Microsoft Xbox 360 Elite > Reviews (114)

The Xbox 360 was the first of the 7th generation consoles to hit the market, back in late 2005, and has been through a few revisions over the subsequent years as Microsoft have been constantly jockeying for position in the market against the competition. The range currently contains the minimal Arcade model, the Pro with a hard drive, and the top of the line Elite, with a bundle of extras.

At the heart of the Xbox 360 is a powerful 3.2GHz triple core Xenon processor. This might not mean much to everyone, but it's a serious CPU that was easily the equal of most desktop PCs at the time the console was launched and still holds its own against more recent developments. It's more powerful by a factor of twelve than the CPU in the Wii and, although the Cell processor in the PS3 is theoretically more powerful still, the relatively conventional architecture means that the 360 often manages to outperform Sony's machine. This is backed up by the powerful 500MHz Xenos GPU which drives detailed graphics in high definition with ease; most 360 games run at a native resolution of 720p or better. In layman's terms this means that 360 games are generally faster, smoother and more detailed than those on other consoles.

Speaking of games, without which a console is nothing, the 360 boasts the largest range of games of any of the current generation with over 500 titles. As well as quantity, there's quality too. Don't just take my word for it; as of writing, the review compiling site Metacritic lists 21 games for the 360 with a 90% rating or above; the PS3 has a mere 12 and the Wii just 8. Some of the best exclusive games for the 360 include Gears of War 1 & 2, Halo 3, Braid and Forza Motorsport 2. It's also got the best versions of some cross-platform titles like The Orange Box, Burn Out Paradise, Grand Theft Auto IV and Bioshock; the latter three are pretty good on the PS3 too, but the 360 still boasts unique content.

Of course, the Wii and the PS3 have their own selling points too; the former is worth a look for it's innovative controller and some great Nintendo exclusives, and the latter's built in Blu-Ray player is great for watching films on HDTV and it now has some decent exclusives in the likes of Little Big Planet and Killzone 2. However, the 360 remains the machine of choice for the hardcore console gamer in traditional genres like first person shooters, motor racing and role playing games.

The 360 also offers a superior online experience to other consoles with Xbox live. Membership comes in two levels; silver, which is free, allows you access to voice chat avatars and downloadable content. Gold membership, priced at £34.99, annually is require for multiplayer gaming though, but it's an investment worth making because as well as merely playing the games, you can take part in tournaments, get ranked, make friends and even video chat with them if you get a camera. Another nice feature is the Xbox live arcade that lets you download souped up versions of old classics like Joust, Jetpac and Missile Command as well as innovative new games such as Geometry Wars 2 and Hexic 2.

One slight annoyance is that the 360 doesn't have a wireless connection as standard and ideally needs to be wired directly into your router; if this is inconvenient you've got to pay extra for a wireless adapter.

Anyway, on to the specifics of the Elite; this latest version of the top of the line model boasts a 120GB Hard drive and a stylish matt black finish that also extends to the controllers and the headset. The hard drive is important as it's utilized extensively in online play, and can store downloadable content; with the possibility of being able to download full games to your machine coming soon, this larger disk than on the pro model could prove very useful. It's also the only version of the console that comes HD ready out of the box, including the HDMI cable. All These features, except of course for the colour unless you're a dab hand at spraypainting, can be added to the lower models in the range - the pro and arcade - but at a price. As such, if you've got a HD TV - especially one with a black finish - and a penchant for online gaming, you'd be doing yourself a big favour to buy this straight away.

One of the bugbears of the 360 has been its reputation for unreliability. The early models had something of a tendency to overheat if left on for a long time, especially if put in a confined space without adequate ventilation, leading to the notorious "red ring of death". Thanks to revisions to the hardware, however, this is largely something of the past and is unlikely to occur with current models. However, the machine still has something of a reputation for scratched disks, jammed disk trays and occasional other faults. As such, I'd still recommend handling it with care, although it's no longer quite as fragile a machine as its reputation might have you believe.

Overall, I'd recommend the machine highly. With the console market being split three ways at the moment, it's also worth considering the Wii and the PS3 though and, if you can afford it, there's a good argument for getting all three of them as they've got different strengths. As a pure games machine with HD graphics in traditional console genres though, the 360 still stands clear of the others.