Santa Claus

The payload of the sleigh adds another interesting element. Microsoft placed kiosks for demonstration in some stores and the error began appearing. For purposes of comparison, the fastest man-made vehicle, the Ulysses space probe, moves at a pokey 27.4 miles per second, and a conventional reindeer can run (at best) 15 miles per hour. It was discovered in Wal-Mart stores days before the official console launch. This means Santa's sleigh is moving at 650 miles per second - 3000 times the speed of sound. The Xbox 360 screen of death is an error screen displayed by the Xbox 360 game console. Assuming that each of these 108 million stops is evenly distributed around the earth (which we know to be false, but will accept for the purposes of our calculations), we're now talking about 0.78 miles per household; a total trip of 75.5 million miles, not counting bathroom stops or breaks. [41].

This is to say that for each Christian household with a good child, Santa has around 1/1000th of a second to park the sleigh, hop out, jump down the chimney, fill the stocking, distribute the remaining presents under the tree, eat whatever snacks have been left for him, get back up the chimney, jump into the sleigh and get onto the next house. On January 26, 2006, Microsoft released Q2 2006 earning report, stating the Xbox 360 has reached 1.5 million units in 2005, 0.9 million units in North America, 0.5 million units in Europe, and 0.1 million units in Japan. This works out to 967.7 visits per second. Purchased separately, the price of the items would be AU$209.95. Santa has about 31 hours of Christmas to work with, thanks to the different time zones and rotation of the Earth, assuming east to west (which seems logical). To compensate for the Late Xbox 360 release to Australia and New Zealand, Microsoft released a VIP pack priced AU$149.95, containing the items below. At an average (census) rate of 3.5 children per household, that comes to 108 million homes, presuming there is at least one good child in each. The Xbox 360 is scheduled to be released in Australia and New Zealand on March 23, 2006, delayed for 3 weeks from the original March 2 launch date.

However, since Santa does not visit children of the Muslim, Hindu, Jewish or Buddhist (except maybe in Japan) religions, this reduces the workload for Christmas night to 15% of the total (or 378 million according to the population reference bureau). In Hong Kong, there are promotions include: free PGR3 faceplate with purchase of selected titles, DOA4 collectibles with purchase of a extra game, and reduced price when purchased with cross-promotional items. There are approximately two billion children (persons under 18) in the world. The launch date for Hong Kong and Singapore is March 16, 2006, delayed from original March 2 launch date. While these viewpoints do not represent the majority of Christians, their comments have drawn the attention of critics such as the fictional Landover Baptist Church, whose website satirizes and parodies this viewpoint.[16]. Promotions include one free limited edition PGR3 faceplate bundled for the initial shipment, and a gamepad-game combo pack containing Kameo and a wireless gamepad. Some parents worry that their children might think that if they were deceived by their parents about Santa Claus, parents might also be deceiving them about the existence of God. It will be released in Taiwan on March 2, 2006.

Some parents are uncomfortable about "lying" to their children about the existence of Santa. The Xbox 360 is scheduled to be released in South Korea on February 24, 2006. One prominent religious group that refuses to celebrate Santa Claus or Christmas for similar reasons are the Jehovah's Witnesses, but several denominations of Christians have varying concerns about Santa Claus.[15] Some Christians would prefer that the focus of the Christmas season be placed on the actual birth of Jesus. In Mexico retailers such as the Liverpool, CompuDabo, Game Planet, gdGames, Cyberbox, and Camelot Games have started selling the console, games, and accessories. Paul Nedergaard, a clergyman in Copenhagen, Denmark, drew the ire of Danish citizens in 1958 when he declared Santa to be a "pagan goblin" after Santa's image was used on fundraising materials for a Danish welfare organization [Clar, 337]. The Xbox 360 was released in Mexico and Colombia on February 2, 2006. 1].[14] Rev. Sony has a substantial amount of Japanese third party developers.

Following the Restoration of the monarchy and Puritans were out of power in England, the ban on Christmas was satirized in works such as Josiah King's The Examination and Tryal of Old Father Christmas; Together with his Clearing by the Jury (1686) [Nissenbaum, chap. Recent surveys in Japan have confirmed that the majority of Japanese 'gamers' are strong supporters of Sony. Following the English Civil War, under Oliver Cromwell's government Christmas was banned. On the day of the launch, Capcom unveiled their Xbox 360-exclusive sci-fi game Lost Planet, which features South Korean actor Lee Byung Hun in the lead role. Such a condemnation of Santa Claus is not a twentieth century phenomenon, but originated among some Protestant groups of the 16th century and was prevalent among the Puritans of 17th century England and America who banned the holiday as either pagan or Roman Catholic. On December 17, Rakuten's website announced a special five-day sale starting on December 22 selling 10 Xbox 360s at 24,900 yen.[40]. As such, a small number of primarily fundamentalist Christian churches dislike the secular focus on Santa Claus and the materialist focus that present-giving gives to the holiday. To entice people into buying the Xbox 360 some retailers are offering discounts on the system if they sign up for a 2 year broadband contract, similar to cell phone deals in the US.

Despite Santa Claus's mixed Christian roots, he has become a secular representation of Christmas. Maruyama is widely credited for attracting support from Japanese game developers. Both were inspired by the Tales from the Crypt comic book.[13]. Microsoft Japan executive Yoshihiro Maruyama stated that he expects sales of Xbox 360 in Japan to hit one million units sometime next year. All Through the House," part of the Tales from the Crypt (1972) movie and later remade as episode 1.2 and directed by Robert Zemeckis for the HBO series of the same name. It should be noted that this number is roughly equal to the number of Xbox units sold in Japan by November of 2005. Other darker impostors have appeared in slasher films such as the Silent Night, Deadly Night series of the 1980s, Santa Claws (1996), and in the short ". Namco expects to sell 500,000 copies of Ridge Racer 6 in Japan.

After the mostly well-meaning but clueless Halloween citizens capture Santa, they try to take over Christmas with disastrous results; the real Santa is almost eaten by the Oogie Boogie Man. Initial predictions were highly optimistic as the highest rating launch game reviewed by Famitsu, Namco's Ridge Racer 6, scored 35 out of 40 stars. [12] Tim Burton's stop-action animated musical film The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) depicts Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King of Halloween Town, wanting to become Santa Claus after an accidental visit to Christmas Town. Matsui predicts however that the Xbox 360 will likely gain momentum coming into January 2006 when new titles come out which includes Ninety-Nine Nights. Another recent devious mall Santa was played by Billy Bob Thornton in Bad Santa (2003), a film which gained normally family-friendly Disney "bad press". The 2-day 62,135 sales figure of the Xbox 360 is a little past half of the 123,334 units of the old Xbox that Microsoft sold in the first 3 days in Japan in February 2002. Gillen's performance lends credence to the theory that the mall Santa is not quite genuine. He even added information that over 60% of his readers had planned to buy the much anticipated Tecmo fighting game which is set for a December 29 release.

