Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. It launched in North America in November 2005 and became Microsoft's second console after the original Xbox.
The console competed mainly with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii during the seventh generation of video game consoles. It helped make online console gaming, downloadable arcade games, achievements, party chat, and digital storefronts more central to mainstream console use.
Launch
Microsoft announced the Xbox 360 in 2005 and released it first in North America. Launch coverage focused on high-definition graphics, Xbox Live integration, wireless controllers, removable storage, and a stronger online identity than the original Xbox.
The console launched with different packages. Early models included the Core system and a version with a hard drive. Later revisions included the Xbox 360 Elite, Xbox 360 S, and Xbox 360 E.
Hardware
The Xbox 360 used a custom IBM PowerPC-based CPU and ATI graphics hardware. It used DVD media rather than Blu-ray. Storage options changed over the console's life, from memory units and small hard drives to larger detachable drives and internal storage on later models.
The controller design became one of the console's most lasting hardware contributions. Its analogue stick layout, triggers, guide button, and wireless model influenced later Xbox controllers and many PC gamepads.
Xbox Live
Xbox Live was central to the system. It supported online multiplayer, friends lists, voice chat, achievements, demos, downloadable games, game add-ons, video apps, and the Xbox Live Arcade store.
Achievements and Gamerscore gave players a cross-game record of completed tasks. This system was later copied or adapted by other platforms.
Games
Major Xbox 360 games included:
- Halo 3
- Gears of War
- Forza Motorsport
- Fable II
- Mass Effect
- BioShock
- The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
- Grand Theft Auto V
The system had a large library of retail and downloadable games. It also became an important console for independent and smaller digital releases through Xbox Live Arcade.
Reliability
Early Xbox 360 units became known for hardware failures, especially the "Red Ring of Death". Microsoft extended warranty cover for some faults and revised the hardware over time. The reliability issue remains one of the main criticisms of the console's early life.
Later Support
Microsoft stopped manufacturing new Xbox 360 consoles in 2016 but continued to support parts of the platform. The Xbox 360 Store and Xbox 360 Marketplace were retired on 29 July 2024, although Microsoft stated that previously purchased content and backwards-compatible titles would remain available through supported routes.
Legacy
The Xbox 360 is remembered for strengthening Xbox Live, making achievements standard, expanding console digital distribution, and giving Microsoft its strongest console generation by cultural impact. It also showed the cost of hardware reliability problems when a console is produced at very large scale.
See Also
References
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