Travis Meacham: Xbox 360 - A dose of reality

On November 22, we will get yet another taste of how Microsoft reaches out for market leadership - this time in video gaming. The launch of the Xbox 360 console will be an immense event complete with lines around the block and a flood of advertising to drown Sony’s Playstation 2. But is this really the "next gen" system everyone wants it to be ?

On paper, the Xbox 360 is an intimidating force. It features hardware not yet available for even the most powerful consumer computers, and benchmarks that decimate the aging crop of current generation consoles. Demonstrations, however, already revealed that the plain specs may not translate into the impressive gaming experience one mighy expect. Sure, games like Kameo : Elements of Power and Call of Duty 2 include sharp visuals and striking sound, but this may be more of a factor of the $5000 worth of home entertainment hardware running the demo as opposed to the game system itself.

The system will not be able to convince a 20" standard television in a 15 year-old’s bedroom to create the same breathtaking output of audiovisuals. Microsoft is calling this the high-definition (HD) era, but few people have upgraded to an HD television. Not to blame Microsoft for using the best equipment money can rent for their demonstrations, but realistically, not every gamer will have the equipment Microsoft uses in its pre-laucnh demonstrations.

Admitted, the Xbox 360 puts extraordinary pictures on an HD television at 720p. But so does the first-gen Xbox, which is available today for $150. Not many of the regular Xbox games support the 720p or 1080i resolutions. But the ones that do, look equally amazing - without the support of the Xbox 360’s hardware. The new Xbox does not look $500 better and four years further along the path than these games.

This may not be a problem with the hardware as much as it is with the games themselves. First generation console games never take full advantage of the system and the 360 games are no different. Games like Call of Duty 2 that feature higher polygon counts and more particle effects still are not using any anti-aliasing to smooth curved lines. On other games, texture intersections are still visible. Character animations are still awkward and human faces are still lifeless and artificial.

Another problem that Microsoft may face with the launch of Xbox 360 is the simple lack of the "killer app". There is no must-have game for Xbox 360 scheduled for release day. Project Gotham Racing 3, Perfect Dark Zero, and Dead or Alive 4 are all great games in their own right, but there is a feeling of "been there done that" with each title. The Xbox 360 will need a blockbuster game such as Halo to make the system fly off the shelves. As it stands right now, there won’t be such a game on launch day.

Visuals aside, Xbox 360 does feature a significant amount of value-added content. The Xbox Live service provides gamers with an online identity that tracks accomplishments in not only the multiplayer gaming arena, but milestones for single-player games as well. Xbox Live scores gamers on their accomplishments and can easily pit two appropriate players against each other for a multiplayer match-up. The Xbox 360 interfaces easily with an iPod allowing players to move music freely from iTunes collections to the Xbox 360 hard drive or memory units as well as empowering players to change the soundtracks for all the games to their favorite itunes playlist. There is also a full media center component to the system allowing DVD and digital video playback as well as picture viewing and some limited browsing capability. In the end, the new Xbox is more of a home entertainment appliance than a straight forward game console.

When it is released, the Xbox 360 will be the most powerful videogame console on the market, there is no question about it. It just may not have the impact that gamers have come to expect from a new console. Sony’s Playstation 3 looms on the horizon of next year, but word is that its release may slip into 2007. If delayed, Microsoft has an opportunity to secure a strong install base. With a release title list bordering on average, gamers may do well to wait for things to shake out a bit before plunking down $700 or even $1000 for a package on day 1.