Played by Jeff Gillen, Santa is depicted as a larger-than-life figure who terrifies, rather than amuses, children. For his part, Famitsu Xbox 360 editor-in-chief Munetatsu Matsui pointed to DOA4's absence as the main factor behind the slow start. Another less-than-friendly impostor appears in A Christmas Story (1983) as a disgruntled mall Santa at Higbee's Department Store (a real store in downtown Cleveland, Ohio) in the fictional town of Holman, Indiana. Others have also attributed this slow start to titles such as Dead or Alive 4 and Enchant Arm missing the launch date while others point to the marketing strategy that focused on selling the Xbox 360 as a fashionable item when customers were looking for an affordable or a high performance gaming console. This animated feature was made into a live-action movie in 2000, directed by Ron Howard and starring Jim Carrey as the Grinch. Some believe this is mainly due to the other popular and prospective video game handheld consoles like the Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, and PlayStation Portable, all of which have sold far more than the Xbox 360. Seuss's children's book, How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, where the Grinch attempts to rob the Whos in Whoville of their Christmas, but has a change of heart. [38][39].

Arguably the most notorious impostor appears in the 1966 cartoon based on Dr. While other regions such as the United States or Europe enjoyed successful launches, sales in Japan have trailed the other regions, totalling 100,000 by the end of 2005. In this film, a bogus Santa steals all the Christmas presents and amateur detective Octavius (played by Herbert Yost) tries to recover them. [37]. Probably one of the first films featuring a fake Santa Claus is the 1914 silent film The Adventure of the Wrong Santa Claus written by Frederic Arnold Kummer. Three North American titles (Ridge Racer 6, NBA 2K6, and NHL 2K6) were not available for the Europe launch. Several films have been created which explore the consequences should an impostor Santa take over. [36].

The system is disrupted when the reigning Santa is murdered by his son, Damian, who then uses the position to attack the competing holidays of Hanukkah and Kwanzaa. A total of 15 games were available for launch, including critical hits Call of Duty 2, Project Gotham Racing 3 and Perfect Dark Zero. In The Hebrew Hammer (2003), the role of Santa Claus is traditionally passed down from father to son. [34][35]. She too is reluctant to take on the role. [33] By the end of 2005, Microsoft sold 500,000 consoles in the region. In Call Me Claus (2001) Lucy Cullins (Whoopi Goldberg) is an African American woman destined to become the next Santa Claus. [32] In turn, some retailers blamed Microsoft for failing to provide enough consoles in the Christmas period.

A recent and unique television special also draws upon the succession theme. [31] The shortages led to some consumers criticising retailers, and others attacking Microsoft itself for failing to fill demand. Clause"). [30] As in North America, thousands of Xbox 360 appeared on auction websites like eBay, selling for more than twice their retail price. This film spawned a sequel in 2002, The Santa Clause 2 in which he must find a wife (the "Mrs. Microsoft confirmed that 300,000 units were available for the European launch. Reluctant at first, he falls in love with his newfound role. [27], and Microsoft has revised their initial 90 day estimate down to 2.5 million units, though their 6 month sales estimate remains unchanged at 4.5 to 5.5 million consoles.[28][29].

After he puts on Santa's robes, he becomes subject to the "Santa clause" (like a contract) in which he is required to become the next Santa. Analysts believe Microsoft will not meet the original worldwide target of 2.75-3 million units sold in the first 90 days after launch. In The Santa Clause (1994), Tim Allen plays Scott Calvin who accidentally causes Santa Claus to fall off the roof of his house. [25][26]. In Ernest Saves Christmas (1988), Ernest (Jim Varney) aids Santa Claus/Seth Applegate (Douglas Seale) convince Joe Curruthers (Oliver Clark) to become the next Santa. By the end of 2005, Microsoft sold roughly 900,000 units. It is also suggestive of Santa's miraculous ability to live for many years, but not indefinitely. [24] In Canada, all 32,100 units available for launch were sold.

There is an elaborate sequence depicting the death of the previous office-holder (extremely advanced in age), and the selection of the new Santa Claus, which visually evokes the Papacy and also the divine/supernatural nature of the office/selection process. According to the NDP Group, North American sales totaled 326,000 units in November. The film's prologue features a generous old man who assumes Santa-like duties in his home village, and strongly suggests Santa's saintly origins. As of January 26, 2006 at 4:59 EST, major online retailers are sold-out of both Xbox 360 packages (including Amazon.com, circuitcity.com and buy.com). The feature film Santa Claus: The Movie (1985) starring David Huddleston as Santa Claus and British actress Judy Cornwell as his wife Anya shows how Santa and his wife are adopted by elves (including elves played by Dudley Moore and Burgess Meredith) in order to deliver their toys all over the world. It was reported [23] that 40,000 units appeared on eBay during the initial month of release, which would mean that 10% of the total supply was resold. One genre of movies suggest that Santa Claus is not historically a single individual but a succession of individuals. eBay in particular was a popular location for such offers with thousands of consoles going up for auction, some selling for many times the original retail price.

The latest film to depict Santa Claus in such a manner is The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005), in which Father Christmas (James Cosmo) supplies the Pevensie children with the weapons and tools they need to battle the White Witch (Tilda Swinton). The high demand for the Xbox 360 led to some owners almost immediately re-selling their console for vastly inflated prices. (John Lithgow).[11] He is a hero in Tim Burton's Nightmare before Christmas held captive to Oogie Boogie. Microsoft has stated that they will look into the reports and have offered assistance reachable by phone. Z. Microsoft claims that these problems are to be expected on a large scale release for a console and the number of reports versus the number of consoles released was very minimal. Santa Claus: The Movie also contains a subplot in which Santa Claus rescues Joe (Christian Fitzpatrick) from his best friend Cornelia's (Carrie Kei Heim]) evil uncle B. [22] The manual contains warnings about not placing the Xbox 360 on soft surfaces or in enclosed spaces to avoid heating problems.

