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William H. Gates Chairman and Chief Software Architect Microsoft Corporation |
 "the most powerful video game system you can buy" -- Michael Ryan, PC Magazine |
| Definition: |
| "A specialized desktop computer
used to play video games. The three most popular video game consoles
are Sony's PlayStation 2 (PS2), Nintendo's GameCube and Microsoft's
Xbox. Game software is available on CDs or DVDs, although earlier game
machines used cartridges containing read only memory (ROM) chips.
Although video game consoles may be powered by similar CPU chips as
desktop computers, the hardware is under the entire control of their
respective manufacturers, and the software is specifically geared to
the machine's capabilities. There are also handheld video games such as the popular Nintendo GameBoy and earlier Sega GameGear and Atari Lynx machines. These are self-contained battery-operated devices with tiny screens for portable use. See gaming and video game controller." (techweb.com) |
| Market: | |
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"39% of people who play computer and video games are women. The average age of a computer or video game player is 29 years old. For Computer Gamers...
For Console Gamers...
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| Major
Manufacturer: |
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"Microsoft Corporation
develops, manufactures, licenses and supports a wide range of software
products for various computing devices. The Company's software products
include scalable operating systems for servers, personal computers
(PCs) and intelligent devices; server applications for client/server
environments; information worker productivity applications; business
solutions applications, and software development tools. Microsoft
provides consulting services and product support services, and it
trains and certifies system integrators and developers. The Company
sells the Xbox video game console, along with games and peripherals.
Its online businesses include the MSN subscription and the MSN network
of Internet products and services. The Company's seven product segments
are: Client, Server and Tools, Information Worker, Microsoft Business
Solutions, MSN, Mobile and Embedded Devices and Home and
Entertainment." (finance.yahoo.com) |
| Specifications
and Features: |
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| "Specifications: CPU:
- Intell Pentium III 733MHz
Processor with Streaming SIMD Extensions
Graphics Processing:
- 233MHz custom 3D graphics
processor by nVidia
- 300 million
micropolygons/particles per second
- 150 million transformed and lit
polygons per second
- 100+ polygons per second
sustained performance (shading, texturing)
- 4 simultaneous textures
- Compressed textures available
at 8:1 compression
- Full-scene anti-aliasing
Memory:
- 64 MB of RAM (unified memory
architecture)
- 6.4GB/sec memory bandwidth
Storage:- 8GB hard drive
- 4X DVD drive with movie playback
- 8MB memory card
Sound:- Custom 3-D audio processor
- 64 Audio channels
- 3-D Audio support
- Midi/DLS2 support
- AC3 encoded game audio
Network:-100 MBPS Ethernet Port
- Optional Modem
Input/Output:- 4 game USB controller ports
- Expansion port
- Proprietary A/V connector" (www.microsoft.com)
"Standard Specifications: The most powerful graphics
processor: The Xbox sets a new standard in video game graphics. The
graphics processor allows artists to design games with amazing realism,
and many of these games only appear on Xbox.
Built-In Broadband Capability: Xbox was designed from the start to be the future of on-line gaming: on-line team play, new levels, new characters will all be waiting for you. Head-to-head team play with friends across the street or across the world. *Scheduled to go live summer 2002. A Built-In Hard Disk: The hard disk will allow you to explore bigger and more detailed fantasy worlds without interruption from loading screens. You can customize music from audio CDs to Xbox and play them back while playing games. Xbox never forgets either. Save your games on the built-in hard disk and start and start from the same place you left three weeks ago. You can even download additional content for your games, like new characters and extra levels, and save them on your console. Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Support: Just like watching a movie in Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound, experience video game audio like never before and feel like you are actually in the game. *Based on Dolby Digital 5.1 support in the users home theater system. DVD Capability: Enables DVD playback functionality on the Xbox video game system. The optional DVD remote control and an infrared perceiver plug into an Xbox controller port." (www.microsoft.com) |
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| Brief
History: |
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| "Magnavox Odyssey - 1972.
