by Larry Moon
The public’s interest in gaming consoles rises and falls with the ability of the company to provide a new gaming experience. However, when you come out with a new and improved product it usually comes with a not so improved price. With prices going up Microsoft was the first to step up and provide a new gaming experience that took on the higher price but sold over 20 million units. They came out with the Xbox 360. The Xbox 360 was the pioneer of the seventh generation gaming consoles and provide an unreal gaming experience.
All Xbox 360 editions come with a composite cable so you can plug it in to your regular standard definition television which serves as the minimal requirement. But it is better to have an HDTV with 1080p resolution to play the best games that the Xbox 360 offers in great quality.
You will need a hybrid component/composite cable to make it work with HDTVs which is included in both the Pro and Elite. An HDMI 1.2 cable can also be used which is included only in the Elite edition. It is also good to get a pair of stereo speakers to make the gaming experience more intense.
Firing up the system is just like firing up any console. All you need is a wired or wireless Xbox 360 controller for inputs and then press the “Power” button to load the menu. The Xbox 360 has its own interface so you don’t need a DVD inside the optical drive for it to work. You can browse the contents of the hard disk drive if you have an Elite or Pro system or built-in flash memory if you have the Arcade system. Contents that can be read include pictures, music, video, and any downloaded or installed games.
You can also use the interface to check out things are in any USB storage drives attached or Windows computers connected. Once you place a game disc in, you can immediately play it from there.
Once you are ready to play, this is where the real fun begins because this is when the console goes to work. Your game play experience will go to the highest level once you are ready, because of the consoles 3.2 GHz clock speed Xenon processor. This processor allows frame rates to be a lot smoother, and makes sure that your loading times are as quick as possible. Loading speeds vary from game to game depending on how the game takes advantage of the processor.
Combined with the graphics processor named Xenos, the Xbox 360 is capable of displaying really high-end graphics providing that the game uses it to its fullest. Some of the graphics capabilities include z-buffering, alpha blending, and 4x GSAA. Unlike older consoles, these capabilities can be executed without any drag in performance.
These two main components work really hard and can heat up the system during prolonged gameplay. Fortunately, the latest Xbox 360s having the Jasper motherboard do not suffer as much heat problems as the older models that usually lead to critical red ring errors. Be sure to take care of the internal components because any abuse to them will drastically lower the performance of your Xbox 360 and in the long run prevent it from working.
