November. Students have settled into their classes and can procrastinate reading and assignments no further. Flurries start appearing on the streets and people begin to brave thoughts of a cold, bitter, winter. NBC shows live coverage of the Macy?s Thanksgiving parade and Canadians everywhere, simply, couldn?t care less. Plastic decorations of Santa are pinned up in Wal-Mart stores and employees walk around with huge smiles, smiles of being pushed to the brink of insanity, as Christmas jingles are played over and over.

But this November is going to be different ? Microsoft is counting on it.

The Xbox 360 is the first of the fresh batch of video game consoles poised at blowing us away. Indeed, gamers both young and old have high standards so it?s no wonder the games will run in at least 720p with a 16:9 aspect ratio and 5.1 Dolby Digital audio. That technical jargon means to truly take advantage of the Xbox 360?s graphics capabilities you will need a High Definition (HD) television. Fortunately the Xbox 360 will operate just fine on your standard analog 4:3 TV ? the television most people own ? but it still goes to show which market consolegame developers have their sights truly aimed at nowadays.

Gone are the days when consoles are comparable to powerhouse computers. Microsoft has ensured that the Xbox 360 is a technological juggernaut; the CPU consists of three 3.2GHz processors, each able to run two threads at the same time. If you do the math, the CPU can actually process six threads simultaneously, in turn, this is sure to grant game developers an unprecedented amount of freedom.

Expect the typical compatibility with DVD-Video, CD-RW, WMA CD, MP3 CD, and JPEG Photo CD just to name a few, but the fun doesn?t stop there, it?s called 360 for a reason. This time around there?s a huge push to expand into more markets hence try not to think of the Xbox 360 as a partner for your entertainment theatre or PC but rather the nucleus of the two.

With a built in Ethernet port and compatibility with broadband getting things rolling with an internet service provider will be effortless.

Two USB ports at the front of the system make it so that toys like an MP3 player can be plugged in to transfer songs to the 20GB hard drive, which comes with the system, and vice-versa, or maybe hook up a digital camera and have a slide show of favourite pics for an online profile.

Current Xbox Live subscribers will be transferred over but it will be divided into two levels, Gold and Silver. Silver will be free and will provide gamer profiles, access to Marketplace (where demos, new game levels, maps, weapons, vehicles, skins are available for download), voice and text messaging, video messages, and of course, massive multiplayer online games. The Gold level is paid and is basically Silver with more features such as access to Live special events.

Also worthy of mention is the sleek, silver and very sexy looking system has made wireless controllers as its standard.

As I discussed in a previous column, Microsoft has been the only developer so far who has provided gamers a complete online-gaming experience, this has attributed to the current success of the Xbox. In an attempt to carry over that success, every game to be made for the 360 will have online compatibility.

It?s evident that Microsoft is out for blood because not only will 360 be released just in time for Christmas, but the next instalment of Halo ?the best game for Xbox, I have argued ? will be released this fall as well.

I hate to sound like all I?ve done so far is help Microsoft rake in even more money but it really does seem to me that the next generation of systems, especially this one, is going to completely reform the way we play games. I would almost deem it the upcoming gaming renaissance but I?ll save such a bold statement for when we all start jacking into the matrix?or jack out?whatever.

At any rate, Microsoft hasn?t hinted as to how much the 360 will cost but it seems to me that a consensus between gaming magazines, sites and blogs alike estimate it will cost roughly $400 Canadian. What with the success of bundles these days I?d be ready to spend $500 but hopefully not a penny more.

One thing the 360 doesn?t have in common with the two competitors is a portable device out there right now compatible with the consoles of the future. Nintendo has the DS, and Sony has its PSP ? the newcomer. Coupled with PS2?s current domination what can we expect from the PS3 scheduled for release next year? Find out next week.






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