Designed by Ralph Baer in 1966 and assisted by Bill Harrison and Bill
Rusch of Sanders Associates, a military electronics firm. The Odyssey
was introduced on January 27, 1972 at a price of $100. Because
microchips were so expensive, the Odyssey was designed using only 40
transistors and 40 diodes. This allowed the unit to generate only very
simple on-screen effects. To make the games more interesting, the
Odyssey was packaged with several plastic overlays to be placed on the
TV screen to simulate complex graphics. Players had to keep score
themselves because the machine was incapable of doing so. The unit was
packaged with its screen overlays, two controllers, six game cards,
play money, playing cards, a roulette and football playfield, a
fold-out scoreboard, poker chips and a pair of dice." (www.videotopia.com) |
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| "Atari PONG - 1975. Designed by Al Alcorn, Bob Brown, and Harold Lee. Released under the Sears Telegames brand name, PONG went on sale at 900 Sears stores across the country in January, 1975, and was the number one hit that Christmas season. The machine gave Atari a reputation for quality home games as well as arcade machines." (www.videotopia.com) | |
| "Fairchild Channel F - 1976. Released in August 1976, Fairchild Camera and Instruments' Channel F system refined the concept of the "programmable" videogame console. The appeal of the system was that additional games could be purchased in the form of "Videocart" cartridges." (www.videotopia.com) | |
| "Atari Video Computer System (VCS) - 1977. Designed by: Joe Decure, Harold Lee, and Steve Meyer. Better known as the Atari 2600, the Atari VCS was the most popular videogame console of its day. Available until 1990, the VCS was on the market longer than any other system in history. The VCS was released in October 1977, at a retail price of $199.95. The heart of the system was a 1.19 Mhz 8-bit Motorola 6507 microprocessor. The machine contained 256 bytes of RAM to produce on-screen images." (www.videotopia.com) | |
| "Milton Bradley Microvision - 1979. Designed by Jay Smith. The Microvision was first to combine the portability of handheld electronic games with the programmability of systems like the Atari VCS. The base unit contained a 2 inch square LCD screen and a dial control. The base unit itself had no CPU. Each Microvision cartridge came with its own 4-bit microprocessor." (www.videotopia.com) |  |
| "Mattel Electronics Intellivison - 1980. The graphics of the Intellivision Master Component were a marvel compared to those of its main competitor - the Atari VCS. However, the system traded speed for its higher level of graphic detail. The Intellivison also featured innovative add-ons like PlayCable, a 24-hour service that delivered games into the home via cable-TV." (www.videotopia.com) | |
| "Coleco Colecovision - 1982. When Coleco released the Colecovision in 1982 at $199.95, it was the system to get. It contained 48K of RAM, the amount of memory available in most home computers at that time. The Colecovision was driven by a 3.58 Mhz. 8-bit Z-80A microprocessor. Coleco planned many "Expansion Modules" for the system. One of these announced modules would turn the Colecovision into a home computer. This module eventually became the ADAM computer system." (www.videotopia.com) | |
| "Atari 5200 SuperSystem - 1982. Atari released the Atari 400 and the Atari 800 computers. Both computers had cartridge slots and built-in joystick ports. Although they were both powerful computers, the 400 (pictured right) only had 16k of RAM and a membrane keyboard which made typing difficult. The Atari 5200 (pictured left) was basically an Atari 400 computer without the keyboard." (www.videotopia.com) | |
| "Milton Bradley/GCE Vectrex - 1982. Designed by John Ross, Gerry Karr, John Hall and ex-Atari employees Paul Newell and Mark Indictor from an idea by Jay Smith. The Vectrex was released at a price of $199. It incorporated a 9 inch Vector graphic monitor and used a Motorola 68A09 8-bit microprocessor. The original designers now hold the rights to the machine and allow fans to copy and produce hardware and even new software in gratitude for their loyalty to the system." (www.videotopia.com) | |
| "Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) - 1985. Designed by Masayuki Uemura. Nintendo released its Famicom (Family Computer) in late 1983. The system featured an 8-bit 6502 microprocessor and a custom graphics chip that produced 52 colors, while advanced previous systems had a maximum of 16. The Famicom also contained far more RAM than any previous console. Nintendo released the system in New York City during the Christmas season of 1985. The Famicom, now called the NES, came with game controllers, a light-gun and R.O.B. - the Robotic Operating Buddy." (www.videotopia.com) |  |
