Putting the New Xbox Through Its Paces
Graphics Are Awesome,
But $400 Price Is Off-Putting;
Trash Talking Your Rival
November 23, 2005; Page D1
The most interesting, and most anticipated, computer for the 2005 holiday season isn't often thought of as a computer at all, and it isn't made by a computer-hardware company. It's the Xbox 360 game machine, and it's made by the world's biggest software company, Microsoft.
This second edition of the Xbox, which went on sale yesterday, is both more capable and more refined than the original model. In fact, the Xbox 360 is the most powerful computer ever sold specifically for gaming.
The $399.99 Xbox 360 from Microsoft
Not only that, but the Xbox 360 is meant to be a multimedia hub. Like earlier game consoles, it can play CDs and DVDs. Like the original Xbox, the new model can connect to the Internet to allow multiplayer gaming with people all over the world. But it also can play music, video clips and photos from its own hard disk or from the hard disk of another computer over a network, or stream music from an Apple iPod plugged into one of its ports.
We've been testing the Xbox 360, with the help of a veteran gamer, and our verdict is that its fluid, movielike graphics make it an outstanding game machine. It also performed like a champ as a multimedia hub.
But the Xbox 360 has some significant downsides that may cause casual gamers to hesitate to buy it right out of the chute. Chief among these are price and backward compatibility with games produced for the first Xbox.
There are two versions of the new machine: the $300 Xbox 360 "Core System," or a better $400 version, simply called the Xbox 360. The trouble is that the $300 base system can't play older games designed for the original Xbox. Only the $400 model can do so, because it includes the hard disk that's needed to hold the special software that allows older games to run on the new design.
So, if you don't want to lose your large investment in older games, you'll have to shell out a whopping $400 for the Xbox 360. That's more than double the recent price for an original Xbox or the rival Sony PlayStation 2. For the extra hundred bucks, you also get some other stuff, in addition to the detachable 20-gigabyte hard drive -- a wireless controller, instead of a wired one; a headset; a remote control for playing media; and some cables.
A scene from Kameo Elements of Power.
Acquiring a library of new Xbox 360 games will cost you $50 to $60 a game.
We tested the Xbox both as a game machine and as a multimedia hub. Since neither of us is much of a game player, we enlisted the help of an avid videogame fan, Joe Carden, a 32-year-old public-relations consultant for the federal government. Joe was really excited about the new gaming device. Within an hour of starting to play on our test machine, he declared that he was ready to plunk down the cash for an Xbox 360 of his own.
Setting up this new Xbox was relatively simple. Three plugs hook into its rear panel: the power cord, AV cord and Ethernet networking cable. You may need to build an addition onto your house, however, for the monstrous electrical adapter, which is the largest we've ever seen.
We tested the Xbox with Wi-Fi Internet networks, so the $100 Wireless Network Adapter that Microsoft provided for our tests came in handy. We plugged this small adapter into the back of the Xbox, and in a matter of moments it was glowing green to indicate that the 360 had automatically detected our network and was capable of working online.
The 360 can stand vertically, like a sleek mini computer tower, or it can be used horizontally. Its front panel can be changed out for a more stylish faceplate -- each costs $19.
We walked through a few registration steps, including setting up a "gamertag," or nickname, and choosing the best description of our playing style from four environments -- family-friendly, recreational, pro and underground.
Cars line up in Project Gotham Racing 3, a new Xbox 360 game. The cheaper version of the new machine can't play older games.
To play online, you need an Xbox Live account. A so-called Silver account comes free with the most expensive console, but this only allows users to interact online with audio and voice messages, not to actually play games with others online. An Xbox Live Gold account that includes the Silver features as well as online game tournaments can cost as much as $50 annually.
Joe got started with Call of Duty 2, a game that throws you into intense battles of World War II, starting in Moscow. He used buttons on the wireless controller to battle through the war zone with other soldiers, shooting at the enemy, throwing smoke grenades and planting explosives before standing back to watch an enemy building explode. Bursts of flame lit the screen, and bricks crumbled to the ground, causing dust to rise all around the collapsed building.
Joe noted that "the graphics are ridiculously much better" than in older Xbox and Sony consoles, and, as if to demonstrate his observation, a column of tanks, their armored sides rife with detailed dents, thundered over the snowy trench in which his soldier was ducking from the enemy. Fluffy pieces of realistic-looking snow were softly blowing all around the scene.
Soldiers hide in doorways and duck to avoid enemy fire in Call of Duty 2, a game that focuses on battles from World War II.
