The winner (Microsoft Xbox 360 Pro System)

Member Name: LastLine

Product:	Microsoft Xbox 360 Pro System
Date:	05/06/09 (3 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Excellent game range and online services

Disadvantages: PAy to play online

I bought one of these consoles at the end of my third year at university, for no real reason other than the upcoming release of Halo 3. It came as part of a bundle with a number of games some of which I still own, and some of which have been sent away in exchange for others.

The console itself looks strangely out of place in today's home entertainment system, quite what made Microsoft think that a beige box was modern and catchy is beyond me. They implemented a faceplate exchange system so you could buy different coloured and patterened faceplates to make it fit in better, yet this never really took off for some reason and thus you end up stuck with beige, or if you pay a small premium, black. Still ultimately this is mostly cosmetic.

The console offers quite a lot of technical power behind it and even today several years after it's release is still showing off immense graphical power surprising us with what it can do graphically.

The Xbox 360 was also the first console to really make a success of internet gaming, and indeed online services at all on a console. Xbox Live offered friends services allowing us to keep in contact with people we actually enjoyed gaming with, encouraging community services. The only downside to this is the £5 a month subscription fee that Microsoft charge for it's use but a fee that does offer good value for money.

Summary: The best of the generation, great games and services with only minor setbacks.