When news first broke regarding PS3 and Xbox 2, the most conservative estimates for the release of these super-powered, next generation consoles was mid to late 2006, but more likely 2007. Well, Microsoft has beaten Sony to the starting line, as well as flying in the face of what the industry thought was possible, by delivering the future now - sure, it's the end of 2005, but Microsoft has succeeded in launching Xbox 360 in 2005 nevertheless - and what a launch it is!

The Xbox 360 itself is a real beauty, the redesigned Xbox Live service is set to revolutionise online gaming all over again, as it did with Xbox, and the line-up of 15 games in the UK is arguably the strongest selection of titles ever assembled for a console launch. However, there is one thing that has spoiled the launch for many ardent gamers, both hardcore Xbox fans and newcomers alike - the tremendous lack of units on the street!

But I Want One Now!

Indeed, I've suffered from the stress myself and to be honest I'm very lucky to have got my hands on a Core Pack and the basics of a Headset Communicator and Hard Drive, the latter of which was secured for me by a very good friend of mine who works at a popular games retailer. As the end of November approached, it became clear that the rumours of supply shortage were not, as some suspected, a ploy by Microsoft to hype the console and encourage pre-orders. The pre-order I placed on 20th September was far too late, and it was only through perseverance and good fortune that one of the fifteen stores I tried in my home town had a few Core Packs left that had not been snapped up by pre-orders. And so on 1st December, while many people were queuing up in the driving rain for a midnight launch, or even for the whole night for a 9am opening, I was snugly sitting at home, safe in the knowledge that I'd be able to pick one up the next day.

Hello! It's Dexter here - giving you my thoughts as and when on the sidelines, as if I was some kind of editor, inserting witty remarks! What? Anyway, it's all well and good at this point for Geoff - he had an Xbox 360 at his house. The courier completely drove past my house and, to my horror, on the 2nd December I came home to a message. The 360 would be delivered on the Monday. Now that was a long weekend…

The reason for the shortage of consoles is simple - Microsoft set themselves a very ambitious launch date and while they have managed to successfully launch before Christmas, the trade off was not having the facilities to manufacture enough consoles within the time available. They haven't done this on purpose, nor did they set out to upset a lot of gamers - they knew there wouldn't be enough consoles available, but they also knew that getting a pre-Christmas launch would pay off in the long term, because they needed to get their new machine out on the streets and get people talking about it. And in that they have succeeded, as there has been a tremendous buzz about it in the media, from the daily newspapers and the main news channels right down to local radio.

So, while there are a lot of disappointed gamers out there still trying their best to get hold of an Xbox 360, Microsoft has succeeded in getting a lot of publicity and raising awareness of their new machine, which will undoubtedly pay dividends as the next batches of consoles become available, some before Christmas and many more in January 2006 and beyond. And although it's little consolation to those Xbox owners who haven't got the 360 they wanted at launch, rest assured that this 2005 launch will go a long way to securing Microsoft's role in the next generation and making the console a financial success sooner than it otherwise would have been. And that is a good thing for everyone.

You Sexy Beast

Right, with that out of the way, let's take a look at the machine itself. It's still quite large (and pretty heavy too!), but the Xbox 360 is a sleek, subtly curvaceous machine that does look nicely futuristic and will take pride of place in any living room. The slots at the front of the console (two for memory cards and two USB ports for connecting wired controllers, play & charge kits and other USB devices) are hidden behind panels, so they are hidden whether they're used or not, giving the front a very tidy and uniform look. The removable 20GB hard drive fits securely onto the side of the console with a single click, and you can detach it any time you wish, to take round to a friend's house complete with your game saves, custom soundtracks and anything else you've stored on there, such as pictures, videos, demos and downloadable game content.

Time To Get Technical

While it's clear that an unprecedented amount of thought has gone into the physical design of the Xbox 360 and the placement of its various ports, we're not here for a machine that looks nice - we're here for next generation games. And Xbox 360 is set to deliver mind-blowing features in all of its dedicated releases.