Joe also thought the fight scenes were more graphic and the enemies more intelligent. He echoed these sentiments while playing a game of Quake 4, where an army takes on enemies in space.
Joe tested online gaming by competing with a Microsoft employee nicknamed "Bear" in Project Gotham Racing 3. This driving game takes you through one of five cities, including London, New York and Las Vegas at night, and the streets pass by landmarks that we recognized instantly. As Joe and Bear raced through the streets, they used headsets to trash-talk one another.
Later, at the office, we played Call of Duty 2 and Project Gotham Racing 3, and even though we're not the best gamers in the world, the graphics were so good we were hooked. We had a great time crashing our cars into barriers on the streets around the Parliament buildings in London. As each car slammed into the barriers, crowds of animated onlookers shrank back in fear.
We also tested the Xbox 360's media capabilities. We set it up as a "Media Center Extender" -- Microsoft's term for a device that can play back content stored on a Media Center PC, even if it's in another room. It worked great, allowing us to play back music, photos and videos stored on a Dell PC. But if you don't have Windows Media Center running on your PC, this extender functionality won't work.
We also played the same types of media directly off the Xbox 360's hard drive and used two of the device's three USB ports to attach an iPod and a portable USB drive loaded with photos. Music played easily on the Xbox, through the television speakers, and the photos were displayed quickly on our TV. Songs and playlists from the iPod showed up on the menus as if they were stored on the Xbox itself. The DVD functionality worked without a hitch, too, when we watched a few scenes of Jodie Foster in the movie "Panic Room."
There's little doubt that the Xbox 360's gaming capabilities will be the biggest draw for most users. But, for some casual gamers, buying the new Xbox right away could be a mistake. For one thing, it will likely take time for the best games to emerge, because game publishers will learn more and more in coming months about how to take better advantage of the hardware. And Microsoft's rivals, Sony and Nintendo, have new game machines coming out next year, which some folks will want to compare with the new Xbox before shelling out hundreds of dollars.
Still, if gaming is a big part of your life, and you can afford the $400 Xbox, you won't be disappointed. This is one terrific gaming computer, and a media powerhouse to boot.
Xbox 360抢鲜测评