The Night They Saved Christmas (1984) starring Art Carney as Santa likewise chronicles how Santa Claus and Claudia Baldwin (Jaclyn Smith), the wife of an oil explorer, have to save the North Pole from explosions while her husband is searching for oil in the Arctic. Some reported the Xbox 360 crashing with errors, some reported the hard drive does not respond in certain situations while others report error messages during various games or unusually fast overheating. In the Cold War-era film Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (1964) where Santa Claus is captured by Martians and brought to Mars and ultimately foils a plot to destroy him. Immediately after the launch, reports about the new machine's technical glitches started coming out. In this movie Santa allies with Merlin the magician to battle the Devil who is attempting to trap Santa. [21]. Some less-than-serious films feature Santa Claus as a superhero-type figure, such as the 1959 film titled Santa Claus produced in Mexico with José Elías Moreno as Santa Claus. Peter Moore, Microsoft corporate vice president, predicts that shipments will reach 10 million units worldwide by the end of 2006.

The Polar Express (2004), based on the children's book of the same name, also deals with issues and questions of belief as a magical train conducted by Tom Hanks transports a doubting boy to the North Pole to visit Santa Claus.[10]. This allowed them to launch several months earlier than would otherwise be possible, but also led to shortages. The newspaper editor tells her that indeed there is a Santa: "He lives, and he lives forever." Francis Pharcellus Church was the real-life editor and is played by Charles Bronson in the film. They did not, however, build up a sufficient supply of consoles to satisfy the entire demand at launch. The television special Yes Virginia There Is A Santa Claus (1991) follows the true story of a young girl, Virginia O'Hanlon, who writes a letter to the editor of the New York Sun in 1897 after her friends tell her there is no Santa. they did not withhold produced consoles). This film was remade in 1994 and stars Richard Attenborough as Kris Kringle and Mara Wilson as Susan Walker. Evidence indicates that Microsoft launched with all consoles available at the time, and operating at maximum production capability (i.e.

Miracle on 34th Street (1947) starring Natalie Wood as Susan Walker revolves around the disbelief of young Susan whose mother (Maureen O'Hara) employs a kind old man (Edmund Gwenn, who won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor) to play Santa Claus at Macy's; he later convinces Susan that he really is Santa. Prelaunch reports assume that Microsoft intentionally restricted supply [18], although there is no evidence to support this and Microsoft has said they are releasing all units into supply chains as quickly as possible [19] [20]. She doubts because Santa has never visited her family because of their poverty. contest that offered participants a chance to win one of three hundred and sixty Xbox 360 console bundles six days before the official launch.[17]. One of the first films of this nature was titled A Little Girl Who Did Not Believe in Santa Claus (1907) and involves a well-to-do boy trying to convince his poorer friend that Santa Claus is real. The campaign was later revealed to be a U.S. Another genre of Santa films seek to dispel doubts about his existence. [16] This website hosted a number of images that appeared to perpetuate obscure conspiracy theories, but sometimes contained obtuse references to Xbox 360.

Interestingly enough, none of these films focus on Santa Claus's saintly origins. On October 13, 2005, members of the TeamXbox forums were directed to the Hex168.com website through mysterious messages posted by someone called "Lutz". Frank Baum 's 1902 children's book of the same name, in which Santa is reared by mythical, magical creatures and is granted immortality by them. October 2005 saw the launch of "Hex168", another viral marketing campaign commissioned by Microsoft and executed by the Marden-Kane advertising agency. Two stop motion animation television specials addressed this issue: Santa Claus is Comin' to Town (1970) by Rankin/Bass with Mickey Rooney as the voice of Kris reveals how Santa delivered toys to children despite the fact that Burgermeister Meisterburger had forbidden children to play with them and The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus (1985), based on L. Design for the website employs flash animation of a Bonsai tree and bland elevator music to create a serene environment that is punctuated by visually intense psychedelic episodes involving the host rabbits. They explain how reindeer fly, where elves come from, and other questions children have generally asked about Santa. New contests include a Halo 2 tournament and a competition to design a "Gamertile" (an avatar icon).

Some films about Santa Claus seek to explore his origins. The initial contest was a raffle that required participants to answer three trivia questions regarding the Xbox 360 for a chance to attend a promotional pre-launch event. Later films about Santa vary, but can be divided into the following themes. Unveiled on September 27, 2005 the website, hosted by talking rabbits Boss and Didier offers visitors an opportunity to enter in various contests. A year later another movie titled Santa Claus was produced with sound on De Forest Phonofilm.[9] Over the years various actors have donned the red suit (aside from those discussed below), including Monty Woolley in Life Begins at Eight-thirty (1942), Alberto Rabagliati in The Christmas That Almost Wasn't (1966), Dan Aykroyd in Trading Places (1983), Jan Rubes in One Magic Christmas (1985), David Huddleston in Santa Claus: The Movie (1985), Jonathan Taylor Thomas in I'll Be Home for Christmas (1998), and Ed Asner in Elf (2003). OrigenXbox360.com was the next viral marketing campaign from Microsoft. Kleinschmidt filmed partly in northern Alaska and features Santa in his workshop, visiting his Eskimo neighbors, and tending his reindeer. Allard.

A twenty-nine minute 1925 silent film production entitled Santa Claus by explorer/documentarian Frank E. On May 12 the ARG section of OurColony closed, visitors were instead greeted with a promotional video hosted by J. Griffith titled A Trap for Santa Claus shows children setting a trap to capture Santa Claus as he descends down the chimney, but instead capture their father who abandoned them and their mother but tries to burglarize the house after he discovers she inherited a fortune. Throughout March and April OurColony.net offered challenges to its community, rewarding solutions with cropped pictures of the console and game screenshots. W. The promotional campaign for Xbox 360 began on March 14, 2005 with the opening of an alternate reality game called OurColony. A 1909 film by D. EB Games locations received the Xbox 360 kiosks in their stores just over a week prior to its release.

The scene closes with the children waking up and running to the fireplace just too late to catch him by the legs. In the first week of November, the Xbox 360 screen of death was reported. He distributes the presents and mysteriously causes the appearance of a Christmas tree laden with gifts. In October/November 2005, North American Target and Wal-Mart stores received kiosks to demonstrate games like Call of Duty 2 and Kameo: Elements of Power. He goes down the chimney and suddenly appears in the children's room through the fireplace. Microsoft claims that most of the games were running at 25-30% of full capacity because they were not running on actual systems. Santa Claus suddenly appears on the roof, just outside the children's bedroom window, and proceeds to enter the chimney, taking with him his bag of presents and a little hand sled for one of the children. The demos were running on "Xbox 360 Alpha Development Kits" which were Apple PowerMac G5s, chosen due to the PowerPC processor architecture that the machine shares with the Xbox 360.