The Xbox 360 central processing unit (CPU) makes use of three separate core processors that run at an incredible 3.2 GHz each - and the launch titles thus far only utilise the power of one of those three processors, meaning that stunning titles such as Perfect Dark Zero and Kameo: Elements Of Power are just a taster of the delights to come. The custom ATI graphics processor runs at 500 MHz, allowing Xbox 360 to use more than four times as many polygons as Xbox, and more than four times the number of pixels per seconds, making for superior in-game visuals the likes of which gamers have never seen. The 512MB RAM is also four times as powerful, and it's designed in a flexible way that allows developers to maximise its potential as they see fit, rather than being partitioned in a way that limits choices. There are also 48 unique graphics engines available, meaning that developers have a wide range of choices for creating stunning effects for a limitless range of gameplay situations and scenarios.

In layman's terms, all this means that you're going to get games that look and play like no other games that have come before, with a wealth of gameplay features that couldn't have been done on previous systems, as well as enhanced AI, for both allies and enemies, that takes gameplay to new levels.

With the HD (High Definition) era of TV fast approaching the masses (high quality HDTVs are lowering in price all the time), Xbox 360 is ready - all games are authored for 720p or 1080i and optimised for 16:9 widescreen viewing ratio. You don't have to buy an HDTV (I'm using my faithful old 29" Sony, and the graphics look magnificent), but when you inevitably do, every Xbox 360 game will look even more stunning.

It's worth mentioning that HDTV has been around for years. See that hunk of junk CRT monitor there in your corner? That is an HDTV. All you need is a VGA connecter lead and you've got a beautiful crisp image running at 720p. That LCD monitor with 8ms response time that you've seen cheap will be more than sufficient too. In fact, it will look beautiful. The lower the ms, the better it will look - all you need is that VGA connecter lead and you have HD graphics at a fraction of the cost.

Full USB connectivity on the front and back of the machine means that you can connect a range of devices, such as music players and digital cameras, to your Xbox 360, to download music and pictures onto your hard drive, plus you can stream your PC media directly across your network onto your Xbox 360 as well.

The Xbox 360 is now fully wireless (apart from the display and power leads - but you weren't expecting wireless electricity just yet, were you?) meaning that you can connect your Xbox 360 to a wireless network (the purchase of an adapter is needed for this) and up to four wireless controllers can be hooked up to the console, with a handy button on the front that you press to sense each controller and allocate it a unique frequency that doesn't interfere with any other wireless devices you might have in your home.

He's right too. My Premium Pack came with one of these as standard. Wireless pads may not seem that much of a revolution on paper, but to be able to hold a controller without the weight of a lead feels and looks amazing. Also, connecting the live headset to your controller essentially means that you can have a wireless conversation. No, the headset isn't wireless, but you can still walk and talk thanks to the wireless controllers. You can also turn your console on and off thanks to the special middle X button on the wireless controllers. If you want to be fancy you can get an infrared Media Remote (for a limited time, a scaled down media remote comes with the Premium Pack) - which just completes the wireless feeling.

Finally, the sound capabilities of Xbox 360 are as impressive as all the other aspects. For starters, custom soundtracks are now available for any game at any time, whether offline or online. Even in games such as Kameo: Elements of Power, which has one of the best orchestral soundtracks I've ever heard in a game, if you don't like the music, then stick on your soundtrack and you can kick ass to Iron Maiden, Britney Spears, or even your Lord of the Rings movie soundtrack! Similarly, you can play soundtracks while online in any game too, to get the adrenaline pumping even more.

The sound outputs at 48 kHz, making Xbox 360's audio capabilities equivalent to the best DVD movies you can think of, while the usage of up to 320 individual compression channels means that far more ambient sounds within a game can be used, making the gaming experience more immersing than ever before and allowing for an almost endless selection of background sounds to be heard as you play - all fully encoded for 5.1 Digital Surround Sound so you can hear exactly where every noise is coming from. While graphics are still on a flat screen (and will be for sometime to come, I imagine!) the sound is well and truly into the arena of virtual reality.

Drum Roll, Please…

So, what actually happens when you hook up your Xbox 360? A word of caution before you do - that brick-sized power supply (yes, it really is that big!) needs plenty of ventilation, as does the console itself, so make sure it isn't covered or blocked by other surfaces. A lot of the faults that people have been reporting on their Xbox 360 units are caused by simply overheating and resolved by giving the console and power pack space to breathe.