| "Nintendo Game Boy - 1989. Designed by Gumpei Yokoi and Nintendo R&D Team #1. The Game Boy was a portable system that used a black and green LCD screen and was programmable with its interchangeable cartridges. It contained a 1.1 Mhz 8-bit Microprocessor and was released at a price of $100. Game Boy was a huge success with adults as well as children." (www.videotopia.com) |  |
| "NEC Turbografx-16 - 1989. Released in Japan in 1988 as the PC Engine, the system was renamed the Turbografx-16 when it reached North America in 1989. Although NEC advertised the Turbografx-16 as a 16-bit game machine, it actually had an 8-bit CPU. It did contain a separate 16-bit graphics chip however. The Turbografx-16 became the first system to have a CD-player attachment." (www.videotopia.com) | |
| "Atari Lynx - 1989. After designing the advanced Commodore Amiga home computer, R.J. Mical and Dave Needle decided to create the first color portable programmable game system. Introduced at a price of $149, the Lynx's CPU was an 8-bit microprocessor, and its screen was large and capable of displaying detailed colorful images." (www.videotopia.com) | |
| "Sega Genesis - 1989. Recognizing that great games sold systems, Sega took elements from its 16-bit arcade machines and produced the Mega-Drive in 1989. When the machine reached American stores it was called the Genesis, and it retailed for $199. Featuring a version of the Motorola 68000 16-bit microprocessor that had powered the original Apple Macintosh, the new console was capable of running excellent translations of Sega arcade hits." (www.videotopia.com) |  |
| Super Nintendo - 1993. "Backed by the 16-bit graphics of yesteryear, The Super
NES's massive library of great games still packs a power-house punch." (nintendo.com) |
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| "3DO Interactive Multiplayer - 1993. Designed by R.J. Mical and Dave Needle. 3DO was the first game system based only on CD technology. The console could play VHS quality video, as well as CD quality sound. The 3DO Company itself was also a change of pace. It did not build anything and allowed other companies to make their own versions of the 3DO for a fee. The Panasonic REAL FZ-1 3DO player used a 12.5 Mhz 32-bit microprocessor and was released in late 1993 at a price of $699.95." (www.videotopia.com) | |
| "Sega Saturn - 1995.Sega used twin 28.8 Mhz 32-bit microprocessors and parallel processing to power its Saturn system (pictured left). Like the Genesis, the Saturn benefited from translations of Sega arcade games to help drive its popularity." (www.videotopia.com) |  |
| "Sony Playstation - 1995. The Sony Playstation (pictured right) used a 33 Mhz 32-bit microprocessor specifically designed to produce polygon graphics. The Playstation began its life as a CD attachment for the Super NES. When Sony and Nintendo disagreed on the way the new device would be marketed, Sony decided to further develop the Playstation into a game machine of its own." (www.videotopia.com) |  |
| "Nintendo Virtual Boy - 1995. Designed by Gumpei Yokoi. Powered by a 10 Mhz 32-bit microprocessor and using a display system developed by a Massachusetts company named Reflection Technologies, the Virtual Boy displayed objects that seemed to actually exist in 3-Dimensions. Images were produced on 2 tiny mirrored screens, one for each eye, in two colors - red and black. Virtual Boy was priced at $179.99 when released." (www.videotopia.com) |  |
| "Nintendo 64 - 1996. Packing the power of a 1980s supercomputer into a $150 game machine, the Nintendo 64 used a 93.75 Mhz 64-bit microprocessor as it's CPU. The Nintendo 64 was jointly designed by Nintendo and Silicon Graphics. The system's controller itself was revolutionary, designed specifically for control of the 3-D games that had become so popular. The Nintendo 64, as well as the 32-bit machines from Sega and Sony, out-powered the personal computers in terms of game playing and exposed players to worlds of entertainment previously unimaginable." (www.videotopia.com) |  |
| Market
Penetration: |
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"According to Activision, the North American base of PS2 consoles is 19.2 million, and is projected to end the year at 24 million barring a console price cut, down 1 million units from the company's prior estimate, said Doornink. As for Xbox, Doornink cited an installed base of 6 million projected to be 8 million by the end of 2003. Doornink said the GameCube was selling well in the wake of Nintendo's recent price cut, and the current base of 4.7 million units would grow to more than 6 million by years end. The installed base of the Game Boy Advance is 15.7 million
projected to grow to 18 million, owing to the success of the SP model."
