Xbox 360s – What do you think
Sara Barsley, President of Derby University Computing and Gaming Society reviews the new Xbox 360
On Wednesday 14 December, Derby University’s Computing and Gaming Society was given the opportunity to test 4 Xbox 360s. The games available to play were Perfect Dark Zero, Kameo, King Kong, Condemned and Project Gotham Racing 3. Incidentally, Kameo was worked on by a Derby University student during a work placement.
The machines are very modern and slim however as we were using the 360s in pods it was unclear how large the power supplies were. When packing up however, we got to see a power supply first hand - large does not do it justice. The power supply is almost as large as or bigger than a house brick!
The highlighted Xbox symbol is not only present for branding but it is also functional. The backlight is split into four separate LEDs so when you play multiplayer with a split screen, the screen you have control over will light the corresponding LED. This help you know immediately which screen you are in before any action starts therefore avoiding wasting those valuable first few seconds when you start playing in multiplayer.
The 360s are very aesthetically pleasing and I love the fact the front facet can be changed. The controllers take on a similar design to the s-type Xbox controllers. This I like as they are easy to hold with all the buttons in close reach and it feels just as comfortable as the s-type. The main triggers are actually softer to the touch and set much shallower, which help produce a better gaming experience alongside the sensitive analogue sticks. The white and black buttons found on the original Xbox controller have been replaced by an additional 2 triggers placed above the main triggers; therefore there is Left Trigger (LT) Left Button (LB) Right Trigger (RT) Right Button (RB). These are more easily accessible than the old style black and white buttons and help improve game play dramatically. The start and select buttons have also moved to either side of the highlighted Xbox symbol. These seem to work with the whole revamp of the controller. After getting use to remembering where they have moved to, it is not a problem and does not affect game play at all.
With high definition TVs, the graphics looked amazing especially Project Gotham Racing 3. The sunlight refracted from the cars was perfect, the shadowing was just as good and the picture quality was a significant improvement from Project Gotham Racing 2. It made the cars look realistic almost as if you were watching Top Gear.
We not only played on the 360s in single player but also system linked them to play Perfect Dark Zero and Project Gotham Racing 3. The game play was similar to previous racing games or FPS. We found that although system link was good once in the game, load time for the game took much longer than expected. After experiencing this once or twice, we got use to the wait and had enough time to taunt the other gamers before the action actually started.
As for the Xbox 360’s other capabilities of a multimedia hub; online gaming - including spectator mode, downloadable arcade games, and of course, not forgetting, the wireless controllers make a pretty sweet set up when using high definition visuals. We barely scratched the surface of the 360s capabilities!
There have been problems with the first releases of the 360s including the console freezing and locking up, disc scratching, and the very large power supply overheating. Some believe that the power supply and CPU within the console overheat and affect heat-sensitive chips which in turn cause the console to crash and lock up. We played on the consoles for about 5 hours non-stop but even so, we did not experience any of these problems. Instead, we had a problem with our own projector!
Despite certain problems Microsoft are addressing and the fact we didn’t have time to go into all the 360’s capabilities, I thoroughly enjoyed my time gaming and cannot wait until 360s are in surplus supply and I can purchase one to enjoy the gaming experience.