The mother tucks the children snugly in bed and leaves the room. The system, along with some playable games, were shown off at E3 2005. Santa Claus' Visit in 1900 featured a scene with two little children kneeling at the feet of their mother and saying their prayers. In the article he says "It's perfect...The day Sony launches [the new PlayStation], and they walk right into Halo 3." [13] Read more at wikiquote. Microsoft executive Robbie Bach later clarified this statement, saying "Philosophically the point Bill was trying to make is that we're not just going to ship and not have great stuff coming up."[14] Gates himself later clarified that "Halo 3 will ship when Bungie is ready." [15]. After walking backward and surveying his work, he suddenly darts at the fireplace and disappears up the chimney. The Xbox 360 was also featured on the cover of Time magazine's May 23, 2005 issue with Microsoft chairman Bill Gates holding up one of the units. He then fills the stockings that were previously hung on the mantle by the children. The official unveiling of the system occurred on Thursday, May 12, 2005 on MTV in a program called MTV Presents: The Next Generation Xbox Revealed hosted by actor Elijah Wood with a musical performance by the band The Killers.

In this picture Santa Claus enters the room from the fireplace and proceeds to trim the tree. See Xbox Live Arcade, Xbox Live Marketplace, and Microsoft Points. A year later, a film directed by George Albert Smith in 1899 titled Santa Claus (or The Visit from Santa Claus in the United Kingdom) was created. Points can be purchased directly through Live or via game cards sold at retails shops such as Target. Another film called Santa Claus and the Children was made in 1898. While game demos and trailers are free, full versions of games must be purchased using a system called Microsoft Points. In 1897, in a short film called Santa Claus Filling Stockings, Santa Claus is simply filling stockings from his pack of toys. By far one of the most interesting features of the Xbox 360 Live is the capability to download arcade-style games through Xbox Live Arcade, as well as game demos and other content through Xbox Live Marketplace.

Early films of Santa revolve around similar simple plots of Santa's Christmas eve visit to children. It offers the following selections:. Nick abound and apparently constitute their own sub-genre of the Christmas film genre. The Xbox Game Guide is a tabbed user interface that can be accessed instantly by pressing the Guide Button on any Xbox 360 controller. Motion pictures of St. An Xbox Live Gold account costs $49.99 USD, £39.99 Pounds Sterling, €59.99 per year (or, in the UK, a 3-month Gold membership is available for £11.99). Probably the only other place where Santa Claus makes as many appearances as in the malls is on the big screen. Then when the user goes to add a Xbox Live enabled profile to their console, the user just needs to provide the console with their passport account information.

Most young children seem to already understand this, as the "real" Santa would be extremely busy around Christmas time. To transition an Xbox Live account to the new system the user needs to link a Microsoft Passport account to their gamer tag on Xbox.com. If and when a shop or party Santa is discovered to be an imposter by an observant youngster, a common way out is to simply admit that he is not the real Santa, but helping him at this time of year. Microsoft has allowed for previous Xbox Live subscribers to maintain their profile information, buddy lists, and games history when they make the transition to Xbox Live Gold. Essayist David Sedaris is known for the satirical diary he kept while working as an elf in the Macy's display, which he later published. However, video conferencing was not available when the console was first released. In America the most notable of these is the Santa at the flagship Macy's store in New York City - he arrives at the store by sleigh in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on the last float, and his court takes over a large portion of one floor in the store. Xbox Live Gold has the same features as Silver plus online game playing capabilities and video conferencing.

The area set up for this purpose is festively decorated, usually with a large throne, and is called variously "Santa's Grotto", "Santa's Workshop" or a similar term. Microsoft has also announced there will be trial weekends for Silver members to access the full features of Gold service temporarily. His function is either to promote the store's image by distributing small gifts to children, or to provide a seasonal experience to children by having them sit on his knee (a practice now under review by some organisations in Britain [7], and Switzerland [8]), state what they wish to get, and often have a photograph taken. Silver members are not allowed to play any games online. He is played by an actor, usually helped by other actors (often mall employees or contractors) dressed as elves or other creatures of folklore. Xbox Live Silver is free of charge and allows users to create a profile, join on message boards, access to Microsoft's Xbox Live Arcade, and talk to other members. Santa Claus is also a costumed character who appears at Christmas time in department stores or shopping malls, or at parties. With the launch of the Xbox 360, Microsoft's online gaming service, Xbox Live went through a major upgrade adding a basic non-subscription service (Silver) to its already established premium subscription-based service (Gold).

More popular, well-known songs about Santa Claus (mostly sung by children) include:. Microsoft has changed the content of several Xbox games when running under the 360's emulator, such as when they blocked the Halo 2 trailers from running off of later copies of Halo: Combat Evolved discs, presumably because the advertisements promoted a very different game than what ended up being released. As early as 1853, Louis Antoine Jullien composed an orchestral piece titled Santa Claus which premiered to mixed reviews in New York that year [Horowitz, 213]. [12]. Over the years, Santa Claus has inspired several songs and even orchestral works. Microsoft states that they will be adding more emulation profiles as they become available, with the intended goal of making the entire Xbox library playable on the Xbox 360. Many of these websites also include e-mail addresses, a modern version of the postal service letter writing, in which children can send Santa Claus e-mail. As of January 10, 2006, the Japanese Xbox site shows only 30 [11].

Many other websites are available year-round that are devoted to Santa Claus and keeping tabs on his activities in his workshop. list includes over 200 games, fewer games are listed as backward compatible in the European markets. Many local television stations in the United States and Canada likewise track Santa Claus in their own metropolitan areas through the stations' meteorologists. Although the U.S. This tracking can now be done by children via the Internet and NORAD's website. market was released on November 11, 2005 and is maintained at Xbox.com. In 1958, Canada and the United States jointly created the North American Air Defense Command (NORAD) and together tracked Santa Claus for children of North America that year and ever since.[6]. The list of backward-compatible games for the U.S.

Harry Shoup, received the first call for Santa and responded by telling children that there were signs on the radar that Santa was indeed heading south from North Pole. [10]. The Director of Operations, Col. Updated emulation profiles can be obtained through Xbox Live, by burning a CD with content downloaded from Xbox.com, or by ordering an update disc from Microsoft at a small charge for shipping. The number was mistyped and children called the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) on Christmas Eve instead. Hard drives purchased separately or as part of the console package will include a certain number of "emulation profiles" for games, including Halo and Halo 2. In 1955, a Sears Roebuck store in Colorado Springs, Colorado, gave children a number to call a "Santa hotline". A hard drive is required to enable backward compatibility.

