[opendtv] Microsoft Ups the Console Ante
- From: Monty Solomon <monty@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: undisclosed-recipient: ;
- Date: Fri, 25 Nov 2005 10:40:53 -0500
Video Gaming Review
Microsoft Ups the Console Ante
By SETH SCHIESEL
November 25, 2005
There is a saying in technology circles, often delivered with rueful
respect, that if you give the folks at Microsoft enough chances, they
will eventually deliver a compelling product. They did it with
spreadsheets. They did it with Web browsers. And now, with the new
Xbox 360, the Bill Gates team has delivered a legitimately excellent
gaming and home media system. And there is nothing rueful about that.
Certainly, the graphics are incredibly detailed, lifelike and vivid,
far beyond anything conceivable in the current generation of game
consoles. Playing an Xbox 360 game can be almost like controlling a
Pixar animated film or inhabiting "Band of Brothers." And that's on a
regular old television. On a high-definition set, get ready for your
eyes to weep.
But lush visuals were expected. There are two surprises that really
make the Xbox 360 exciting, and that should deeply trouble Nintendo
and Sony, the once-dominant game companies that Microsoft wants to
take out like Netscape.
First, the system does a great job of elegantly harnessing the
Internet to create what will soon be a global gaming community.
Microsoft clearly hopes that the Xbox 360 can become the Friendster
or MySpace of gaming, and it has a good chance to succeed. Connected
to a cable modem or DSL line, the system even allows users to make
free unlimited phone calls to other Xbox owners.
Second, and forgetting about games entirely, the Xbox 360 is the
first product to truly deliver on the concept of the easy-to-use
living room home-media hub. Connected to a home theater or just a TV,
it plays DVD's flawlessly. Plug in a digital camera and show off your
photos on the television. Plug in an iPod and listen to your music,
even while playing a game. Or just put in a CD and rip the music to
the unit's optional hard drive. Intimidated by a video game
controller? The full version of the 360 ships with a TV-style remote
control.
Serious gamers mostly shrugged at the online and home media functions
as they were previewed before the system's introduction on Tuesday.
It is clear now that it was impossible to grasp just how powerful and
cool they were before actually using them. It is as if Microsoft has
taken the famous slogan used against it by Apple in 1984 - "The
computer for the rest of us" - and redirected the concept at its
gaming rivals by creating a game machine for the rest of us.
The big picture is that the Xbox 360 is Microsoft's statement about
the future of home technology. And it is an attractive, powerful
statement.
...
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/25/arts/25xbox.html?ex=1290574800&en=267c6faf65026cb1&ei=5090
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