The Xbox 360 is a video game console produced by Microsoft, developed in cooperation with IBM, ATI, Samsung, and SiS. Its Xbox Live service allows players to compete online and download arcade games and content such as game demos, trailers, TV shows, music videos, or rented movies. The Xbox 360 is the successor to the Xbox, and it competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of gaming systems.
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. It is the first console to provide near-simultaneous launch across the three major regions, and to provide wireless controller support at launch. The console sold out completely at release (with the exception of Japan) and as of Q2 2007, shipped 11.6 million units worldwide. A new version called the Xbox 360 Elite was released in April 2007 in the United States.
Known during development as Xenon, Xbox 2, Xbox Next or NextBox, the Xbox 360 was conceived in early 2003. In February 2003, planning for the Xenon software platform began, and was headed by Microsoft VP J Allard. That month, Microsoft held an event for 400 developers in Bellevue, Washington, to recruit support for the system. Also that month, Peter Moore, former president of Sega of America, joined Microsoft. On August 12, 2003, ATI signed on to produce the graphic processing unit for the new console, a deal which was publicly announced two days later. The following month, IBM signed on to develop the triple-core CPU for the console. Before the launch of the Xbox 360, several alpha development kits were spotted using Apple's Power Mac G5 hardware. Microsoft chose to use these systems for their PowerPC architecture, which is similar to that of the Xenon CPU used in the system. Unfortunately, the framerates suffered running the Xbox 360 games on the G5. A rough estimate placed the G5 at about one-third as powerful as the 360, and not powerful enough to properly run the Xbox 360 titles on display at full speed. On October 24, 2005, Microsoft shut down Xbox Live for a day to upgrade it for the Xbox 360. Wikipedia