Anyway, back to the drum roll as I pressed the power button and watched the futuristically understated Xbox 360 logo flash onto my TV for the first time. A painless process that took less than ten minutes saw my Xbox Live account primed and ready for use with Xbox 360. If you don't have an account, you get Silver membership free, which allows you to do the basics of creating your Gamertag (online identity) and profile, storing your Game Achievements (more on this later) and checking leaderboards, etc. However, Xbox Live is so deeply integrated into Xbox 360 that if you don't have a full account with online play available, then you're missing out on half the joy and gaming pleasure of Xbox 360 - the online parts are so versatile and varied that you haven't truly got the full next generation experience without it. So get broadband installed, even if it means moving out of the sticks and into the big smoke!

People who are new to Xbox Live receive a free month for simply signing up. If money is tight (it'd have to be pretty tight at £40 for a year's subscription though!) you could always stick to your Silver account, which is completely free, and wait for some free weekends that grant free accounts with online play as a nice gesture. Silver accounts can also play pay-to-play MMORPG's when one eventually gets released. Here's to hoping that World of Warcraft gets a 360 debut.

Your New Best Friend

Once up and running, you're presented with the Xbox Dashboard, which gives you full access to all Xbox 360 related options - everything from your Friends List and media content to system settings and your user profile. And it looks lovely - really lovely. The Dashboard is sensibly divided into segments, so you can quickly and easily access any area of Xbox 360 functionality that you desire. Now don't panic, this is still nowhere near as complicated as a PC - indeed, the Dashboard is a like a very simple version of Windows, simple, yet powerful.

Your Xbox Live section gives you the basics, starting with your profile, which displays your Gamertag, picture (selected from one of dozens, with more becoming available all the time), Rep, Gamerscore and Zone. I'll cover these a little later. Here you can also see if you have any new messages, see how many friends are online and access the Xbox Live Marketplace, for a wealth of downloadable goodies, such as demos, trailers, new game content (levels, weapons, cars, skins and much more), plus themes for your dashboard and even things like pictures and photos of games.

Coming onto the Games section and Microsoft has introduced a truly excellent feature that is a stroke of pure inspiration - a little thing called Game Achievements. Every Xbox 360 game has a number of achievements for the gamer to succeed with, and these can be anything from 10 to 100 or more - for example, Project Gotham 3 has 20, while Perfect Dark Zero has 50. These achievements can be whatever the developer has chosen, such as just progressing through the single player mode, racking up a certain number of victories online, or even things as specific as getting a number of head shot kills in PDZ. Winning achievements gives you points towards your Gamerscore total, and shows just how good a gamer you are! This adds in a fantastic competitive edge to single player games and encourages gamers to invest time with their favourites to win all the achievements and then show off their profile with pride! What a brilliant idea. In this section you can also see a list of all the 360 games you've ever played, access the Xbox Live Arcade and access all the game demos and trailers you've downloaded from the Marketplace.

The Xbox Live Arcade is like a trip down memory lane for some. There are demos of every Arcade game that is available for full purchase with XBL Points, which you can buy from game retailers. Games up there include classics such as Smash TV and Gauntlet; the demos offer a taste, whereas the full version sometimes let you play these retro classics over Live with a friend. So I'm just waiting for Streets of Rage now and my gaming experience will be complete!

The Media section gives you unprecedented access to media on a console - to music, pictures and video, and using the MediaCenter connectivity you can listen to music or look at pictures that are stored on your PC, as long as it's connected to the network and running Windows XP. Stunning! There are even advanced options, such as watching live and recorded TV and on-demand movies, with plenty more to come.

Finally you have the System section, where you can change all your system settings such as display and audio, access your memory devices (hard drive and memory cards) to transfer files, check your network settings and register computers to connect to from your 360. Another feature well worth mentioning is the Family settings, where you can limit what each member of the family can do on the console.

