Xbox 360

The Xbox 360 is a second gaming console that has been produced by the computer giant Microsoft. The Xbox 360 is a successor to Microsoft's original Xbox and a competitor to Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii. This group of video game consoles is known as the seventh generation.

One of the best-known features of the Xbox 360 is the Xbox live service offered by Microsoft. This is a fantastic service for any gamer and allows players of the Xbox 360 to compete online against other players from all over the world. On top of this, Xbox 360 live services also allow you to download content such as arcade games and game demos as well as movies, TV shows and trailers.

Xbox 360 was officially unveiled to the public at the start of May of 2005. More details about the launch and game information were released later that month at the Electronic Entertainment Expo better known as E3.

When finally released to the public, the Xbox 360 did astoundingly well and completely sold out in all regions of the world apart from Japan. By the end of August 2009, over 31 million Xbox 360’s had been sold worldwide. From the first day it was released right up until today the Xbox 360 has been a great success with many great game titles available. There are currently two different configurations available for the Xbox 360, the Arcade and the Elite.

During the development stage of the Xbox 360 it was known by a number of names including Xenon, Xbox 2 and the NextBox. In time it was agreed that the new gaming console would be known as the Xbox 360.

Xbox 360 hit the shelves November 22, 2005 in North America. It wasn't until 2 December that same year that the Xbox 360 was released in Europe. A week later on the 10th the Xbox 360 hit the Japanese market. Before long the Xbox 360 was launched in many more countries including Australia, Brazil, South Africa, India and Russia. In only its first year on the market the Xbox 360 was launched in 36 countries around the world. This turned out to be more countries than any other console has been launched in, in a single year.

One of the major downfalls about the Xbox 360 is the number of technical problems it faces. Since its 2005 release, many users have reported serious concerns about its reliability and shocking failure rate. Microsoft ended up extending the Xbox 360’s Manufacturer warranty to 3 years for any hardware failure problems that generate a ‘General Hardware Failure’ error report.

A "General Hardware Failure" can be easily recognised. When this happens three of the four quadrants of the power button ring will begin to flash red. This error is commonly known as the ‘Red Ring of Death’. Microsoft extended warranty in April 2009 to also cover any failure related to the E74 error code.

Since these problems came about Microsoft has made desperate attempts to improve the Xbox 360’s reliability.

The Xbox 360 does have its problems and downfalls, but there is no doubt that is a quality machine with some serious capabilities. The Xbox 360 is only rivalled by the sleek PS3 developed by Sony. The graphic capabilities of Xbox 360 are simply amazing and modern video games are becoming more and more lifelike by the day.