Microsoft Xbox
From GamerWiki
 Microsoft Xbox
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| Manufacturer: | Microsoft |
| Alternate Names: | Xbox |
| Announced: | 17 May 2005 |
| Release date: | JP: 22/February/2002 NA: 15/November/2001 EU: 14/March/2002 AU: 14/March/2002 |
| Initial Price: | JP: ¥34,800 NA: ? EU: £299.99 AU: ? |
| Discontinued: | ? |
Other games available (temporary link)
Contents |
Description of Hardware
Microsoft's first home console of its own. Microsoft had been involved in various consoles previously (Sega Dreamcast and MSX particularly) so was not inexperienced in the hardware side of developing a console.
Hardware Specifications
- CPU: 733 MHz Intel Custom Pentium III
- Front Side Bus: 133 MHz - 1.0 GB/sec
- RAM: Micron 64 MB DDR SDRAM
- Memory Bandwidth: 6.4 GB/sec bus
- Storage Medium: 8 GB (10 GB) Hard Disk (Western Digital, 5400 RPM)
- I/O (Input / Output): w-5x DVD-ROM, Type 9 DVD - 8.5 GB single sided, 4x Proprietary USB Game, Ports (12 Mbps), Broadband Ethernet Connection (100 Mbps), Proprietary Audio/Video Connector
- Graphics Processor Unit: 250 MHz Custom-Designed NV2X
- Max Polygon Performance: 125 M/sec
- Simultaneous Textures: 4.8 G/Sec
- Pixel Fill Rate: 12w
- Compressed Textures: Yes (6:1)
- Maximum resolution: 1920 x 1080 (HDTV Required)
- MPEG 2 Support: Yes (Standard DVD)
- HDTV Game Support: Yes (HDTV Cable Required)
- DVD Movie Playback: Yes (DVD Remote Control Required)
- Media Comm. Processor: 200 MHz Processor Custom, Designed By NVIDIA, Controls Hard Disk & DVD, Controls High-Speed Ethernet, Controls Proprietary USB Game Ports, Controls Advanced Audio which uses: licensed technology from UK's Sensaura 3D.
- Peripheral Bus (MCP BUS): 400 MB/s (Full Duplex)
- Broadband Enabled: Yes (10/100 Mbps / TCP/IP / WinSock)
- Audio Channels: 256
- 3D Audio Support: Yes (64 3D channels)
- Operating System: Windows 2000 Core OS (Custom designed by MS), DirectX 8.0a (Drivers), Part 1 of the OS is on the hard disk < 1 MB, Part 2 of the OS can be DVD disc < 500 K, (Part 1 includes the core OS, DirectX, DVD playback, some drivers and 3D user interface), (Part 2 includes things like libraries, other drivers and other features needed by the developer), OS takes less then 3 MB in RAM, The OS has a 3D user interface when no games are inserted to play music CDs, run DVD movies etc., The games run in ring 0, known as kernel mode which is the fastest mode possible.
- V-CHIP: Parental control on DVD's with ESRB ratings
- Size: Width: ~31cm, Depth: ~27cm, Height: ~10cm
- Total Internal Components: 800
Hardware Revisions
Games
A full list of Microsoft Xbox games documented on GamerWiki can be found at the Microsoft Xbox category.
Alternatively, a manually created list is also available - this is to be deprecated, so please add any further games to the games to be added page.
Region Free?
Speculation about Xbox region protection developed during its development phase and continues as each new game is released. It is generally believed that Microsoft do not enforce region protection and it is left to the publisher to decide if a specific game is region coded. However, some Microsoft published titles also feature region protection meaning this is consider as purely speculation.
The current list of region free video games is as follows:
- American McGee's Scrapland
- Black Hawk Down
- Brothers In Arms
- Cabela's Deer Hunt 2005
- Call of Duty: Finest Hour
- Capcom Fighting Evolution
- Carve
- Fable
- Forza Motorsport
- Ghost Recon 2
- Greg Hastings' Tournament Paintball
- Halo 2
- Jade Empire
- Mech Assault
- Mech Assault 2
- Mercenaries
- Pariah
- Prince of Persia 2 : Warrior Within
- Return to Castle Wolfenstein
- Rainbow Six 3
- Rainbow Six 3: Black Arrow
- Rallisport Challenge 2
- Second Sight
- Splinter Cell : Chaos Theory
- Splinter Cell : Pandora Tomorrow
- Star Wars Battlefront
- Steel Batallion: Line of Contact
- Street Fighter Anniversary Collection
- Sudeki
- Tron 2.0 Killer App
- Unreal Championship
- Unreal Championship 2
- X-Men Legends
Region free software will work in any Xbox, from any region. Some software, such as an NTSC Ninja Gaiden (Xbox) will work in any NTSC console (Japanese or American) but not a PAL system. Specific changes were made to this specific title for the European audience.
Peripherals
Emulation
Trivia
- The Xbox sold 123,929 units during its first weekend on sale in Japan. The Xbox was the most powerful console until the launch of its successor, the Xbox 360, in 2005 and the Xbox was the first console with a built in hard-drive. The Xbox 360, by comparison, is available in two versions, one with a hard-drive and a less costly version without a hard-drive.
- One of the more extensive electronic product recalls in commercial history took place on 17th Feb 2005 when it was found that in some cases, existing Xbox power cords were found to be a safety hazard. The hazard was regarded as limited to Xbox damage, however some compensation claims worldwide led to the recall, and subsequent delivery (free of charge) of a bulky replacement (which made selling second-hand consoles a nightmare when trying to cram it into the original packaging).
- Although hardly introducing the concept (Nintendo, Sega, Atari and many others had already had a dip in the water) - Xbox saw the eventual introduction of an online broadband-only download and portal service - "Xbox Live". Launched on November 15th 2002, this service was aimed at providing a wide area network for the Xbox community, and, some would say, its rapidly expanding user base (magnified exponentially with the introduction of the 360) has even partly driven the home broadband market explosion in the UK.