No Need To Kiss Your Social Life Goodbye

That's right - simply replace it with a new virtual social life! Xbox Live has truly evolved almost beyond comprehension (and promises to continue to evolve throughout the life of Xbox 360) and this is all accessed from the dashboard. There are now four gaming Zones set up - Recreation for those of you that just want to play for fun, Pro for the serious competitors, Family for children and family friendly gaming (no swearing please!) and Underground for trash talkers and underhand gaming - anything goes in this zone! This is such a great feature and it means that you're much less likely to have a bad gaming experience if you choose the Zone that's best suited to your gaming philosophy.

You also now have a gaming Rep, consisting of five partially coloured stars, which goes up and down depending on the feedback you receive from other players, and it's now much easier to send good or bad feedback too, so you have the incentive to play nice and give good feedback to people that you enjoy playing with, in the hope that they'll do the same for you.

The Friends List is still here, but now you can invite people to private chat sessions while playing any game, online or off, or even watching a DVD! So you could watch a film in synchronisation with a friend on the other side of the planet and laugh and chat about it together, play through a single player game and offer each other advice as you go, or even just natter away while racing around PGR3 tracks or fragging in a PDZ Deathmatch. Awesome.

This is often overlooked, but you can actually set up private chats with your friends over Live, via the dashboard. You can talk to your friends whatever you are doing, as long as you are in the private chat channel. So you could be playing single player of Kameo, while your other mate is ripping music to his Hard Drive. Now that IS awesome!

Keep Your Hands Looking Young

If you're a serious gamer then you'll doubtlessly have suffered from sore joints, cramp and general fatigue after extensive gaming sessions. While I'm sure it's possible to get this on Xbox 360, the new controller is by far and away the most ergonomically beautiful piece of hardware I've ever held between my digits. It really is lovely - just the right size, with all the buttons accessible and exactly where you want them. It's a solid, high quality bit of kit too, so don't expect it to wear out or break any time soon. The thumbsticks feel just right, the buttons are all responsive and the triggers are pressure sensitive, allowing for games to make use of features, such as gradual application of acceleration and breaking, or even varying the zoom magnification on a weapon, as used in Perfect Dark Zero, simply by how far in you pull the trigger in. Those awkward black and white buttons have now been replaced with two PS2-style shoulder buttons, giving you twice the buttons to work with while still keeping both thumbs on the thumbsticks.

The crowning achievement with this however is the glowing 360 button in the centre; it has four green rings, only one of which is lit, to denote which controller you have (and the rings around the power button light up according to how many controllers are in use, or which one is currently in control when setting up a game), so you'll never be confused about which wireless controller is yours. Pressing the 360 button at any time, whether playing a game, watching a cut scene, listening to music or even watching a DVD, brings up a cut down version of the dashboard, which slides in from the side and only takes up half the screen, as the game/DVD/music carries on playing regardless. From here you can see your score and status (if you're appearing Online, Away, Busy or Offline), you can access messages to accept game invites, check your Friends List, activate the Private Chat mode, change your personal settings and change your soundtrack options here too. You can also disable notifications, which when enabled tell you as Friends come online and send you messages, even when watching a DVD - handy or intrusive? You decide!

Just take a moment to think about all that - instead of having to learn the options menus for each game, you can now access online invitations and soundtracks the same way for every game, no longer wandering around options menus to find the well-hidden soundtrack options, or wading through menus to send a game invite. It's just so well done. From here you can also head back to the full Dashboard or switch profiles, and you even get a warning to tell you that this will end your game or DVD before you confirm that this is what you want to do.

It's also worth mentioning that you don't need a DVD remote to play DVDs on Xbox 360 - you can use your controller as a remote and although the full DVD functionality isn't available, the on screen menu that appears gives you all you need for scene selecting, pausing, rewinding and so on - a really nice bonus.

What's For Launch?

Well, now you know just how wonderful Xbox 360 is, let's take a look at the launch titles on offer. I've heard criticism that it's not that strong a line-up, to which I reply, "Have you even played half these games?!" Sure, there are a few games that are slightly enhanced counterparts of current generation titles, but there are a number of very strong Xbox 360 exclusive titles too, and each one is absolutely awesome!

