Video Game Buyer's Guide 2001

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page created: 11/29/01

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Microsoft Xbox

Price: $299

Main Processor: Custom Intel Pentium III, 733 MHz

Graphics Processor: 250 MHz NVidia "XGPU"

Polygons per Second: 125 million (raw, no game effects engaged)

System Memory: 64 MB

Audio Channels: 256

Media Format(s): Standard CD-ROM and DVD-ROM discs (with 650 MB - 4.7 GB of storage)

On-line Gaming: The Xbox supports Broadband only service with a built-in connector (you folks with only 56k dial-up service are out of luck). Microsoft decided to go with a Broadband-only strategy to optimize the on-line experience. Microsoft vows to have the Xbox on-line in the summer of 2002, and according to the Xbox website, you will be required to subscribe to Microsoft's network, for an as yet disclosed price.

Plays DVD-Video discs and CDs: Yes (plays DVDs only with accessory kit - $30)

Recommended Accessories: extra controller ($40), S-video cable ($10)

Dimensions: 13.2"/3.3"/10.8" (W/H/D)

Noteworthy Games Now Available: Halo (first-person-shooter), Dead or Alive 3 (fighting), Oddworld: Munch's Odyssey (platform adventure), Project Gotham Racing (arcade racing), Madden NFL 2002 (Pro Football)

Upcoming Games of Note: SSX Tricky ("Xtreme" snowboarding), The Matrix (action), Dead to Rights (third-person-shooter), Max Payne (third-person-shooter), Soul Calibur 2 (fighting), Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 ("Xtreme" skateboarding), The Thing (survival horror), Medal of Honor: Allied Assault (WWII first-person-shooter)

Halo

Project Gotham Racing

Dead or Alive screen shots

Dead or Alive 3

Pros

Billy Boy's newest baby, the Microsoft Xbox, is here, and it's a beast of a video game console. Sporting the most powerful processor on the video game market, 733 MHz, and the most memory, 64 MB, the Xbox is not for the weenie, prissy video gamer - it's for the big boys that like power, power, power! With ability to display 1920x1080 HD resolution, it produces some beautiful, sharp images - that is, if you have an HD or HD-ready TV that can handle that kind of resolution, otherwise you'll get the standard 640x480. Underneath this muscle, the Xbox boasts a built-in 10 GB hard drive, and a built-in Ethernet device, so if you want to go on-line with the Xbox when Microsoft's network launches (supposedly in the summer of 2002), you won't need to buy any extra peripherals. You can also use the built-in hard drive to store save-game data; so buying a memory card will not be necessary (unless you want to take your saved games over to a friend's house). The Xbox includes four controller ports, unlike the PS2's measly two ports, and requirement of a $35 peripheral to add more controllers to the system.

With a marketing budget of $500 million, there's no doubt that you've at least heard of the Xbox at this point - you've probably noticed that Microsoft is in bed with Toxic Hell… uhh, I mean Taco Bell to promote the system. So, Microsoft has the public curious about this new black box, which will undoubtedly lead to sales. While I was cruising the mall the Saturday after the Xbox launched (yes, I have a pathetic life), Microsoft's new toy was the one piece of merchandise EVERYONE was talking about.

A Sony executive was recently quoted in the press as admitting that the power of the Xbox has shortened the life cycle of current next-gen consoles. Sony is rumored to be moving the target launch of the PlayStation 3 to the end of 2003, rather than 2005 or 2006 as they initially projected (the PS3 is supposed to be something like 1,000 times more powerful than the PS2). Could this be the first sign of the haughty Japanese company finally running scared?

Many are quick to discount Microsoft's entry into the video game world. However, these people forget that when the PS one debuted in America in 1995, no one thought that Sony had a chance of dethroning juggernauts Nintendo and Sega. Here we are almost seven years later and Nintendo isn't number one, and Sega's not even in the hardware business anymore. Guess who is number one now - you guessed right: Sony. If they play their cards right, Microsoft might pull off this same trick.

Cons

On the flip side of this equation, many also point to the disastrous consoles that were known as the 3DO and Atari Jaguar. Both systems - which were, like the Xbox, American - went up in a ball of flames like a Taliban radar station very quickly after their launch. 3DO and Atari had one hell of a time convincing the Japanese market that their new products were viable systems, and the consoles collapsed. When Billy Boy introduced the Xbox at the Spring 2001 Tokyo Game Show, the Japanese offered it a very chilly reception. Could history end up repeating itself?

According to the official Xbox website, while you won't have to buy any extra peripherals to play games on-line, you will have to pay for Microsoft's service. With the PS2, you have to buy the $40 peripheral, but you use your existing ISP. In the long run, the Xbox could end up being more expensive for on-line gamers.

While the PS2 plays DVD-Video discs right out of the box, the Xbox requires the purchase a $30 remote control that "unlocks" the DVD playback functionality of the system.

The Xbox's third-party support is decent (but not quite what Sony's is), but Microsoft's first-party-developed (not just published) titles are uninspired. Plus, I haven't seen any ultra-hot, must-have exclusive Xbox announcements for 2002. While some developers may not have gotten around to announcing anything yet, there's already a healthy list of amazing PS2-exclusive games due next year. The only reason I can think of for the lack of announcements has to do with the recent rumor that some third-party publishers have put their Xbox titles on hold until they see how the system fares through Holiday 2001. However, some publishers have quickly denied this rumor - including the world's largest third-party publisher, Electronic Arts (EA, of EA Sports fame).

Now this is a matter of taste, but I find the Xbox to be an oversized, ugly, hulking brute up next to the sleek PS2, and the petite GC. What's worse is that the Xbox controller is way too big, difficult to get comfortable with (especially if you have small hands), and the buttons are spaced oddly, requiring you take your eyes off the screen to see where you need to press. Of the controllers packed into this trio of next-gen consoles, the Xbox controller runs a very distant third. With more time, I may get used to it, however its sheer size is hard for my stocky digits to deal with.

On to the Nintendo GameCube