Some people have created websites designed to allow children and other interested parties to "track" Santa Claus on Christmas Eve via radar; while in transit, Santa Claus is sometimes escorted by Air Force fighter jets [5]. Software emulation is far from perfect, as significant drops in framerate are observable in some titles.[9]. His address is this: Santa Claus, Santa Claus Village, FIN-96930 Arctic Circle, Finland. Some games have slightly improved draw distance, possibly due to the system's greater memory bandwidth. The Finnish Santa Claus lives in Korvatunturi but Santa's Official Post Office is situated in Rovaniemi at the Arctic circle. Games have minor graphical enhancements due to being rendered in 720p resolutions with Anti-Aliasing enabled. Children from Great Britain, Poland and Japan are the busiest writers. The Xbox 360 achieves backward compatibility through software emulation of the original Xbox hardware.

He gets over 600,000 letters every year from over 150 countries. The Playstation 3 also has impressive procedural synthesis capabilities, but the technical implementation differs significantly. Through the years Santa Claus of Finland has received over eight million letters. Other interesting examples of procedural synthesis are shown in various demoscene demos. In Britain it is tradition to burn the Christmas letters on the fire so that they would be magically transported by the wind to the North Pole however this tradition is dying out in modern times with few people having true open fires in their homes. Procedural synthesis is also found outside of the Xbox 360 in the advanced freeware FPS game .kkrieger, where such techniques have reduced the size of the visually stunning game to a mere 96 kilobytes. (This postal code, in which zeroes are used for the letter "O" is consistent with the alternating letter-number format of all Canadian postal codes.) Sometimes children's charities answer letters in poorer communities or from children's hospitals in order to give them presents that they would not otherwise receive. The downside to this approach is that when part of the L2 cache is locked, there is even less data immediately available to keep the 3 symmetric cores in the Xenon CPU running at full efficiency (1 MB of shared L2 is already a rather small amount of cache for 3 symmetric cores to share, especially considering that the Xenon CPU does not support out-of-order execution to more efficiently use available clock cycles).

His address is: Santa Claus, North Pole, Canada, H0H 0H0 [4] (see also: Ho ho ho). The rationale behind this design is that procedurally generated game content can be streamed directly from CPU to GPU, without incurring additional latency by being stored in system RAM as an intermediary step. Canada Post has a special postal code for letters to Santa Claus, and since 1982 over 13,000 Canadian postal workers have volunteered to write responses. The Xenos GPU can then read directly from this locked cache space and render the procedurally generated objects. Many postal services allow children to send letters to Santa Claus pleading their good behavior and requesting gifts; these letters may be answered by postal workers or other volunteers. When locked, a segment of cache no longer contains any prefetched instructions or data for the CPU, but is instead used as output space for the procedural synthesis thread. Girls also request gifts for other people on a more frequent basis [Otnes, Kim, and Kim, 20-21]. The Xbox 360's architecture was designed with this approach in mind.[8] When running procedural synthesis algorithms, one of the Xenon CPU's cores may "lock" a portion of the 1 MB shared L2 cache.

Girls generally write more polite, longer (although they do not request more), and express more expressions of the nature of Christmas in their letters than in letters written by boys. Instead, a general recursive algorithm will generate the tree's model and textures, so that each tree looks different from the next, and do so with high efficiency. Interestingly, some social scientists have found that boys and girls write different types of letters. A game with only one model for a tree will appear odd, as nature is far more random; the game loses some of its immersion as a result. These letters normally contain a wishlist of toys and assertions of good behavior. For example, trees are one of the most complicated objects to render in a game, due to their organic complexity. Writing letters to Santa Claus has been a Christmas tradition for children for many years. Procedural synthesis is an approach to generating game content via algorithms.

Naughty children were once told that they would be left a roe (a bundle of sticks) instead of sweets, but this practice has been discontinued. A newer approach to generating content is utilised for Xbox 360 titles, a method referred to by Microsoft as procedural synthesis. The next morning they will find the hay and carrot replaced by a gift; often, this is a marzipan figurine. As complexity in each rises, the demand for storage rises as well. Children following the Dutch custom for sinterklaas will "put out their shoe" — that is, leave hay and a carrot for his horse in a shoe before going to bed — sometimes weeks before the sinterklaas avond. In traditional games, all content is statically stored and generally immutable; that is, textures, meshes, and other game content is stored on a storage medium. British, Australian and American children also leave out a carrot for Santa's reindeer, and were traditionally told that if they are not good all year round, that they will receive a lump of coal in their stockings, although this practice is now considered archaic. For the Xbox 360, Microsoft has drawn on recent research in computer graphics to enable a new method for game programming.

In the United States and Canada, the tradition is to leave Santa a glass of milk and cookies; in Britain and Australia, he is sometimes given sherry and mince pies instead. For example, John Carmack stated at QuakeCon 2005 that the Xbox 360 had "the best development environment" he has seen for a console. Several rituals have developed around the Santa Claus figure that are normally performed by children hoping to receive gifts from him. To date, some developers have endorsed XNA Studio. Reindeer are also associated with the shaman, and like Santa Claus, many people believed that the shaman could fly.[3]. Microsoft believes that this will give developers more time to generate unique content and reduce time running the content process. Furthermore, the mushrooms were associated with reindeer who were known to eat them and become intoxicated. XNA Studio will allow team members to collaborate using familiar techniques and tools, even when elements of the team are distributed geographically, an increasing trend in game development.

The mushrooms were often hung (to dry) in front of the fireplace, much like the stockings of modern-day Christmas. These tools are designed to work together to automate common development tasks and present interfaces tailored to the different functions within the team. This type of mushroom is brightly colored red and white, like Santa Claus, though the relevance of this is questionable. XNA Studio will provide versions of key production tools such as asset management, defect tracking, project automation and work lists. Apparently, during the midwinter festival (holiday season) in Siberia (near the North Pole), the shaman would enter a yurt (home) through the shangrak (chimney), bringing with him a sack of fly agaric mushrooms (presents) to give to the inhabitants. Based on Microsoft's Visual Studio 2005 Team System, the XNA Studio is the Visual Studio for game development; an integrated, team-based development environment tailored for game production. American mycologist Jonathan Ott suggests that many of the modern features attributed to Santa Claus may somehow be derived from those of the Kamchatkan or Siberian shaman. XNA Studio will enable collaboration between content creators, programmers, management and QA staff to speed the game production process.

Other additions to early ideas of Santa include Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, the ninth and lead reindeer immortalized in a Gene Autry song, written by a Montgomery Ward copywriter. XNA Studio covers three areas: Content Creation, Production Processes and Game Technologies. Santa Claus continues to inspire writers and artists, such as in author Seabury Quinn's 1948 novel Roads. The Xbox 360 game development will be centered around the XNA Studio game development platform. Many television commercials depict this as a sort of humorous business, with Santa's elves acting as a sometimes mischievously disgruntled workforce, cracking jokes and pulling pranks on their boss. In March 2004, Microsoft announced a new game development software strategy dubbed "XNA", which Microsoft claims would enable game studios to cut development times by up to a third if developing across multiple Microsoft platforms, by means of tools created with the increasing difficulty of programming for a machine with three processor cores in mind. 2; Belk, 87-100]. During early development the Xbox 360 was referred to as "Xenon", "Xbox 2", and "Xbox Next".

