must be bought separately and can be expensive.

The console has the green, glowing "jewel" logo. This was originally going to be used on the controllers as well but the idea was scrapped. The controller is similar to the Sega Dreamcast layout and has built-in rumble feature (quite bulky as well).

The games for the console are quite good thanks to the extra speed and special features of the Xbox.

Microsoft Xbox Technical Specifications

• CPU type: Intel Pentium III Processor technology with Streaming SIMD Extensions
• CPU Clock Speed: 733 MHz
• Memory: 64 MB of RAM (unified memory architecture), 8GB Hard Drive
• DirectX API game development tools
• 233MHz custom-designed chip, developed by Microsoft and NVIDIA
• 3D Audio Support in Hardware (64-bit)
• 2X-5X DVD drive with movie playback (Additional Remote Necessary)
• Four game controller ports
• Expansion port
• Proprietary A/V connector
• Game controller x4, Ethernet (10/100)
• Broadband enabled
• Modem enabled (optional)
• 6.4GB/sec Memory Bandwidth
• 150 million micropolygons/particles per second
• 150 million transformed and lit polygons per second
• 100 million polygons per second sustained performance (shading, texturing)
• Pixel Fill Rate 4.0 GB/sec
• 4 simultaneous textures
• Compressed textures available at 6:1 compression
• Full-scene anti-aliasing
• DVD movie playback
• 1920x1080 maximum resolution
• Maximum resolution (2 x 32bpp frame buffers + Z) 1920 x 1080
• HDTV support (Games and Movie playback)
• 256 Audio channels
• 3-D Audio support
• Midi/DLS2 support