Xbox 360 - It's Here & It's On

Our detailed impressions and obligatory photo overload is here, as Kikizo's Xbox 360s arrive. Has it really been worth all the hype? Let's see, in our definitive feature.

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It's pretty amazing how fast you can pull off a full-power, global console launch when you have limitless cash and this kind of supreme attention to detail. But, inevitable hardware shortages notwithstanding, Microsoft's cautious optimism has seemingly laughed in the face of the logistical nightmare that is Xbox 360's introduction to the planet, and the very final hardware package - which online gaming sites like Kikizo have been the first in the world to take delivery of this week - is generally very exciting and impressive.

It was a nervous day as we awaited the delivery. After all, as our stack of Xbox 360 reviewable games pile up, we need something to play it all on. In all territories, Microsoft has been co-ordinating and shipping out the final review kits to gaming media, after making some final last-minute updates to the debug system's software innards.

Xbox 360's hardware, from the main unit down to every last well-guarded cable, oozes exemplary high build quality that feels every bit as (if not more) expensive that its retail price, while the system's front end is near-flawless and certainly the best of its kind ever seen - trumping the PSP's ambitious software interface with a more integrated feel and a wonderfully central and dynamic online component - all with seamless style in every part of the system.

Our delivery consisted of a final premium retail pack and the final version of Microsoft's 'XDK' debug Xbox 360, which developers and the media use to play and test pre-release versions of software. A metal box of accessories was also thrown into the sizable courier delivery, which was difficult to carry up two flights of stairs - but somehow, the strength came from somewhere, maybe because the whole lot rested comfortably on our oversized belly during the arduous journey.

The metal accessories case seems to be an exclusive case sent out only as part of this reviewers' bundle, and simply emblazoned with the Xbox 360 logo, it's pretty darn cute. The combination code - which would have been a really tough three-digit number to work out if it wasn't already set to (you guessed it) 3,6,0, unlocks to reveal a bunch of stuff that goes with the debug machine.

Included in this special case is an extra wireless controller, controller charger cables, rechargeable battery packs (as opposed to the standard AA battery-holding battery packs that come bundled with the premium retail machine), full-size Media remote control, the wireless network adapter, Ethernet cable, accessories guide, and best of all, a keyring. Oh, and adorably, our very first two MGS final games for review as well - Kameo and Project Gotham 3, which as you can imagine, we've been playing solidly ever since.

The rest of the debug stuff in the plain old brown box that the delivery first turned up in is a huge amount of gear, just as with the original Xbox complete debug kit. Some more controllers, and best of all, every kind of Xbox 360 AV cable we could ever need. Possibly.

The already infamously oversized power supply unit, about the same size as the 'ghost trap' from Ghostbusters (as cleverly customised by one witty forum lurker in internetland, don't try it at home though, as paint plus electricity equals likely death) gets its own separate box. Interestingly (well, not really) the debug's power unit is slightly larger than the standard retail power unit, as seen in one of our photos.

Onto the main Xbox 360 retail package then, the first thing that came out of the big brown box. The wonderfully modest box design is sealed in four or five different places, so ask an adult for help with those scissors.

Opening out sideways, the first thing we see is the main Xbox 360 unit wrapped in multi-language warnings about not to give the plastic bag to any babies (probably - we couldn't read most of it... oh no wait, actually it just says "Welcome"), which also contains a quick-start guide that shows you what holes to put your cables in. We also have a manual which we definitely, definitely can't be bothered to read through, not even to make the process of making the difficult things work better; a warranty thing (not that we need it because we can probably just phone up Microsoft for a new one even if it means one less child is happy on Christmas Day).

You also get the other premium pack contents that most of you will know about - wireless controller, regular Media remote control (smaller and not quite as kick-ass as the big version controller, sold separately - see our comparison pic), Xbox Live voice communicator, and the all-in-one (probably most useful for most users) AV cable - it has both SDTV composite plugs and HDTV, you know, "better-version" RGB jacks. Fortunately our debug bundle also included a European SCART lead and also some sort of VGA lead as well. However, we don't seem to have any kind of S-Video option.

One cool thing about all the contents is that absolutely everything is styled with the consistency of Xbox 360 design in mind. Even the gold-plated (more expensive metal for better signal quality) AV cable plugs, and the SCART adapter, share the same custom 'inhaled' shape of the main unit. You also get an Xbox 360 sticker in the box - which is clearly a cool thing because it means you can stick it somewhere.

The main unit itself is really, really nice. The matt finish feels nice to touch and the inhaled design feels like stroking a beautiful girl. It's lighter than we expected to hold and every last part of the casing feels well-built and high quality. When switched on, it makes less noise than the first Xbox or a PS2, and takes just a little longer to power up for the first time, but then at least you get the boot-up sequence in sixty frames per second, which hey, is more than what most of the launch games can manage.

Seriously though, this white box of tricks looks really nice. Look at our nice, big pictures to see the crystal clear chrome work with the Xbox 360 logo cut into it; the open/eject and huge power button which make nice-feeling clicking noises when you press, the flap that you stick your USB devices into.

They've even had the decency to make the Microsoft logo nice and subtle, as you can see in one of the pictures. We weren't sure a Microsoft logo was even on the machine, but it is. It will do, until we work out where we can get a Sega faceplate to pretend it's a new Sega console at some stage.

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