Xbox 360 Launches as the New Console Standard

The next console generation starts today, and Microsoft wants the Xbox 360 to own the living room before anyone else gets there.

The Xbox 360 launches in North America with a lineup Microsoft is calling the strongest launch in console history. The company announced 18 games and 13 accessories for launch, giving early buyers more than just new hardware to set up under the television. The system arrives in time for Thanksgiving break, holiday shopping and the long stretch of winter nights when new games can take over a house.

The day-one games cover the categories students already argue about: sports, racing, shooters and action. Microsoft’s launch list includes Madden NFL 06, NBA 2K6, Project Gotham Racing 3, Perfect Dark Zero, Call of Duty 2, Need for Speed Most Wanted and Tony Hawk’s American Wasteland. For anyone trying to decide whether the console is worth the money, the pitch is clear: the system has something ready for almost every kind of player.

Xbox Live is also a major part of the launch. Microsoft says Xbox Live retail offerings are available alongside the console, including Gold membership packs with headsets and Arcade content. That matters because console gaming is becoming less about who can come over after school and more about who is online after homework. The new system is built around that expectation.

For Piper students, the Xbox 360 will probably arrive in waves. A few classmates will get one immediately. More will spend the next month lobbying parents before the holidays. Everyone else will ask who has played it, how the graphics look and whether the new controllers feel right.

The launch also raises the stakes for living-room bragging rights. Sony and Nintendo are still preparing their next systems, but Microsoft is first out of the gate. That gives the Xbox 360 a full holiday season to become the machine students associate with high-definition games, online play and the next phase after the original Xbox.

Today, the question changes from whether the next generation is coming to who already has it plugged in.