Xbox

The Xbox is Microsoft's first game console, released on November 15, 2001. It was Microsoft's first independent venture into the console arena, after having collaborated with Sega in porting Windows CE to the Sega Dreamcast console. Notable launch titles for the console include Amped, Dead or Alive 3, ', ', and Project Gotham Racing.

Hardware

Microsoft built the Xbox around industry-standard PC hardware, unlike the traditionally proprietary design of nearly all other gaming consoles.

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The inclusion of the hard disk not only serves as a disk cache for faster game loading times, it also allows users to download new content for their games from Xbox Live and copy music from standard Audio CDs so players can replace the soundtrack of Xbox games.

Related Topics:
Hard disk - Standard Audio CDs

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Although the Xbox is based on commodity PC hardware and runs a stripped-down version of the Windows 2000 kernel using APIs based largely on DirectX, it incorporates restrictions designed to prevent uses not approved by Microsoft. The Xbox does not use Windows CE due to Microsoft internal politics at the time, as well as limited support in Windows CE for DirectX.

Related Topics:
Windows 2000 - Kernel - DirectX - Windows CE

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The Xbox itself is much larger and heavier than its contemporaries. Mostly, this is due to a large tray-loading DVD-ROM drive and the standard-size 3.5" hard drive. Despite managing to be smaller and lighter than similar commodity PCs, the Xbox has found itself a target of mild derision, as gamers poke fun at it for things like a warning in the Xbox manual that a falling Xbox "could cause serious injury" to a small child or pet. While some elements of the Xbox's design, like breakaway cables for the controllers to prevent the console from being yanked from the shelf, take the size into account, it has undoubtedly hurt the system's sales to the space-conscious Japanese.

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Another common complaint about the system was that the original game controller design was seen as too large for some people. For the Japanese Xbox launch, a smaller controller was introduced, a design which was subsequently released in other markets as the "Controller S", which eventually replaced the original design. Currently, all Xbox consoles come with a "Controller S", and the original version of the controller (also known as "The Duke") is no longer sold.

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Detailed specifications

• CPU: 733 MHz Intel Pentium III processor, with a 133 MHz Front Side Bus
• Graphics Processor: 250 MHz custom chip named the NV2A, developed by Microsoft and nVIDIA (based off of the GeForce 3 but with 2 vertex shaders to the GeForce 3's single vertex shader)
• Total Memory: 64 MB DDR SDRAM running at 200 MHz, supplied by Micron
• Memory Bandwidth: 6.4 GB/s
• Polygon Performance: 125 million flat-shaded polys/second
• (Microsoft figure. Some critics assert that the Xbox's polygon-per-second number is exaggerated by unrealistic testing conditions.)
• Sustained Polygon Performance: 100+ M/s (transformed and lit polygons per second)
• Micropolygons/particles per second: 125 M/s
• Particle Performance: 125 M/s
• Simultaneous Textures: 4
• Pixel Fill Rate - No Texture: 4.0 G/s (anti-aliased)
• Pixel Fill Rate - 1 Texture: 4.0 G/s anti-aliased
• Compressed Textures: Yes (6:1)
• Full Scene Anti-Alias: Yes
• Micro Polygon Support: Yes
• Storage Medium: 2-5x DVD, 8 gigabyte hard disk, optional 8 MB memory card
• I/O: 2-5x DVD, 8 GB/10 GB hard disk, 8 MB memory card
• Audio Channels: 64 3D channels (up to 256 stereo voices)
• 3D Audio Support: Yes
• MIDI DLS2 Support: Yes
• AC3 (Dolby Digital) Encoded Game Audio: Yes (via TOSLINK)
• Broadband Enabled: Yes (10/100base-T ethernet)
• DVD Movie Playback: Yes (separate DVD Playback Kit/Remote required)
• Maximum Resolution (2x32bpp frame buffers +Z): 1920(vert.)x1080(horiz)
• Note: NTSC (Non-HD) TV's have less than 500 horizontal lines. PAL TV's have less than 600 horizontal lines.
• HDTV Support: Yes, 480p/720p/1080i (see game boxes for supported resolutions).
• Controller Ports: 4 proprietary USB-based ports
• Weight: 3.86 kg
• Dimensions: 324 × 265 × 90 mm (12.8 × 10.4 × 3.5 inches)

Manufacturing photos can be found here.

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