Product Review: Xbox 360

I received my Xbox 360 on Christmas, played the most popular games, and now I am here to give my opinion on the system. I got my Xbox 360 more then a year after it game out, though I am very impressed with the system I was not willing to stand in lines for more than 24 hours or pay outrageous prices just to play a video game system.

I was turned off at first when I got an error message about the hard drive, it didn't say much mostly just an error code and a sentence describing the problem. I searched the Xbox forums and found that this problem was quite common and that the fix was to just take out and reinsert my hard drive. After that problem was fixed I restarted the Xbox to find a very welcoming and easy to use control panel. I have actually used the Xbox 360 control panel, unlike the original Xbox one you interact with friends who are in completely other games or in their control panel.

Call of Duty 3 was the first Xbox 360 game I played. I was very impressed with the great graphics I received on my HDTV. The Xbox 360 comes with component cables, but many 3^rd party companies also make higher quality ones. I found the controller much easier to control without a wire around my feet or restricting how far I could sit from my TV. It was also nice keeping my Xbox Live passcode stored on my profile, and not having to enter it every time I wanted to start a new game.

Microsoft included their an Xbox Live Marketplace to allow you to buy points, which you can use to buy add ons to games or the Xbox 360 itself. After I enjoyed Call of Duty 3 I went into the marketplace to see what I could buy from there. I found that you could custimize your control panel with different wallpapers and icons using these points. I was also able to find add on cars for another game on the Xbox 360, PGR3. I found the Marketplace very user friendly and full of items.

The Xbox 360 uses an achievement system to mark your progress through games. While playing games you must do a certain achievement to gain points to your gamer score. Different achievements may be worth more or less points, they are added to determine your gamer score. Users on Xbox Live can view or compare themselves by viewing their public profiles.

The Xbox 360 communicates with the Xbox website to allow you to control many of your features though the website. You can view which of your friends are online, what game they are playing, and even send a message to them. You can also renew your subscription to the Xbox Live network or buy marketplace points through the website.

The Xbox 360 is the future of gaming, not only does it allow you to play video games on the console, it also allows you to interact with other users remotely. It is also the first console which allows you to interact with users playing other games, even invite them into a private voice chat room. And if that isn't enough you can buy an add on to allow the Xbox 360 to play HD-DVDs.