Xbox 360: information overload

The Internet was hit by the kind of excitement usually reserved for a new Star Wars trailer last night, when the Xbox 360 was officially unveiled. Microsoft dropped a motherload of new information via a number of different channels.

First, the confirmed details -- the final console is the design that Crave previewed, it will feature Xbox Live and high definition compatibility out of the box and it uses wireless controllers as standard. Expect network support to increase as well, as Microsoft wants us all to upgrade to Media Centers -- so 802.11g will be included as standard, you can stream media across from your PC, and there are USB ports for connecting your portable music player. And ending months of worry among gamers, it will come with a hard drive, in the form of a detachable and upgradeable 20GB model.

As for the speculation, it will definitely launch in America and Europe 'this holiday season', but we suspect that this means America first around November time, with a UK release shortly after. Microsoft will also want to get a good lead on Sony before the PS3 release, so expect a relatively low price point around the £200-£250 mark.

If this hasn't sated your appetite for the Xbox 360, Crave has spent all morning trawling the Net for the best stuff. New specs, shots and videos have seemingly poured out of the Net's every orifice overnight, with both an official site launch, where you can preview the console in 3D, and an official video from Microsoft's viral marketing site, OurColony. 

The video is a slick affair, but one that gives a great insight into the new console. J Allard, Executive Producer of Xbox 360, heavily promotes the community aspect of the new Xbox Live service, which will be free and integrated into all games. Despite describing the basic gesture of the Xbox 360 as 'double concavity… derived from the idea of an inhale', (the American's obviously haven't seen Nathan Barley yet), the OurColony video gives an unprecedented look at the console, its features, and an explicit look at the console's innards. It's even water-cooled...Oh yes.

The first in-game Xbox 360 images have also found their way onto the Net, including the new Dead or Alive and Test Drive games. While the images are not quite enough to blow us away, the promise is that the console is four times as powerful as the original Xbox. Ever since Sony's PS2 and its 'Emotion Engine', we've been a bit sceptical about power claims, but the prospect of Halo 3 in high definition has us weak at the knees.

The more mass market-friendly face of the launch takes place on MTV tonight at 8.00 PM, but we caught the US preview, and it's far less interesting. Hosted by Elijah Wood with music by The Killers, the only things we deduced from it were:

• Celebrities playing videogames is the television equivalent of a car crash.
• The Killers are pretty cool.
• Microsoft really missed a trick by not dressing up Elijah Wood as Master Chief for the duration of the show.

Expect regular updates on the console's progress here on Crave until launch, by which time we'll all be ready to explode with excitement. -GC

Sources: Xbox-Scene, Joystiq, Games are Fun