Last week the gaming world finally got the first official shots (and more) of the Xbox 360, and everyone’s pretty excited. Sure, it’s a new machine - new technology, new capabilities. But it’s also a whole new aesthetic. And for the moment, until E3-goers can let us in on the details of playable demos, that’s the one thing we can judge most clearly: Does it look appealing?
The answer, in my opinion, is “yes.”
The first Xbox, no matter what it’s capable of doing, always looks like a clunker up next to the Cube and the PS2 - an over-sized doorstop more than a console. It was designed to seem “hardcore,” in a very bulky, manly sort of way. And it succeeded: You have to be all of the above, hardcore, bulky and manly, to carry that thing around. The 360, in comparison, while not small, is slim and elegant; it appeals more to the design-conscious eye than to the typical, American gaming aesthetic. It’s got sleak, feminine curves. Alright, it’s downright sexy.
To put it simply, it looks like a mac.
We know each Xbox 360 will be powered by Apple technology, but apparently the contents are contagious. Macs hold a strange place in the world of technology fanboys. Those who love them love them - and thanks to more accessible products, like the ipod, that pool of supporters is growing. But there are still a lot of people out there who want nothing to do with Apple. In the gaming world, this is linked closely to purism and pride for PC gaming, which, as the name connotes, doesn’t lend itself so well to macs. Besides, mac users are “strange.” Their operating systems are unfamiliar and their computers, those made in the last decade at least, are just so darn pretty. Macs are not manly computers. They’re favored by artists and designers, those “effeminate” social peripherals. In short, they’re fabulous.
Why is mac teaming up Xbox? Sure, there’s the Microsoft/Apple connection (weird unto itself) that makes the two obvious conspirators. But Xbox, in the gaming industry, has a ideological reputation to uphold of being the all-American console, the kind of system you purchase before going out to play football or drink a round of beers with the guys. That’s what defined the Xbox’s original look. What will happen now that the designers have adapted the aesthetic of Microsoft’s girly (note the compliment) cousin?
So far I’ve heard mixed reactions. My designer and developer friends say the change is fantastic. My media and gamer friends/acquaintances think it’s an (some claim “gay”) abomination. More important though is what the consumers think when they reach for the $500 console on the shelf.
Maybe this is a step in the right direction for video games: Feminine aesthetics have entered the gaming world, and they might just succeed there. On the other hand, this could have nothing to do with appealing to a changing gaming community. As many people have pointed out, the Xbox 360 is a new kind of system, designed not for gamers but for a much wider market, for the average American. Don’t believe it? Look at the MTV release. Perhaps this seeming innovation is just Microsoft’s attempt to cash in on the popularity of the mac aesthetic that placed an ipod in millions of pockets across the country, or the “acceptance” of unconventional gender roles that drove the Queer Eye coffee table book up the bestseller charts.
Either way, for the first time, gamers will rush out to buy a distinctly feminine-looking system. And maybe, slowly, they’ll start to wonder: Is “girly” such a bad thing?
