Techtite's X-Box Reviews!

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Microsoft's X-Box 

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Amazon.com's official X-Box page (order links, etc.)

A Techtite Review

From the moment you turn on the system to see that greenish "X" glowing back at you on the screen, anyone would have a hard time disliking the X-Box. Admittedly, it's not as portable as the GameCube, nor is it as --and no, this isn't a bad word-- "cute." However, when it comes to superior graphics, opening line-up, and overall potential, there really is no better choice.

Don't worry; this isn't going to be one of those "X-box is the system for adults while others are for kids" reviews. Newsgroups have been in flame wars for months by now, about how the X-Box has more games rated "M for mature," so if Game Cube has more games rated "E for everyone," then gamers playing the X-box must be more mature than other gamers. That's pure bunk. I don't mean to sound like your grandpa, though come on; if you want to impress me with being "mature" for your age, get a job! If you have a job, it's time to drop your joystick and get to work. If your job is playing games, what are you complaining about?!? In any case, the "more mature gamer" argument is a lame one; you're just another game fan, playing a game on a game system. 

That said, how is this game system, compared to other game systems? The biggest draw here is a work of sheer brilliance; built-in file storage. The concept of built-in storage hasn't been attempted since the 3DO, though that system only had a paltry 32K of battery-backed memory to play with; X-Box has a whole hard drive! An estimated 10 Gigabytes can be used by all games for save game files galore. An even nicer feature, is the X-Box ability to download your favorite tracks from your audio CDs, place them onto the hard drive, and listen to them whenever you like. Regardless, every X-box controller has two ports for memory units, even though most games upon launch don't even acknowledge a memory unit when present; they simply save automatically to the hard drive. I must admit, I was miffed at no "native" way to copy save games to the memory units, and back again (to trade save games, store backups, and so on). Hopefully, a third party (like the inevitable Game-Shark) will correct this.

The graphics processor of X-box is by Nvidia. This is the best graphics money can buy on the PC or Macintosh, and affordable cards with GeForce3 chips are about the same price as the X-box, just for the card. This means you get the best graphics money can buy, built right into the system, with a hard drive, Ethernet port, and DVD compatibility, for the same price as a Nvidia graphics card alone. What's better, though, is that such graphics power is native to the system, unlike PC computers, which often have games made for all cards and therefore use less of nVidia's unique features. Aside from quickie "ports" from other systems, like Max Payne or Batman: Vengeance, take a good look at games like Dead or Alive 3 or Obi-Wan: every pool of water casts a rippled reflection, while every character model looks like something out of a 200-million-dollar CGI movie.

Just to spike the ball a little, Microsoft adds several standard traits of most other game systems these days...with a little added flair. While the controller is not unlike others on the market --built in "rumble feature," for example-- there is the added ability to "click" down on the joysticks, adding two more buttons for game designers to tinker with. Much like PS2, this system can also play DVDs or audio CDs, with the added feature (as mentioned earlier) to copy audio files to the hard drive, to play at any time. Games are offered in easily-shelved DVD containers --just like PS2 and Game Cube-- though X-Box's games have a green tint to their plastic casing, making their location on a shelf more obvious. Nice added touches, I say.

Multiplayer is another area where the system shines. This is most apparent in the game's main launch title, Halo, with so many multiplayer options, you'll be searching the neighborhood for as many co-players as you can. Of course, there's the four gamepad ports on the front of the unit, allowing four players to play simultaneously on the same system (via a split screen on the TV). The Ethernet port allows for linkage of four X-boxes in the same area (say, a college dorm or a really cool office!), meaning up to 16 people could play Halo at once! Even better, this year is when X-box intends to provide broadband capability --no mere 56K modem link-up-- allowing gamers to play with other X-box owners via the internet.

This isn't to say the system is flawless. It's just that the flaws I could discern about the unit are, for the most part, irrelevant. This includes the memory management gripe I talked about earlier, plus some other minor (very minor) grumblings. For one thing, there is no internal clock battery, so any power outage means resetting the clock again. For the price I paid for this system, couldn't they have offered a simple watch battery? Likewise for the total lack of any expansion ports; not even any USB ports (like on PS2) or serial ports (like on the GameCube). Admittedly, there have been many game systems with expansion ports that were never used (Panasonic 3DO, Nintendo 64, and for the most part, Sega Dreamcast, unless you count the pre-installed modem). I suppose this is Microsoft's way of saying the system is fine as-is. Agreed.

	Final Rating : Deep Impact. A game system with a hard drive...coooool !!! It helps, of course, that the system also has superior graphics, sound, Ethernet compatibility, and (soon) broadband capability.
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