by Matt Remley

Created on: April 20, 2009   Last Updated: May 24, 2012

Microsoft's Xbox 360 is one of three video game consoles out on the market right now. It was released on November 22nd of 2005, which was actually around a year earlier then the Nintendo Wii and PlayStation 3. This early advantage in time proved to be an excellent move on the part of Microsoft, however it didn't pay off.

Sadly, shortly after the release of the Nintendo Wii, Microsoft's Xbox 360 was outsold fairly quickly. However the Xbox 360 shouldn't be counted out of the fight so soon, as it has some of the most impressive video games released in this generation, especially if a person enjoys online gaming.

• Features

The Microsoft Xbox 360 has many different features that were extremely impressive to gamers when the systems released. Without going into all of the numbers, we can easily say that the Xbox 360 has some of the best graphics ever seen in a video game console for this generation in gaming.

Further discussing the graphics, the Xbox 360 has the second best graphics out of the three current consoles. In addition to that the Xbox 360 has the ability to play high definition video games, which pretty much ensures that gamers will be able to see every blood, sweat, and tear put into this game as the developers intended.

Like most gaming consoles these days the Xbox 360 can play DVD films, and can even stream video from a computer networked with the console. Also, the Xbox 360 can network itself to a computer with Windows Media Center for even more multimedia compatibilities such as turning the Xbox 360 into a DVR of sorts.

No review of Xbox 360 would be complete without mentioning Xbox Live, which is the online gaming service from Microsoft's. Some people may be turned off by the fact that it has to be paid for monthly, however you can bet that every hardcore gamer has their hands on either Xbox Live or Sony's online game service for the PlayStation 3.

On Xbox Live gamers have the ability to send text messages, voice messages, and there's even video chat. Take note that Xbox Live comes in two levels, Silver and Gold. Silver memberships are completely free for anyone, but they can only download demos and such from the Xbox Live market place and send messages.

On the other hand Gold members can get exclusive downloads, contests, and play video games such as Halo 3 or Grand Theft Auto 4 online. In addition to that both levels of membership can take advantage of Netflix, which has been testing their luck combining themselves with the Xbox 360.

• Improvements

In all honesty the Xbox 360 is a perfect gaming console in regards to everything from graphical power to Xbox Live features. It may be outsold by the Nintendo Wii by millions of units, but don't count this gaming console out of the fight. Many hardcore gamers will want to check out all three consoles, and they may end up loving the Xbox 360.

• Final Score

10 Out of 10. - Perfect - (10 Being Perfect, 1 Being Horrible.)

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