Xbox 360, as Microsoft tells it.
NEW YORK May 12, 2005 Celebrating the dawn of a new era in
entertainment, game fanatics across the globe came together tonight for
the televised unveiling of Xbox 360™, the future-generation game and
entertainment system from Microsoft. An audience of millions watched
MTV: Music Television as celebrities, professional athletes, musicians
and Xbox officials took the wraps off the much-anticipated system,
ending months of intense speculation and satiating consumers worldwide.
The new Xbox 360 places players at the center of powerful
next-generation games and entertainment experiences. The elegant design
features a breakthrough wireless controller and an array of Faces,
interchangeable face plates that let gamers personalize their
console. The unveiling spotlighted some of the groundbreaking
Xbox 360 games in development for the new system, advancements for Xbox
Livethe runaway leader in online gaming servicesand new digital media
experiences that only Xbox 360 can deliver.
"With the first generation of Xbox, our ambition was to change the way
people think about video games," said Robbie Bach, Microsoft's chief
Xbox officer. "Starting today with Xbox 360, our ambition is to
revolutionize the way people think about fun."
Xbox 360 will unleash the greatest game lineup in the history of video
games when it launches in North America, Europe, and Japan this
Christmas holiday. The games that captured the color, drama, and
fun of high definition game play at the MTV unveiling included:
2KGames' NBA 2K6, Activision's Call of Duty 2, QUAKE 4 and Tony Hawk's
American Wasteland™; Electronic Arts' Madden NFL 06, Need For Speed:
Most Wanted and Tiger Woods PGA Tour 06; Majesco Entertainment's
The Darkness, Microsoft Game Studios' Perfect Dark Zero, Kameo:
Elements of Power, Project Gotham Racing 3, and Gears of War; THQ'a
Saint's Row, and Ubisoft's Ghost Recon 3.
The Platform and Partners Power the Portfolio
Xbox 360 Xbox 360 ignites a new era of digital entertainment that is
always connected, always personalized, and always in high
definition. It is the only system designed with a singular
platform vision that combines the most-powerful hardware with
intelligent software and services.
Every Xbox 360 game is optimized for a minimum of 720p high definition
output with anti-aliasing. Regardless of the TV Xbox 360 connects to,
gamers will experience smooth, cinematic experiences that far exceed
anything they've seen or felt in games before.
Xbox 360 also features software so smart it remembers what gamers have
achieved. The Xbox Guide Button is the launch pad that connects gamers
to their games, friends, and music from the wireless controller.
With more than one teraflop of system-floating point performance, a
three-core PowerPC-based CPU for the most-advanced artificial
intelligence and physics processing, a custom ATI graphics processor
and more than 512 megabytes of memory for the ultimate in visual
fidelity, the Xbox 360 hardware is a perfect blend of power, elegance,
and balance. When combined with unrivaled XNA software
development tools, game creators can produce truly believable, thriving
worlds..
Fabled game studios such as BioWare, Bizarre Creations, Bungie Studios,
Rare Ltd., as well as legendary Japanese game creators Hironobu
Sakaguchi, Tetsuya Mizuguchi, and Yoshiki Okamoto are harnessing the
powerful Xbox 360 platform to create exclusive games for Microsoft Game
Studios. Equally commanding, game-changing publishers like
2KGames, Activision Inc., Capcom Co. Ltd., Electronic Arts Inc., Tecmo
Ltd., Namco Ltd., Rockstar Games, SEGA, THQ Inc., and UbiSoft
Entertainmentjust to name a feware flocking to Xbox 360.
"Xbox 360 marks the beginning of a renaissance in video games,"
said Don Mattrick, president of Worldwide Studios for Electronic
Arts. "The unbelievable Xbox 360 games in development at
Electronic Arts will accelerate the industry's mission to make video
games the preeminent form of entertainment."
"With Xbox 360, a new chapter in video game history is being written,"
said Kathy Vrabeck, president of Activision Publishing. "The platform
liberates us to achieve new levels of graphics and game play so our
audiences connect emotionally with more riveting stories, more
believable characters, and more open, living worlds."
Xbox LiveNew Levels of Service Get Everyone in the Game
Connect Xbox 360 to a broadband connection, and it's on. With a free
level of Xbox Live service, players can share their Gamer
Profilecomprised of user-generated information such as Achievements
(rewards players have earned in games), Gamerzone (style of play), and
a custom-created Gamertile (a visual icon to represent the gamer
online)with their friends in the community. And with the free
level of Xbox Live, players can send and receive text and voice
messages to friends, as well as engage in Xbox Live voice chat
anywhere, anytime, even if one person is playing a game while the other
is watching a progressive-scan enabled DVD movie. Also available
is the Xbox Live Marketplace, a one-stop shop to download demos and
trailers, new game levels, maps, weapons, vehicles, skins,
community-created content, and more to the detachable Xbox 360 hard
drive.
Xbox Live members who subscribe to the premium service can experience
the thrill of multiplayer online game play. Gamer Profiles will provide
a foundation for intelligent matchmaking, so players of similar skill
levels and interests can quickly and easily connect and the Xbox Live
Camera peripheral will let gamers add their own faces into games and
see their friends while they play. Other Xbox Live features for
premium members include video messaging, online tournaments and
ladders, and exclusive, original programming such as playing with
celebrities online and joining sponsored tournaments to win
prizes. And all Xbox 360 owners who sign on to Xbox Live for the
first time can kick-start their experience with a free month of the
full subscription service, which will let them experience the full
power of Xbox Live.
Unlock a New World of Digital Entertainment
With Xbox 360, gamers are always on. At its core, Xbox 360 is an
amazing game machine with a wide selection of titles. But it is
also an entertainment system that lets people power new
experiences. Every Xbox 360 system has built-in progressive scan
DVD movie, CD music and photo playback support. The integration
of Xbox Live into the system lets players receive game invites from
friends while they're watching movies or listening to music. And
every MP3 player, digital camera, and Windows XP PC plugs right into
the Xbox 360 USB 2.0 ports to stream music and photos through any
home-entertainment system.
Additionally, with built in Windows Media Center Extender functionality
in every system, Xbox 360 players can access recorded TV and digital
movies, music, video and photos stored on Windows XP Media Center
Edition 2005-based PCs .
Xbox 360 also opens the door to incredible, new high definition
entertainment. In addition to optimizing all Xbox 360 games for
high definition, Xbox 360 will stream high definition TV and movies
stored on Windows Media Center Edition PCs starting this holiday. As
high definition entertainment becomes more pervasive, Microsoft will
offer more ways to experience high definition TV and movies in any room
in the house, any way people want it. Whether dropping an opical disc
in a drive, streaming to Xbox 360, or through broadband distribution,
Xbox 360 will let players choose how to light up their HD content.
"Xbox 360 is a revolution that promises to ignite new levels of
creativity, community, and competition," Bach said. "Tonight's
unveiling is a signal to the world that this is our industry's greatest
moment."
