Xbox Core Console USM

The advanced components inside Xbox make it the undisputed powerhouse among current game consoles. A 733 MHz Intel main processor and 233 MHz graphics processor from industry leader nVidia deliver photorealistic graphics in real time. A cavernous hard drive stores saved games and characters, making flimsy memory sticks obsolete. The built-in Ethernet port enables super-fast multiplayer online gaming over a broadband Internet connection. Four game controller ports allow you and three of your buddies to play at the same time, or you can use them for other peripherals such as gamepads, light guns, and who knows what else?

But Xbox has more going for it than fancy innards. The Xbox's Windows-based operating system is a breeze to program on, earning it grateful accolades from Electronic Arts, Infogrames, THQ, and other game producers. The less time developers spend struggling with the operating system means the more time they spend tweaking gameplay, which ultimately results in better games. And games are what it's all about.

Well, games and the fun of owning a green-glowing game console that looks like it came from Darth Vader's living room.--Mike Fehlauer

The Xbox Video Game System with Controller S includes the Xbox console, the popular "S" style Microsoft controller, and all necessary cables. A DVD kit (sold separately) is required to access DVD playback ability.

Firstly, the graphics. I know you've heard this one before, but they truely are superb. The xbox is technically superior to both the other systems, no one can deny that. (Xbox has a 733 Mhz CPU, PS2 is 200 Mhz). Obviously, graphics do NOT make a great games, but they are something to be noted.

Secondly, the games. Believe it or not, Xbox has good games besides Halo. In action games, there are Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell, Rainbow Six 3, amd Ghost Recon, MGS:2, Mech Assault, Ninja Gaiden, Prince of Persia, etc. Good sports games too, including EA sports series, XSN sports series, and ESPN sports series. Racing games are excellent, with Project Gotham Racing 2 and Rallisport Challange 2. There are RPG's like Bauldors gate and Morrowind.

So the games are good, but is there anything else?

Yes. Online gaming. Microsoft made a system that I truely believe is superior to even online gaming on the PC. The gaming is on one serivice. This has more benifits than you may think. Say your plaing Ninja Gaiden, but your friend wants youto join his Splinter Cell game. No problem, he just sends you a message telling you to join his game. Microsoft's online gaming (Xbox Live!) also includes tournaments, rankings, lists of your friends, and of course, voice communication.

But why choose Xbox over the other systems? The gamecube is for people who want high quality single player games that are not online. If you are a solitary gamer, go for gamecube. PS2 has a hell of a lot of games, but most of it's exclusives are RPGs. If you MUST have RPGs, PS2 is worth having, but besides that it has few great games. If you don't fall into these two previous catagories, I recommend Xbox to you.


A Great Overall Console!   December 25, 2004
33 out of 35 found this review helpful

Let me just start off by saying that I own all three popular consoles (gamecube, ps2, and xbox), so I know what I am talking about. Every console has its plusses and minus's. Even Xbox. I am very tired of reading online reviews about consoles where they say "xbox rocks" or "ps2 is the best" or "gamecube is the king of consoles". Its very immature and you would be suprised how many people depend on reviews like that to choose which console they want for christmas, or their birthday. So let me tell you that this is not a console bashing at all. I am just going to state all the plusses and minus's of each console, and let people decide on which one to choose.

Gamecube pros:

1.Has some of the best multiplayer games around (mario power tennis, mario party 6, super smash brothers melee, etc.)
2.Has four controller ports
3.Has decent graphics and sound
4.the lightest out of all 3 consoles
5.Has some great rpg's

Gamecube cons:

1.Controller layout isn't so great (for example, I don't like how the "C" button controls from the n64 have been changed into a analog stick)
2.1st and 3rd person shooters suck ass
3.Not a very good library of games
4.No online gaming

ps2 pros (only the first and second generation ps2's, not the new design, I think those things are a pieces of sh*t):

1.Not the lightest of the three, but way lighter that the xbox (I would know, I weighed them. I know, I have way too much time on my hands)
2.Has the largest selection of games out of all three
3.Has the best 1st and 3rd person titles out of all three (grand theft auto series, metal gear solid series, etc. Sure, it doesn't have halo 2, but that's only one game, compared to how many the playstation2 has?)
4.This is only my opinion, but I think the ps2 has the best layout of buttons on the controllers, and the controllers are just the right size
5.Free online gaming
6.built-in dvd player

ps2 cons:

1.Only two controller ports, which means you'll have to pay an extra $30 for a multitap to play multitap compatible games, which there aren't too many of
2.No built-in memory storage, which to me, isn't a huge deal, because $20 is not that expensive
3.Has the worst graphics of the three
4.Gets those really annoying disk read errors, which I have not had a problem with with the other consoles. But if it does happen to you, just complain to sony, and they will fix it up for you for free. I did that to mine, and I haven't experienced the problem ever again.

Xbox pros:

1.has also the best 1st and 3rd person shooters, but not as many as the ps2
2.Has 4 controller ports, and better multiplayer gamest than the ps2 to top it off
3.Has built-in hard drive for memory storage right out of the box so you don't have to pay for memory cards. However, there is a con mixed up in this, the built-in memory storage does not last forever, so then you still have to buy memory cards, which cost more than the ps2's and the gamecube's
4.has the best racing titles
5.Has a built-in dvd player, just like the ps2's. When I found this out, I really did start to think that microsoft was really biting off of sony, but whatever, no big deal.

Xbox cons:

1.Built-in memory storage does not last forever
2.While I do agree the xbox controller layout is decent, it still is harder to get used to than ps2's or gamecube's
3.The heaviest out of the three, which isn't a huge deal, especially if you don't travel a lot.
4.You have to pay a monthly fee for online gaming, which sucks because the console costs enough anyway.

I really hope my review helped you in making the right decision over which console to choose. I love each console because all three have provided me hours and hours of endless gaming. Merry Christmas and happy gaming!


Excellent system - Over 400 games to choose from!   April 1, 2004
Blwessels (United States)
29 out of 36 found this review helpful

This is an excellent system with great graphics and a huge amount of great games to choose from. In my family there are four of us. Two adults and two teenagers. We have found many games that interest all of us and have invested many hours playing. We have yet to dent the memory on this thing even though we have dozens of games saved on the hard drive. You don't need to buy extra memory at all.

We also have Dance Dance Revolution and Music Mixer which is a Karoke game and it's like having your own Karoke machine which inspired us to copy and save many music cds and still it hasn't even touched the memory on this.

Some of the games we love are Halo, Splinter Cell, Star Wars Knights of the Republic, Buffy 1 and 2, Munch's Oddysee, Gunvalkyrie, Indiana Jones, Morrowind, Prince of Persia, Genma Onimushi etc..I could go on and on because we have many games and have enjoyed playing them time and again. There is something for everybody.

Xbox currently has over 400 games available and many more are in the works so the argument that they don't have many games just isn't plausible. You can go to Xbox.com to see for yourself what they have.