The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft, and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles.
Some major features of the Xbox 360 are its integrated Xbox Live service that allows players to compete online, download arcade games, game demos, trailers, TV shows and movies and its Windows Media Center multimedia capabilities. The Xbox 360 also offers region specific access to third-party media streaming services such as Netflix in the USA or Sky TV and BT Vision in the UK.
The Xbox 360 was officially unveiled on MTV on May 12, 2005, with detailed launch and game information divulged later that month at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3). The console sold out completely upon release in all regions except in Japan, [4] [5] [6] and, as of January 2010, there are over 39 million Xbox 360 consoles worldwide. The Xbox 360 is currently available in two configurations—the "Arcade" and the "Elite"—each with its own selection of accessories.
Contents:
1. Overview
2. Retail configurations
3. Hardware and
accessories
4. Software
5. Games
6. Xbox Live
7. Sales
8. Timeline of hardware
models
9. Technical problems
10. References
11. External links
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| Manufacturer | Microsoft |
| Product family | Xbox |
| Type | Video game console |
| Generation | Seventh generation era |
| Retail availability |   November 22, 2005 December 2, 2005 December 10, 2005  February 2, 2006 February 24,
2006   March 16,
2006  March 23, 2006 July 7, 2006 September 25, 2006 September 29,
2006  November 3, 2006 December 1, 2006 February 10, 2007 February 26, 2008 October 28,
2008 Spring 2010 |
| Units sold | Worldwide: 39 million (as of January 6, 2010) [1] (details) |
| Media | DVD, Compact Disc, Download Add-on: HD DVD (discontinued) |
| CPU | 3.2 GHz PowerPC Tri-Core Xenon |
| Storage capacity | 20, 60, 120 or 250 GB hard drive, 64, 256 or 512 MB memory cards, 256 or 512 MB on-board (later models) |
| Memory | 512MB of GDDR3 RAM clocked at 700MHz |
| Graphics | 500 MHz ATI Xenos |
| Controller input | Xbox 360 Controller, 4 maximum (USB wired, 2.4GHz wireless, or combination of either), Xbox 360 Wireless Racing Wheel, Rhythm game controllers, Big Button Pads, Xbox 360 Arcade sticks, Ace Combat 6 Flight Stick |
| Connectivity | 2.4GHz wireless, 3 × USB 2.0, IR port, 100 Mbit Ethernet Add-on: Wifi 802.11a/b/g, Wifi 802.11n [2] |
| Online services | Xbox Live |
| Best-selling game | Halo 3 |
| Backward compatibility |
478 original Xbox games [3] (requires hard drive and the latest update) |
| Predecessor | Xbox |