Claus as managers [see Nissenbaum, chap. [7]. That shift was reflected in the modern depiction of Santa's residence—now often humorously portrayed as a fully mechanized production facility, equipped with the latest manufacturing technology, and overseen by the elves with Santa and Mrs. By using a program "mceDivX360" on the PC, the Xbox 360 is able to receive streamed films which are converted to WMV format from DivX by Windows Media Encoder. By the end of the century, the reality of mass mechanized production became more fully accepted by the Western public. The Xbox 360 is able to stream movies from a PC running Windows XP Media Center Edition, although it is unable to stream movies in DivX format. Eventually, the idea emerged that he had numerous elves responsible for making the toys, but the toys were still handmade by each individual elf working in the traditional manner. Windows Media Connect allows users to stream their favorite music collection through the Xbox 360 Dashboard, and allows users to play their music via the Xbox 360 Guide in place of the game's original soundtrack.

In some images of the early 20th century, Santa was depicted as personally making his toys by hand in a small workshop like a craftsman. After installation the computer and the and Xbox 360 will automatically detect one other. Some suspect that the depiction of Santa at the North Pole reflected popular opinion about industry at the time. To connect the Xbox 360 to a computer the user will need to download Windows Media Connect.
. The Xbox 360 has the ability to connect to Windows XP based computers over a home network to stream music and pictures right to a TV. Volunteers dressed as Santa Claus typically became part of fundraising drives to aid needy families at Christmas time. The main dashboard is divided into 4 main sections:.

The image of Santa Claus as a benevolent character became reinforced with its association with charity and philanthropy, particularly organizations such as the Salvation Army. From there, the full Dashboard can be run, exiting the current game. [2]. The Dashboard can also be accessed via the Xbox Guide button on the controller at any time to open a player specific blade. Nevertheless, Santa Claus and Coca-Cola have been closely associated. The Dashboard will launch automaticially at boot if no game disc is inserted into the console. The popularity of the image spawned urban legends that Santa Claus was in fact invented by Coca-Cola. The Dashboard is the main interface to the Xbox 360, governed by a series of "blades" to subdivide categories.

Images of Santa Claus were further cemented through Haddon Sundblom's depiction of him for The Coca-Cola Company's Christmas advertising. Due to the limited space of standard DVDs, some games made for the system may span multiple discs, although procedural generation of textures and models (as seen in the PC game .kkrieger) may reduce the need for multiple discs. Frank Baum, author of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Xbox 360 games are set to the standard 7.95GB of storage available on a dual-layer DVD. Another popularization came in 1902 in The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus by L. Bill Gates has confirmed during his keynote speech at CES 2006 that an external HD-DVD drive will be released for the 360 this year.[5] However, Peter Moore has stated that if HD-DVD loses the format war, Microsoft may release an external Blu-Ray drive.[6]. In 1863, a picture of Santa illustrated by Nast appeared in Harper's Weekly (it is believed the inspiration for his image came from the Pelznickle). [4].

Still, one of the first artists to capture Santa Claus' image as we know him today was Thomas Nast, an American cartoonist of the 19th century. It has been confirmed by Yoshihiro Maruyama, Japan's chief of Xbox operations, that Microsoft will never release games for Xbox 360 in a format other than DVD. Santa Claus later appeared in various colored costumes as he gradually became amalgamated with the figure of Father Christmas, but red soon became popular after he appeared wearing such on an 1885 Christmas card. The other supported formats are: CD-DA, CD-ROM, CD-R/RW, WMACD, MP3CD, and JPEG Photo CD. In this poem Santa is established as a heavyset individual with eight reindeer (who are named for the first time). A 12X DVD-ROM SATA drive, capable of reading DVD+R/RW discs and DVD-R/RW, is part of the console, with game titles shipping on single or dual-layer DVDs. The poem is ascribed to Clement Clarke Moore, although there is some question as to his authorship. The system bandwidth comprises:.

Nicholas" (better known today as "The Night Before Christmas") in the Troy, New York, Sentinel on December 23, 1823. The graphics processing unit (GPU) is a custom ATI R500-based "Xenos". Modern ideas of Santa Claus seemingly became canon after the publication of the poem "A Visit From St. ^[3]. Irving's book was a lampoon of the Dutch culture of New York, and much of this portrait is his joking invention. The central processing unit (CPU), named Xenon (Microsoft) or Waternoose (IBM) is a custom IBM triple-core PowerPC-based design. For example, in Washington Irving's History of New York, Sinterklaas was Americanized into "Santa Claus" but lost his bishop's apparel, and was at first pictured as a thick-bellied Dutch sailor with a pipe in a green winter coat. Specifications are also available at the official Xbox website.

In the British colonies of North America and later the United States, British and Dutch versions of the gift-giver merged further. The price of these custom designs are around $20 with more to be released by third party manufacturers. The same thing happened in Finland, but there the more human figure retained the Yule Goat name. Microsoft has also distributed two promotional faceplates, one for those present at the E3 2005 unveiling and one for VIP X05 attendees. By the end of the 19th century this tradition had also spread to Norway and Sweden (where the "nisse" is called Tomte), replacing the Yule Goat. The default faceplate (Xbox 360's Chrome or Core System's Chill) can be replaced with a range of custom designs, each to be sold separately. In the 1840's, the farm gnome in Nordic folklore started to deliver the Christmas presents in Denmark, but was then called the "Julenisse", dressed in gray clothes and a red hat. According to J Allard, the chief of Microsoft's Xbox division, Microsoft may sell larger capacity detachable hard drives for the Xbox 360 in the future, and territories outside of North America may have a differently sized hard drive in the retail unit.

A straw goat is still a common Christmas decoration in Sweden, Norway and Finland. This drive will not be included in the Core System bundle at launch, and also will not be sold separately in Japan. As an example of the still surviving pagan imagery, in Nordic countries there was the Yule Goat (Swedish julbock, Norwegian "julebukk", Finnish joulupukki), a somewhat startling figure with horns which delivered the presents on Christmas Eve. This content will be included on both the bundled hard drive and the stand alone product. In other countries, the figure of Saint Nicholas was also blended with local folklore. The individual drives will come pre-loaded with a promotional video about the making of the Xbox 360, the "XBOX 360 Custom Mix" (A collection of music), additional Dashboard skins, songs, additional Xbox Live Gamertag images, and Hexic HD, an Xbox Live Arcade game from Tetris creator Alexey Pajitnov. Since the giving of presents is Sinterklaas's job presents are traditionally not given at Christmas in the Netherlands, but commercialism is starting to tap into this market. A hard drive is also required for the user to be able to play backward compatible Xbox games.