Many people have questioned Microsoft's wisdom in purchasing Rare, especially as they only managed to release two (undeniably excellent) Xbox titles, Grabbed By The Ghoulies and Conker: Live & Reloaded. However, all those naysayers have no choice but to shut their mouths - that is until their jaws drop with amazement. There is no doubt that Perfect Dark Zero and Kameo: Elements Of Power are not only two of the very best launch titles, but they're two of the best games ever made - PDZ rivals Halo 2 and Half-Life 2 for playability, both in the single player and multiplayer arena, while Kameo is the first true competition for the Legend of Zelda games since The Ocarina of Time was released. Then there's Bizzare Creations' gem, Project Gotham 3, the next generation version of an already fantastic racing game, and it never ceases to impress and entertain.

The other big hitters, to my mind, come in the form of Condemned: Criminal Origins, Quake 4, Call Of Duty 2 and Amped 3. While Quake 4 and Call Of Duty 2 are admittedly PC conversions, they're both graphically stupendous and make for intense and compelling gameplay experiences, the fullness of which could only have been realised in the console arena on Xbox 360. Condemned is a surprise hit and while it's not the longest or most varied game ever, it makes up for it by being one of the most visually impressive, atmospheric and just plain scary games, while Amped 3 is an absolute sled-load of fun, from the moment the quirky intro rolls to the final of seven huge mountains, set across a series of locations packed to the brim with entertainment and variety.

Moving on, the sports scene is represented well, with Madden NFL 06, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 06, NBA Live 06 and FIFA 06: Road To FIFA World Cup, all courtesy of Electronic Arts and all sporting next generation visuals to complement the excellent gameplay to be found in their current generation versions. Except for FIFA 06, which is a 360 exclusive and it's great to have a footie title at launch for those gamers that live for their soccer!

Rounding up the line-up we have four varied titles that are again spruced up versions of current generation games - Tony Hawk's American Wasteland and GUN from Activision, Need For Speed: Most Wanted from EA and Peter Jackson's King Kong from Ubi Soft. These are all very different games, each visually enhanced to take advantage of at least some of the 360's power, and while they aren't as impressive as the dedicated launch titles, they encompass some of the most popular genres around and are all worthy purchases if they're the type of game you enjoy.

Looking back over that list, there really isn't a single filler game or below par title. Sure, if you hate sports games then you're not going to be interested in the four on offer, but there's no disputing the quality of the gameplay and visuals in every one of these launch titles, neither is there any disputing of the range of genres covered and the groundbreaking nature of Microsoft's three big hitters.

Best.

Launch.

Ever.

Don't overlook what's just round the corner either. Dead or Alive 4, with a Halo Spartan as a playable character, Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, the beautiful looking first person RPG, some nice relaxing multiplayer fun with the upcoming Top Spin 2 and who could forget the likes of Gears of War, Huxley, Too Human, Prey, Final Fantasy and many more.

The Future's Bright - The Future's Green

Having owned my Xbox 360 for two weeks now, I can honestly say that I've had an absolute blast with all the games I've tried out thus far. In the last two weeks I've been playing Perfect Dark Zero, Kameo: Elements of Power, Project Gotham Racing 3, Amped 3, plus Half-Life 2 and Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy for Xbox - with premium titles like that still being released, it's definitely not over for Microsoft's black box just yet and if you didn't manage to get a 360 at launch, then get yourself a copy of those two games, which will more than keep you entertained until the shelves are restocked.

I love everything about Xbox 360; the look, the power, the amazing next generation games, the wonderful dashboard interface, the media connectivity, the enhanced Xbox Live features, the new Marketplace, the Zones, the ratings system, the Game Achievements - and the best part about this is, I know that it's just the beginning and come this time next year, the Christmas 2006 releases will completely blow the current visuals out of the water. Not to mention the massively multiplayer games on the way, such as gangs versus police, role playing games and ever first person shooters.

There's no doubt that the future of gaming is here now, so if you aren't one of the lucky ones that managed to grab one of the launch consoles, then keep on hassling your suppliers until you get one, because a new golden era in gaming has just begun, and anyone who has ever even remotely enjoyed playing video games needs to be a part of it.

Reviewed by Geoff Holland for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).