Microsoft Xbox 360

The ***Xbox 360*** is a home video game console developed by Microsoft, and the second console in the Xbox series. The successor to the Microsoft Xbox, the Xbox 360 was first released in 2005 and is the first seventh-generation console. It competed against the Sony PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii during its life, and was discontinued in April 2016.

It was succeeded by the Microsoft Xbox One in 2013.

## Why It Rocks

1. It the purest form of high-definition gaming.
2. It was a very influential system, as it was the first console to introduce many new features such as an achievement system. It also introduced video and music streaming with apps like Netflix.
3. It popularized digital distribution of video games, online multiplayer gaming and wireless controllers.
4. Improved upon the Xbox Live service of the original Xbox. An example was the revamped Xbox Live Arcade which was the first online service to distribute retro games and where some popular indie games were released for the first time.
5. Very long lifespan.
6. Excellent controller that was praised for its design and its ergonomic qualities.
7. The console also plays DVDs and CDs without the need for a DVD adapter, unlike its predecessor.
8. It is possible to install games on the console's hard drive; although the disc is still required to play games, this reduces loading times and extend the life of the console's laser as well as preventing other common problems consoles have like heating and noise.
9. Home to exclusives such as *Halo 3*, Gears of War, *Viva Piñata*, *Fable II*, *Forza Motorsport 4**,* *Lost Odyssey*, and more.
10. Its PC-esque architecture made it very easy to develop games for, and it often had the best console versions of multi-platform games.
11. Many accessories, such as an Xbox Live Vision camera, were released for the system.
12. A hard drive transfer kit was sold to allow transferring data from a hard drive into a larger hard drive.
13. Newer slim models included built-in Wi-Fi for quick internet connection and also fixed the several technical issues of the older models.
14. Many games released for the console are region-free, meaning that it is possible to play them regardless of the zone where the console was bought.
15. Backwards compatibility and the option to change language settings allow in many cases to "translate" not only "regular" Xbox 360 video games but original Xbox games too.
16. The "Standoff" commercial of this console was a funny commercial.
17. Unlike the PS3 commercials, this had good commercials.
18. Unlike its predecessor this had a focus on children and not mostly on adults by having some exclusive *Spongebob SquarePants* games or just ports of them which were from handheld consoles.

## Bad Qualities

1. Early versions of the system are prone to hardware failures like the infamous Red Ring of Death and the less common E74 error code appearing on a black screen.
2. The wireless controller's battery life is short compared to the PS3 controller.
3. On the original models of the console, the fan is very loud and majorly overheats very quickly which can damage your discs. (Fixed in Slim models)
4. The batteries don't connect to the controllers directly, instead they are placed in a separate piece that attaches to the controller. This piece can loosen off and disconnect your controller during gameplay very easily. Also, there is a rechargeable battery pack that is not bundled with each wireless controller you purchase.
5. While not as limited as the Wii, the Xbox 360 used DVD-DLs as their main discs, while the PS3 uses Blu-ray. As a result, many games would be released on multiple discs on the 360, such as *Final Fantasy XIII*, *Mass Effect 2* and *Grand Theft Auto V*. Some older multi-disc games would require disc swapping mid-game, since some early Xbox 360 models did not have a hard drive at all, and early Xbox 360 hard drives had relatively small capacities. As hard drive storage capacities increased later in the Xbox 360's life-cycle, many later multi-disc games instead use only one disc to actually run the game while the other disc(s) is/are used for a one-time data installation on the hard drive or to a large capacity flash drive. Compared to Blu-Ray, DVD-DL's were also more prone to damage, and can be scratched more easily (see below).
6. Unlike the PS3, Xbox 360 exclusive titles declined **severely** after 2009, with barely any games hardly considered "exclusive" to the console as many of them are playable on PC.
7. The Original Xbox 360 model did not have built in wifi; as of result, gamers have to cough up money to purchase a Xbox 360 wireless adapter in order to log in to Xbox Live. This issue was fixed in later models.
8. You had to pay for a subscription for full online access, while Sony and Nintendo consoles, dedicated streaming devices (e.g. Roku, Amazon Fire Stick, Chromecast, etc.), smart TVs, smartphones, tablets, and regular PCs had many of the same features for free; even Internet Explorer, Microsoft's own web browser integrated into Windows, inexplicably required a paid subscription to use on Xbox 360. In June 2014, Microsoft dropped the paywall for many Live services, particularly those which require their own paid subscription (e.g. Netflix, Hulu, etc.); however, certain features such as online multiplayer and cloud saves still require a paid membership.
9. The console is only compatible with first party hard-drives, unlike the PS3, which is compatible with any internal 2.5 inch SATA hard drive or solid state drive. Worse, it uses two different types of first party hard-drives for the original models and the later models.
10. For the early original models without a hard drive, users had to rely on expensive proprietary memory units, which were sold separately and only held 64 MB at launch; however, a 512 MB memory unit was eventually released and later entry level consoles would include a 256 MB memory unit before eventually switching to on-board flash memory. With the launch of the Xbox 360 S in 2010, Microsoft introduced the ability to use cheaper, off-the-shelf USB flash drives (although this rendered older memory units incompatible with the S consoles), and subsequent updates allows for external hard drives up to 2 TB.
11. Lots of Xbox 360 users were banned from Xbox Live for completely **no reason at all (did we mentioned that they were banned randomly and out of nowhere?)!** This shows that Xbox's Online moderation isn't good.

## Reception

Over 84 million units have been sold worldwide as of August 23, 2016.

## Maintenance

Owners of this console must always remember to never move the Xbox 360 while a disc is inserted since such an action would cause scratches on the data surface of the disc. The console must be placed in a well-ventilated space in order to provide enough cooling, the same rule applies to its power source, which must never be placed in confined spaces such a book shelf or behind a piece of furniture.

You can install games directly on the hard drive to reduce the risk of overheating and reduce the noise levels, or get a vertical stand with fans in it to cool it down further. Installing onto the hard drive will also reduce load times on most games.

## Trivia

1. The console was shown in Greatest freak out ever 2 on the computer desk while Stephen\_Quire is playing a game online.