(www.gamemarketwatch.com) |
| Latest
Developments / News Stories |
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Budweiser Sweepstakes (Must be 21 or
older)
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| Advantages
and Benefits: |
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| "First off, the
dedicated
hardware. Console systems have always been a viable gaming alternative
for people who don't like tweaking performance, downloading drivers,
and dealing with bugs. Let's take a step by step comparison between a
Dreamcast game and a PC game. I purchase both at Best Buy, and drive
home. I unwrap the Dreamcast game, open the case, put it in my
Dreamcast, turn the machine on, and begin playing. On the PC side, I open the box, take out all the miscellaneous crap that's been shoved in there, find the game, open it, spend two or three minutes booting up my computer, put the game in the CD tray, spend twenty minutes installing it, try to play, realize my video card drivers are out of date (causing tearing, let's say), download the drivers, install them, restart the system, and finally begin playing the game. One can sometimes understand the appeal of a console system... The beauty of a console system is that developers only need to write for one set of hardware and drivers (well, per country at least). Wherever in the United States you go, you can take a copy of Crazy Taxi, plug it into the first functional Dreamcast you see, and it will run perfectly. Every time. There has never been a PC game made that can make that claim. Now, of course, this has been the case for years, and the PC Gaming scene is still quite alive and well. Were this the only advantage the Xbox offers, I wouldn't be so impressed (after all, any other console offers the same). It's not the only advantage, however. There are others, more exclusive to the Xbox, that are extremely important. The Xbox has two features that make it easily the most important console, from a net standpoint, on the horizon. The first is the included broadband adapter. Low pings and fast downloads for anyone who has access to DSL or Cable services. That in itself is not that special. Just about all of the major consoles have, or will have, a broadband adapter (although I believe the Xbox is the only console shipping with one built in). However, the Xbox's ace up its sleeve, and the most important part of my argument about its potential for domination, is its hard-drive. Add-ons don't sell. Not in this country, anyway. The PS2 will shortly have an add-on hard drive available, but let's be realistic... if you've just paid over $450 for the system, a memory card, and a couple of games, it's pretty unlikely you'll be purchasing a $100 hard drive just so you can download, at 56k, some random crap for your games. I'll be amazed if more than 25% of all US PS2s ever have a hard drive connected to them. But with the Xbox, you're getting an aggressively priced console/dvd player with an 8gig hard drive built in. This is a very, very good thing for a variety of reasons. First off, it'll give you the opportunity to spend a few minutes pre-loading stuff for the game, and drastically cut down on in-game load times (if you so choose). Second, the system is going to create a total Renaissance in the user modification scene. Imagine, if you will, thousands of console users who've never played a PC game (or at least, very rarely) joining a server for their favorite Xbox multiplayer game, and being given an option to download new maps. Hey, where did these new maps come from? Hmm... they're made by other gamers. How did they do that? Oh, wait... you can download a level editor and build them on your PC, then transfer them right to the Xbox? Man, that's cool! There are literally hundreds of thousands, possibly millions, of talented artists, designers, architects, and others out there who don't know that a modification scene even exists. Yet suddenly they've got a $300 box introducing them to this amazing world of creative expression, and they've got a new use for the $2500 DELL word processing box they've got sitting in the corner of their living room. And it'll be so easy. A level editor for any PC game will churn out files that are totally readable on an Xbox. Developers would have to be idiots for this not to be the case (it already is the case for several engines running on the Dreamcast and PS2). You've got one $300 piece of hardware that links the number-crunching power and ideal creative interface of your PC with finely tuned graphics hardware (bug-free!), your net connection, and your television. Tony Hawk 2 has a built in course editor. Pretty cool. Now give me an editor where I have complete control over the look and feel of the world... the textures... the goal setting... Let me create further single-player skating maps. Let me design a