The Xbox of Microsoft is a video Game console left to the the United States on November 15th 2001. Microsoft takes with it its first steps in this highly competing sector.
A major difference with a PC is that Xbox can in the beginning carry out only programs coming from a medium to the format owner Microsoft. This format is readable only by the reader DVD of Xbox. To note that this limitation could be exceeded by a student of the MIT, which explained of it the principle within the framework of a publication.
Initially announced like a console entirely devoted to the Video game, Microsoft seeks to extend the field of Xbox towards an interactive multi-media station on line. Microsoft, by doing this, wants to offer a first idea of the interactive Télé, or ITV.
The material
The principal Processeur is an Intel Pentium III modified given rhythm with 733 MHz. The fact that contrary to PC, the processor is static (as on any console, it cannot be changed) made it possible to optimize the API console for this processor in particular.The console is equipped with 64 Mo of Random access memory unified (divided by the various components) of technology GDR. The unified memory makes it possible the developers to be able to choose themselves the quantity of memory which they want to allot to the various parts of their application (program, its, image, video, etc). Generally the consoles have three types of memory, each one being specialized in a field.
The Graphics processor is manufactured by nVidia. Name of NV2a, this processor approaches the capacities of the GeForce 3 of the same manufacturer. This chart allows the Pixel Shading as well as the Vertex Shading, it can apply a Anti-aliasing, it manages the Bump-mapping or the Multi-texturing. The sound system is also manufactured by nVidia. It is able to generate a space sound (in “ three dimensions ”) thanks to technologies Dolby® DIGITAL 5.1 and AC3.
DVD is the principal support of the plays of Xbox. The latter thus makes it possible to read DVD if it is equipped with the adapter (connecting in a free port lever) Infrarouge and remote control which goes with. There exist to date four different readers (Philips, Thomson, Samsung and LG-Hitachi.) and two versions in addition to Samsung and Philips.
New elements
Microsoft proposes for the first time on a video Game console a Hard drive integrated. Others consoles offered already an hard drive, but as a separate element. The capacity of this hard drive for the first version is of 8 or 10 Go of mark Western Digital or Seagate. It allows in particular:- to safeguard a very great number of parts,
- to record musics there to be able to listen to them in the plays which allow this option,
- to optimize the loadings by using like buffer memory a partition of the disc envisaged for this purpose.
- from the exit of the Xbox Live, the hard drive is also used to store the many possible remote loadings with the Live .
A Carte network Ethernet is also integrated which makes it possible to play in network and to reach Internet. The service of online game is called the Xbox Live and it makes it possible to play and face other players on Xbox in the whole world. This service is available since March 14th 2003 in Europe. Thanks to the chart network, it is also possible to connect several Xbox between them, provided that they are relatively close from/to each other and to have a cable Ethernet, even without having a subscription Xbox Live.
Peripherals
Xbox is equipped at the origin with 4 ports for as much with levers. These ports levers, are neither more nor less than ports USB 1 modified in their aspect and where can connect accessories such as keys USB or keyboards (which work with a not modified console, but only on the menu of the console or the play Phantasy Star Online concerning the keyboard).-
the levers, which are used for to control and play play.
- memory cards, rather practical, because even if the console is equipped with a large hard drive, it is sometimes more useful to transport than its memory card rather only all its console.
- the remote control DVD + the Infra-red receiver , without this you will not be able to read the DVD (the receiver is in fact a Dongle making it possible to resolve the function of reading of the DVD).
- microphone-helmet, is used for mainly to communicate when one is connected to the Xbox Live. Certain plays also exploit the microphone for the Voice recognition (ex: Rainbow six 3, SWAT)
- the cables Ethernet:
- abundant Stealing S of control for the sets of races also left on Xbox. The price and the functions (vibration,…) from each model vary according to the manufacturers.
- many the stick of arcade is also available on Xbox. They reproduce all the buttons of the levers on a similar base at the boundaries of arcade. In this category we can also include the largest terminal of arcade (larger than the console itself) which is only used for to direct the robot of Steel Battalion .
Sales
To give the means of its ambitions, Microsoft presents the most powerful console of the market. But its high price, 479 € at its beginnings, slows down the initial sales vis-a-vis a competition which privileges the quality of the plays to the console itself. Since, Microsoft largely re-examined the price of its console to the fall (in particular to be more competing) and Xbox cost nothing any more but 79 €. End 2007, it is not sold any more, it because of the place increasingly important catch by his/her little sister, from now on installed well, the Xbox 360.According to the annual report of 2005 of Microsoft, 22 million Xbox was provided to the retailers.
Plays
Microsoft proposes the fact that Xbox is the console having had the broadest game library for its launching. This being explained partly by the fact that the architecture of the console is almost identical to that of the computers PC using the operating system Windows and that it is programmed by using an optimized version of the API DirectX, standard for the development of the plays Windows CE known ground allows the Développeur S having already worked on plays PC to be effective quickly. In the same way, PC/Xbox conversions are largely simplified.Among the titles headlights available to the launching of the console, let us quote: Dead gold Alive 3 , Oddworld 3 , and Halation . The list of plays Xbox obviously increased with the wire of time.
The operating system
Xbox resting on an architecture close to that of a PC, it is possible to install another Operating system that the adapted version of Microsoft Windows delivered: Linux. That makes it possible to have a PC lower costs, since Microsoft sells Xbox at cost price to start sales of licenses on the plays.Only the software signed electronically by Microsoft could in the beginning being used on Xbox, this limitation could be decontaminated by the developers of the Xbox-Linux project via the establishment of a " exploit" (more commonly known under the name of " faille"). Those explain why Xbox-Linux is perfectly legal, and the fact that Microsoft - prompt with the lawsuits - did not engage any legal procedure against the project tends to confirm this fact. In any event, these Xbox were sold, not yielded under license and the right of the property (except when it is about intellectual property, and still within the only framework of the Royalty and not of the Copyright) formally defines the property as the right to use and deceive of the had thing.
After the port of Linux, FreeBSD and NetBSD were related to Xbox.
Xbox is able to make turn of many emulators to play plays Sega, Nintendo or even Atari. It can even give the weather, make streaming, indicate the films which leave to the cinema close to on your premise.
References
See too
Internal bonds
External bonds
- Official site
- Page of Xbox plays on the site [[Microsoft]]
Simple: Xbox Zh-yue: Xbox
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