2005年假日中最有趣、最令人期待的电脑并非传统意义上的电脑，而且不是由电脑硬件厂商生产的。它就是由全球最大的软件商微软公司(Microsoft)推出的Xbox 360游戏机。
Xbox 360是Xbox的第二代产品，于2005年11月22日上市销售，它比Xbox功能更强大，外观更时尚。事实上，Xbox 360可以说是游戏业界至今发售的最强大的主机。
不仅如此，Xbox 360还是一个多媒体娱乐中心，和前一代游戏机一样，它也能播放CD和DVD，并让用户与全世界的玩家联网进行网上多人游戏。不过，它也有不少新功能，包括在自身或外接的硬盘上播放音乐、视频文件和浏览照片，或把苹果iPod插入它的一个接口，导入音乐文件等。
我们在一位游戏老手的协助下测试了Xbox 360，结论是：Xbox 360如真实电影般的流畅画面让它成为游戏机中的翘楚，而且在多媒体娱乐中心方面也表现不俗。
不过Xbox 360也有一些会让普通玩家在购买时犹豫不决的重大缺点，其中最突出的是高昂的价格和对第一代Xbox游戏糟糕的兼容性。
Xbox 360共有两款：售价300美元的基本型和售价400美元的标准型。问题是基本型主机不能向下兼容Xbox游戏，只有标准型可以，因为后者配备了安装有特殊软件的硬盘，老游戏只有依靠这些软件才能在新机型上运行。
因此，如果你不想让以前购买Xbox游戏的投资付诸东流，那只好花400大洋买Xbox 360标准型，这一价格是第一代Xbox或其竞争产品PlayStation 2的两倍多。当然，你多花的100美元也给你带来其他一些东西，除了20G的分离式硬盘外，还有一个无线手柄替代普通的有线手柄，一个耳麦，一个媒体播放遥控器，还有一些连接线。
Xbox 360游戏的售价在50到60美元左右。
我们对Xbox 360的游戏功能和多媒体功能都做了测试，由于我们两个都不太会玩游戏，所以请到一位乐意帮忙的游戏迷乔?卡登(Joe Carden)，他今年32岁，为联邦政府提供公共关系咨询服务。乔对这款新主机爱不释手，在测试机上玩了一个小时后，他马上宣布自己要去买一台Xbox 360。
Xbox 360的启动工作比较简单，把电源线、视频线和乙太网线插入机身后面的接口即可。不过你可能得另外准备一个插线板，因为Xbox 360的电源适配器是我们迄今为止见过的最大的一款。
我们测试了Wi-Fi无线上网，正好用上微软公司提供的售价100美元的无线网路适配器。我们把小巧的适配器插入主机后部，不一会儿显示灯就变成绿色，表示主机已自动监测到无线网路，现在已经能上网了。
Xbox 360能垂直放置，就像一个迷你电脑主机一样，同时也能水平放置。其前面板可以随意更换，让主机显得更有型 - 每个面板售价19美元。
我们尝试了注册的几个步骤，包括给主机起个昵称，以及从以下四个选项中选择适合我们风格的游戏环境 - 老少皆宜、轻松娱乐、专业级别或是隐居高手。
想玩网路游戏的话，你需要有一个Xbox Live帐户，400美元的主机附赠一个所谓的“银级会员”帐户，但只能让用户在网上用声音进行交流，而不能和别人一起玩游戏。Xbox Live的“金级会员”帐户除了包括“银级”的各种功能，还能玩网络游戏，但年费高达50美元。
乔首先测试了“使命召唤2”(Call of Duty 2)，一款让人体验二战残酷的游戏，战场首先在莫斯科展开。乔操纵著无线手柄，和战友们在战区打得不亦乐乎：射击敌人，投掷烟雾弹，放置炸药退后，把敌人的建筑物炸上天，满眼都是火焰，砖瓦如雨点般飞落，扬起的尘土在崩塌的房子周围升起。
乔说：“Xbox 360的游戏画面比Xbox和PS2好太多啦。”仿佛为了验证他的判断，一群坦克突然出现在战区，装甲车身上的斑驳清晰可见，向白雪覆盖的战壕冲了过来，乔和战友们纷纷闪避，雪花四溅的场景十分真实。
乔觉得战争场景的画面更真实，敌人的智商更高。他在试玩Quake 4的时候也有同样的感受，那是一款孤胆英雄对抗外太空异形大军的游戏。
乔还测试了上网玩游戏，和微软公司一个网名叫“狗熊”的员工在“世界街头赛车3”(Project Gotham Racing 3)中一争高下。这款赛车游戏让玩家驾车在五个城市飞驰，其中包括伦敦、纽约和夜色中的拉斯维加斯，有些街道我们飞驰经过时马上就能认出来。在乔和“狗熊”比赛的同时，两人还通过耳麦互相开玩笑。
后来，我们自己在办公室里也玩了“使命召唤2”和“世界街头赛车3”，虽然我们的游戏水平不怎么样，但真实华丽的游戏画面把我们紧紧吸引住。我们故意把车子在伦敦白金汉宫附近的赛道护栏上乱撞，让围观的人在惊恐中四散而逃，我们乐此不疲。
我们也测试了Xbox 360的多媒体功能。通过名为Media Center Extender的设备，我们能在Xbox 360上播放“媒体中心电脑”(Media Center PC)上储存的内容，即使那个电脑在另一个房间也没有问题。这种方式运行很舒畅，我们能播放一台戴尔电脑(Dell)上的音乐、视频并浏览照片；但如果你电脑上没有安装Windows Media Center，Media Center Extender设备就没有办法工作。
我们还在Xbox 360内置的硬盘上播放了同类的多媒体文件，并利用主机上的三个USB接口，接入一个iPod和一个装满照片文件的移动硬盘。音乐在Xbox 360上播放顺畅，通过电视机喇叭发出声音，照片在电视上的显示速度也很快。iPod上的歌曲名称和播放列表显示在电视萤幕的功能表上，就跟储存在主机里一样。DVD播放功能也毫无问题，我们看了裘蒂?福斯特(Jodie Foster)主演的“颤栗空间”(Panic Room)中的几个片段。
毋庸置疑，Xbox 360的游戏功能对大多数玩家将产生难以抵挡的魅力，但对那些偶尔玩游戏的人来说，现在就买Xbox 360可能是个错误。原因之一就是，更好的游戏可能还未出现，因为游戏开发商需要时间进一步熟悉Xbox 360的硬件机能。此外，微软的竞争对手索尼公司(Sony)和任天堂公司(Nintendo)都将在2006年推出新的游戏主机。有些人可能希望比较一下三种主机的优劣，然后再花数百美元把其中一种请回家。
话说回来，如果游戏在你生活中占很重要的一部分，而且你能负担得起400美元，那Xbox 360不会让你失望。这是一款出色的游戏机，也是一颗冉冉升起的多媒体娱乐新星。