The more serious gifts may be reserved for the next morning. Only 13 GB of this hard drive are available to the user; the rest is reserved for the system and games. The gifts themselves may be just an excuse for the wrapping, which can also be quite elaborate. A detachable SATA 20 GB hard drive is used for the storage of games, music, downloaded trailers, levels, demos, player preferences, and community-created content from Xbox Live Marketplace; it may also be used to transfer such content between Xbox 360 units. Presents given during this feast are often accompanied by poems, sometimes fairly basic, sometimes quite elaborate pieces of art that mock events in the past year relating to the recipient (who is thus at the receiving end in more than one sense). This port replaces the two proprietary USB connectors on the front of the Xbox controller. Sinterklaas arrives from Spain on a steamboat and is accompanied by 'Zwarte Piet'. The rear of the controller includes a port where the player can connect a headset.

He rides a white horse over rooftops and his helpers climb down chimneys to deposit gifts (sometimes in children's shoes by the fireplace). The black and white buttons have been redesigned as shoulder buttons, now referred to as bumper buttons, located above the left and right triggers. The connection with the original bishop of Myra is still evident here. The ring of light lights up the quadrant (on the controller as well as the console) that represents the player number assigned to that controller (starting with the top left quadrant as player one, and proceeding clockwise to player 4 in the bottom left). He wears a red miter (a liturgical headdress worn by bishops and abbots) with a 'golden' cross and carries a bishop's staff. Pressing the Xbox guide button will bring the Xbox 360 out of sleep mode, turn the console on or off, and bring up the "Xbox Guide" for access to digital movies, music and games libraries. Sinterklaas wears clothing similar to a bishop's. The Xbox 360 controller adds an Xbox guide button, which has the appearance of the Xbox 360 emblem and is surrounded by a ring of green LEDs.

Nick. The controller for the Xbox 360 is a similar version of the Type-S gamepad for the original Xbox. He is also known there by the name of Sint Nicolaas which explains the use of the two fairly dissimilar names Santa Claus and Saint Nicholas or St. The wireless controller has a battery life of up to 25 hours on the NiMH rechargeable battery pack (optional and recommended) and a recommended range of up to 30 feet (9.14 m). Nicholas. The controllers have two digital Touch-sensitive trigger buttons.The rest of the buttons are not Touch-sensitive. The name Santa Claus is derived from Sinterklaas, the Dutch name for the mythical character based on St. The wired controller has a nine foot (2.74 m) long cord with a break-away feature.

He typified the spirit of good cheer at Christmas, and was reflected in the "Ghost of Christmas Present" in Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol. Since the controller has a USB cable, it is also usable in Windows PCs. Father Christmas dates back at least as far as the 17th century in Britain, and pictures of him survive from that era, portraying him as a well-nourished bearded man dressed in a long, green, fur-lined robe. Alternately it can support two wired controllers through the use of its USB ports at the front, the USB port on the back will support a third controller. Pre-modern representations of the gift-giver from church history and folklore merged with the British character Father Christmas to create the character known to Britons and Americans as Santa Claus. The Xbox 360 has the ability to support up to four wireless controllers. The name originated from the fact that the person appeared to be a huge beast since he was covered from head to toe in furs.
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Another form of the above tale in Germany is of the Pelznickel or Belsnickle ("Furry Nicholas") who visited naughty children in their sleep. This discrepancy is partially accounted for by the time needed to localize the games. Some tales depict Zwarte Piet beating bad children with a rod or even taking them to Spain (formerly ruled by the Moors) in a sack. Japanese customers, however, only had six titles to choose from by the time the Xbox 360 was released on December 10, 2005. In an alternate Dutch version, the saint is aided by Moorish slaves, commonly typified as Zwarte Piet ("Black Peter"). The European countries had fifteen titles available for the launch date of December 2, 2005. Yet other versions have the demon reform under the saint's orders, and go on to recruit other elves and imps into helping him, thus becoming Santa Claus. Eighteen launch titles were available for customers in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico on November 22, 2005.

Depending on the version, the saint either made the demon fulfil this task every year, or the demon was so disgusted by the act of good will that it chose to be sent back to Hell. For full details see Console Launch. The saint ordered him to go to each house and make amends, by delivering gifts to the children. Without it the Xbox 360 numbers sold were less than originally anticipated. Peter or Paul of Tarsus); the demon was trapped and forced to obey the saint's orders. The main reason for this may have been the delaying of Dead Or Alive 4 which remains an extremely popular Xbox 360 Japanese game. The holy man sought out the demon, and tricked it with blessed or magical shackles (in some versions the same shackles that imprisoned Christ prior to the crucifixion, in other versions the shackles were those used to hold St. In Japan, it was received far less enthusiastically, despite the low price and bonus features.

The story states that the land was terrorized by a monster who at night would slither down the chimneys and slaughter children (disembowelling them or stuffing them up the flue, or keeping them in a sack to eat later). Many stores sold out on the first day, and as of mid-January consumers had to hunt across many stores to find one in stock. Another early folk tale, originating among the Germanic tribes, tells of a holy man (sometimes Saint Nicholas), and a demon (sometimes the Devil, Krampus, or a troll). The Xbox 360 has been released in North America, Puerto Rico, Europe and Japan. (Other features, like the absence of one eye, are not found in Saint Nicholas.) This practice in turn came to America via the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam prior to the British seizure in the 17th century, and evolved into the hanging of socks or stockings at the fireplace. They have also stated that they may release a similar Blu-ray attachment, depending on which format (HD-DVD or Blu-ray) becomes standard, though there is currently no plan except the support for HD-DVD. Odin's appearance was often similar to that of Saint Nicholas, being depicted as an old, mysterious man with a beard. Microsoft plans to release an external HD-DVD attachment to play high-definition movies.

Children still place their straw filled shoes at the chimney every winter night, and Saint Nicholas (who, unlike Santa, is still riding a horse) rewards them with candy and gifts. Xbox 360 is compatible with DVD movies, but not HD-DVD nor Blu-Ray. This practice survived in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands after the adoption of Christianity and became associated with Saint Nicholas. Microsoft hopes to avoid such a predicament with its new console, the company is predicting that a greater market share and falling hardware costs will make the Xbox 360 a profitable item. 171-173]. Microsoft's home entertainment division posted a loss through nearly every quarter of the console's lifecycle as a result. 9, esp. Because of these chips and the added expense of a hard drive component, Microsoft was never able to reduce the cost of manufacturing an Xbox below the break-even point.

