Hello, the Duck is back to discuss the next console of the GCN, XBox, and PS2 generation, the hefty, yet powerful XBox.  This console was the very first video game console made by Microsoft and so the brand is a relative newcomer.  While the console, by virtue of its newness, did not feature classic series that had been around for a while like other consoles, it still gained quite a following, probably helped greatly by the fact that it had the extremely popular “Halo” series.  And now I present you with a little list of pros and cons of the XBox.  (I used Wikipedia for a little extra information.)

Pros

• The XBox has the best graphics of all the consoles of this time period.  They were indeed pretty good.
• It has “Halo”.  “Halo” is just awesome, and I don’t usually play M-rated games.
• It’s easier to use.  I haven’t played this console in several years, but I do remember it being a bit easier to use than the others.  The GameCube makes it hard to get to the options, and you can’t change disks while it’s on, and the PS2 (which I’ll get to in the next post) was a bit bizarre.  I love it, but it’s true.  The XBox actually lets you switch games while it’s on, and the games stop when you open the disk tray, unlike the PS2 (which I always found strangely unsettling, watching my games continue with no disk).
• And it has a hard drive!  Microsoft obviously took inspiration from computers, giving the XBox a hard drive (according to Wikipedia, it’s the first console that had one) so you can save all your files right there on the console.  So no annoying memory cards!
• As far as I can tell, this console is the best for gamers who like more mature games (there seems to be an abundance of M-rated games), which could be a pro or a con depending on what you like.  I’ll leave it as a pro, as I believe that’s one thing many liked about the console.
• The XBox has XBox Live for playing games online, which I suppose is good, though I never did it.

Cons

• On the other hand, you have to pay to use XBox Live.
• It’s really noisy, the noisiest console I have.  My goodness, is it just mine or is this thing loud?  I turn it on and RRRRRRR!!!!
• Now, maybe my console started to have issues because of that move that upset my first Cube, but this console had issues the fastest of all of them.  The Cube was probably four or five years old when it started to act up.  The XBox had just turned one.  It still works, but it has had more issues than it should have by that age.  It was just a toddler, for crying out loud!  Or was it an infant?…
• It’s huge.  I mean seriously, it’s enormous.  And heavy.  It’s just a beast.  It’s a monster truck of consoles.  On the other hand, it’s great for whacking bandits on the head to keep them from snatching the PS2…

So there you have a little summary of the XBox.  Powerful and convenient, with its great graphics and hard drive, but also noisy and heavy.  I believe many liked it for its more mature games, though that can be a bit of a turnoff for people not into mature games as much and is a big reason for me and my XBox not being as close as I was with my other consoles.  During my next post, I have saved the best for last, where I’ll be discussing my darling PS2.

The BoxDuck