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A Brief History of the XBox 360
It has been called many things. Revolutionary. Slick. A home wrecker. Widow maker.
Of course, the subject at hand is the one and only XBox 360!
Many people own one. Some, more dedicated, gamers own multiple consoles. Parents will rush department stores to buy XBox 360 games for their kids. Nationwide tournaments have cropped up around specific games played on the XBox 360 console. The console allows you to do anything from fighting in the UFC to racing a stolen car – for which you will never go to jail, because this is all virtual. But how, exactly, did the XBox 360 come about?
The Beginning
The XBox 360 is the console that took the place of the original XBox. Its main competition? PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii – two other major players in the seventh generation of consoles. The console itself had a variety of names during its development. Some possibilities included XBox Next to NextBox, and even Xenon. However, XBox 360 seemed to be a bit more easily marketed, and thusly the name stuck.
First ideas for the 360 came about in 2003, with planning beginning in Februrary of 2003. Throughout the rest of 2003, many higher ups in the gaming industry signed on to help with the development of the 360. Sega’s former president signed on early in the project, and ATI developed the graphics processing unit later that year. Prior to release, even Apple got in on the action, as several Alpha development kits were caught using the PowerMac G5 hardware.
Launch
November 22, 2005 was the release date for the XBox 360 in the United States. Fans everywhere rushed out not only to buy the console, but also to buy XBox 360 games, which were already being released in a small flood. Two versions were available upon original launch, the XBox 360 package or the XBox 360 Core package. Several other packages have come along since then, to include the Elite model.
But gamers around the world are getting ramped up yet again as Microsoft plans to release yet another version of the XBox 360. This one with the more simple name of XBox 360 S. But don’t let the release of a newer version dictate whether or not you buy XBox 360 games. You will still be able to play all the same games on the XBox 360 S. This isn’t like the change from XBox to XBox 360. So go on out and buy XBox 360 games – buy some for your friends, too. You’re all certain to be gaming to your heart’s content now that you know where your XBox 360 came from.
HeartGold and SoulSilver
Nintendo has released information that will ooze nostalgia for many of us who grew up on Pokemon. Remakes of the second generation games, Pokemon: Gold and Pokemon: Silver, are in development and are speculated to see a release in spring of 2010. The games will follow the same basic storyline of the earlier versions, with better graphics and an entirely new gaming experience that only the Nintendo DS could muster up.
For those of you unfamiliar with the series, you follow the story of Ash Ketchum, a Pokemon master to-be. Unlike the original tale, however, you start off in the Johto region with little to no experience with Pokemon whatsoever. You must work your way up, fighting fellow trainers and capturing new Pokemon to train and make stronger.
There are certain bosses, known as Gym Leaders, who are specialized in different types of Pokemon. Defeating all of them in any given region grants you ability to challenge the Elite Four, a group of master trainers that only few have beaten. Upon defeating them, you face a champion, the last person who was able to beat the Elite Four and the previous champion. If you succeed against all five of these trainers, you are deemed the new champion.
It is Ash’s dream in the manga and the show to achieve this rank, and it is your ultimate goal in the games. Between working toward that goal and defeating entire evil organizations like Team Rocket, you have quite a bit to deal with and certainly enough to keep you busy from beginning to end. Many who are lucky enough may also uncover secrets that will shake the very foundations of the Pokemon world, finding legendary Pokemon that have been lost in time for centuries.
And even if you already know the games in and out, these new installments are sure to have nuances not seen before. Not much is known about HeartGold or SoulSilver outside of Japan yet, but it is expected that the gameplay will retain it’s qualities that have made the series a smash hit for years.
In Japan, a special accessory was released with the game called the PokeWalker, a device that functions like a pedometer that you can store a pokemon in to gain experience and other in-game benefits without the game being at hand. This piece of technology comes standard with the Japanese games and does not raise the price as you may have thought.
It’ll still be a while before these hit the stores here in the US and in Europe, but once they do have your styluses ready and prepare for some nostalgia.
HeartGold and SoulSilver Trailer