Microsoft recently rolled out their long-awaited Halo 3 video game -- an XBox 360 shooter that the company hopes will propel the XBox 360 platform past the competing Nintendo Wii and Sony Playstation 3 consoles.
Microsoft is even offering a "Spartan green" Halo 3 Special Editon console. There is also an Elite System Console that includes a number of extras, principally HDMI interface for HDTV and a 120GB detachable hard drive for downloadable content.
XBox Games
Unlike competing console manufacturers, Microsoft has made the XBox 360 backward compatible with existing XBox games. In other words, if you have an XBox system and a collection of XBox games, you can play them on a new XBox 360 console. Regrettably, this feature has thus far inhibited third-party game developers from creating games specifically for the 360, which in turn has hurt sales of the new console.
While the standard XBox is a good gaming system, it lacks the next-generation features of the 360. Microsoft hopes that their new sequel to the popular Halo and Halo 2 shooters will stimulate sales of the new platform, which in turn will encourage developers to use the 360's more advanced feature set. While initial sales of Halo 3 have been brisk, it is still too soon to know how well this strategy will succeed.
As a more mature platform, the Standard XBox has a much greater selection of available games, most of which are available from Amazon.com:
- XBox: Action (All)
- XBox: Adventure
- XBox: Classics
- XBox: Online
- XBox: Racing
- XBox: Rhythm
- XBox: Role-Playing
- XBox: Simulation
- XBox: Sports (All)
- Sports: Baseball
- Sports: Basketball
- Sports: Boarding
- Sports: Football
- Sports: Golf
- Sports: Hockey
- Sports: Hunting & Fishing
- Sports: Soccer
- Sports: Wrestling
- XBox: Strategy
XBox 360 Games
The XBox 360 Console is an advanced gaming platform not only for today, but for years to come. While it's sales were somewhat disappointing initially, new and upcoming game releases are producing renewed interest in the product.
It seems that third-party developers are catching up now with many new entries in the XBox 360 arena coming out in time for Christmas 2007. Heretofore 360 Games have been heavily weighted toward Microsoft Games, but now familiar developers like Electronic Arts, 2K Sports, Eidos , and Capcom are getting into the act.
It's still to soon to tell, but it looks like Microsoft's tortoise may overtake the Sony & Nintedo hares this year.
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