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 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- You can UNSUBSCRIBE from the OpenDTV list in two ways: - Using the UNSUBSCRIBE command in your user configuration settings at FreeLists.org - By sending a message to: opendtv-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word unsubscribe in the subject line.