Console and PC gamers have long been divided into two camps. Certainly, there are those of us who play on multiple platforms, but hard-core PC gamers tend to eschew 'mainstream' console games, while committed console gamers can sometimes be heard bashing PC gamers as elitist nerds. While there's nothing wrong with drawing your own distinction, what's clear -- at least for the moment, anyway -- is that Microsoft's Xbox 360 makes the line between PC and console gaming a good deal fuzzier.

Yes, this is a console, with controllers and AV cables that are designed to interface with your TV -- preferably of the HD variety -- but Microsoft has essentially packed a high-end PC gaming rig into a relatively small box that fits into any AV rack or cabinet. That the Xbox 360 also has a user interface that rivals the TiVo's in terms of slick presentation and ease of use, plus a host of digital media and networking features, helps elevate the already-good Xbox experience to a whole new level.

Unlike previous games consoles, the Xbox 360 was designed from the ground up to be ready for the HDTV era. As such, all the games have been designed to at least 720p resolution (1,280x720-pixel wide-screen), which the system can also upscale to 1080i (1,920x1,080-pixel wide-screen). In order to see the graphics in HD, of course, you'll need to be connected to an HD-ready TV or monitor via the component-video adaptor, which is included in the premium £280 Xbox bundle. Alternately, you can pick up VGA video adaptors from Microsoft (£18) or Joytech (£12), which let you connect to HDTVs and PC monitors that offer a standard 15-pin VGA/RGB connector. The VGA adaptor offers a handful of other PC monitor-friendly high-def resolution choices, including 1,024x768-pixel.

At this point, however, the 360 offers neither DVI nor HDMI digital video connections, nor a 1080p resolution option. By contrast, Sony has pledged to include 1080p support and dual HDMI outputs on the PlayStation 3, expected sometime in 2006. Don't worry if you don't have an HDTV -- the Xbox 360's component adaptor includes a fallback composite output, and the system can output good ol' standard 480i resolution with formatting for squarish 4:3 (non-wide-screen) sets.