modification for head-to-head skateboarding competition. Let me do whatever I want with the game. That's the sort of extensibility that PC games have had for years, and console games almost totally lack. Now, though, you'll have that option... without having to go through all of the bullshit involved in actually playing the game. Unreal sold over a million copies, and has a pretty strong user modification scene, even now, more than two years after its release. Now imagine what could be done by an audience the size of, say, Metal Gear Solid's. Well over four million people, many of whom could edit the game if only it was possible, and they knew how. The Xbox will blow that door wide open, especially if Microsoft strongly encourages their developers to build modifiable games... Which, if they're smart, they'll do. The most touted advantage to console gaming is, of course, the cost. There is definitely something to be said for spending $300 every two years and ending up with the latest technology and the best-looking games, instead of having to drop nearly $1000 a year to stay current in the PC gaming scene. There's really not a whole hell of a lot to say on this topic, especially since the old adage of "Sure, but then the PC outdistances it in the second year" is a flat-out lie. Show me a PC game that looks better than Soul Calibur or Shenmue for the Dreamcast. Show me! The Xbox will plug into a monitor and chug away happily at 1920x1080... a resolution much higher than most people play their games at. It has full support for HDTV, as well as any computer monitor on the market. The storage space? We covered that. Eight gigs is more than enough to hold a generous collection of maps and modifications for your games. Especially since the games themselves don't have to be stored on the hard drive. Consoles are inherently a more social experience than PCs are. You'll have more fun, your friends will have more fun, and you run far less of a risk of spilling beer into a system when it's sitting in your entertainment center, instead of under your desk." (www.gamespy.com) |
| Downsides
and Negative Impacts: |
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| Product
Reviews |
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| - Video Game Review |
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| - Amazon |  |
| - Personal
Technology |
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| - Cnet |
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| - Wired |
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| Internet
Newsgroups / Mailing Lists |
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- Yahoo!
Groups |
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- Xbox Newsletter |
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- ICQ Groups |
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- MSN |
| Regulatory
Concerns |
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"The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) ratings are designed to provide information about video and computer game content, so you can make informed purchase decisions. ESRB ratings have two parts: rating symbols suggest age appropriateness for the game, and content descriptors indicate elements in a game that may have triggered a particular rating and/or may be of interest or concern." (www.esrb.org) | ||||||||||
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| Predictions |
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| I think Xbox will be
a huge success in the long run, and its popularity will continue to
grow. This is mainly due to the fact that it has the Microsoft name
attached to it. Microsoft is a very large media conglomerate that has
had great success in many of the endeavors they have sought, and this
gaming console should be no different. Plus every month there are new
games being introduced, and Xbox has one of the most popular games,
Halo, exclusively for their console. The technology will go through
many changes I'm sure as other technological advances are made. Also
about every 3-4 years new video game consoles are developed. Microsoft
will most likely make some sort of Xbox 2. This system will have some
modifications most likely such as a smaller controller and a different
look to the console, not to mention higher graphics and more games. I
don't think that Xbox fans should worry about Xbox becoming obsolete
because when it comes time for the next Xbox console to come out it
will probably support original Xbox games much like how the PlayStation
2 supports the original PlayStation games. I see Xbox having a major
impact on the Internet companies and Personal Computer companies with
the Internet capabilities and the power in the console itself. I see
nothing but a bright future for Xbox. |
| Sources |
Adam Fischmer
November 12, 2003
November 12, 2003