Odin would then reward those children for their kindness by replacing Sleipnir's food with gifts or candy [Siefker, chap. Both of these were very similar to "off the shelf" PC hardware and were therefore sold to Microsoft at inflated market prices. Children would place their boots, filled with carrots, straw or sugar, near the chimney for Odin's flying horse, Sleipnir, to eat. This flexibility stands in contrast to the situation faced by the original Xbox, which contained a processor from Intel (a slightly modified Pentium III) and a GPU from NVidia (a modified GeForce 3). Prior to the Germanic peoples' conversion to Christianity, Germanic folklore contained stories about the god Odin (Wodan), who would each year, at Yule, have a great hunting party accompanied by his fellow gods and the fallen warriors residing in his realm. Also, since Microsoft owns the patents or licenses thereunder for all custom hardware used in the Xbox 360, they can easily switch to new fabrication processes or change suppliers in the future in order to reduce manufacturing costs. Also, a few villages in West Flanders, Belgium, celebrate a near identical figure, Sint-Maarten (Saint Martin of Tours).[1]. The strategy of selling a console at a loss or near-loss is common in the console games industry, as console makers can usually expect to make up the investment with revenue from game licensing.

In Greece, Saint Nicholas is sometimes substituted for Saint Basil (Vasilis in Greek), a 4th century AD bishop from Caesarea. BusinessWeek magazine compiled a report which estimates that the total cost of all of the components in the "premium" bundle is $525 USD, aside from additional manufacturing costs, meaning that Microsoft is losing at least $126 on every Xbox 360 system sold in the US, and at least as much in Japan. Saint Nicholas became revered by many as the patron saint of seamen, merchants, archers, children, prostitutes, pharmacists, lawyers, pawnbrokers, prisoners, the city of Amsterdam and of Russia. However because of the existence of a Core System edition, many games do not require a hard drive. Nicholas were transported to Bari in southern Italy by some enterprising Italian merchants; a basilica was constructed in 1087 to house them and the area became a pilgrimage site for the devout. Microsoft's decision has also allowed Japanese developers to fully utilize the hard drive to optimize game performance, since it is part of the default system configuration in their market. The relics of St. Japanese pricing of the console has drawn some criticism, as customers there will be able to purchase the Xbox 360 full package, albeit one region-coded for Japan, for a lower price than in other countries.

In Europe (more precisely the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria and Germany) he is still portrayed as a bearded bishop in canonical robes. The Xbox 360 Premium Edition is being sold in America for $399.99. He was very religious from an early age and devoted his life entirely to Christianity. The Core System is not available in Japan, instead Microsoft offers a package identical to the Xbox 360 SKU for ¥37,900 ($323.90 as of 21 December 05 8:09 UTC, [1]). He was born at Patara, province of Lycia, Asia Minor. In United Kingdom and Europe, the console is available in two versions: an Xbox 360 SKU, frequently referred to as the "Xbox 360 Premium Package"; and an Xbox 360 Core System SKU. Nicholas was famous for his generous gifts to the poor, in particular presenting the three impoverished daughters of a pious Christian with dowries so that they would not have to become prostitutes. Microsoft's current retail strategy involves two different configurations of the Xbox 360 in most countries.

The first of these is Saint Nicholas of Myra, a 4th century AD Christian bishop of Myra in Lycia, a province of Byzantine Anatolia, now in Turkey. . The modern Santa Claus is thought to be a composite character made up from the merging of quite separate figures. Australia and New Zealand, after being delayed, have been set-back from March 2 to March 23. Since most activities associated with Santa Claus are extraordinary, such as delivering presents to all of the believing children in one night, keeping track of where every believing child lives, how he squeezes down chimneys, how he enters homes without chimneys, how he delivers presents without tripping motion detectors if the Christmas tree is not in the same room as the fireplace, why he never dies, how he makes reindeer fly, and how he survives in the cold at the North Pole, "magic" is usually used to explain his actions.
. It will be released February 24 in South Korea, March 16, 2006 in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan (Delayed from original March 2 launch date). Sometimes Santa's home is in Caesarea when he is identified as Saint Basil. The Xbox 360 was released on November 22, 2005 in United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico, December 2 in Europe, December 10 in Japan, February 2, 2006 in Mexico and Colombia.

His home is usually given as either the North Pole, in northern Canada, Korvatunturi in Finnish Lapland, Dalecarlia in Sweden, or Greenland, depending on the tradition and country. It is equipped with 512 MB of RAM and uses the DVD-ROM storage medium for Xbox 360 game software. Some modern depictions of Santa (often in advertising and popular entertainment) will show the elves and Santa's workshop as more of a processing and distribution facility, ordering and receiving the toys from various toy manufacturers from across the world. The console hardware is based on a custom IBM PowerPC-based "Xenon" central processing unit (CPU) and a custom ATI R500-based "Xenos" graphics processing unit (GPU). Claus and his elves manufacturing toys. The Xbox 360 configuration, often referred to as the "Premium Edition", includes a hard drive (required for backwards compatibility with original Xbox games), a wireless controller, a headset, an Ethernet cable, an Xbox Live silver subscription, and a component HD AV cable (which can also be used on non-HD TVs). During the rest of the year he lives together with his wife Mrs. In all countries except Japan the console is sold in two different configurations: the "Xbox 360" and the "Xbox 360 Core System".

To enter the house, Santa Claus comes down the chimney and exits through the fireplace. The Xbox 360 will compete amongst the upcoming generation of consoles, including the Sony PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Revolution, and was officially unveiled on MTV on May 12, 2005, a week before the E3 trade show. On Christmas Eve, he rides in his sleigh pulled by flying reindeer from house to house to give presents to children. The Xbox 360 is Microsoft's second video game console, the successor to their original Xbox. Conventionally, Santa Claus is portrayed as a kindly, round-bellied, merry, bespectacled white man in a red coat trimmed with white fur (perhaps remotely derived from the episcopal vestments of the original Bishop Nicholas), with a long white beard and green or white gloves. Membership to the Xbox 360 VIP website. Much of the iconography of Santa Claus could be seen to derive from Russian traditions of Ded Moroz, particularly transmitted into western European culture through his German folklore equivalent, Väterchen Frost. One Xbox 360 Preview DVD.

He delivers presents to children and has a red coat, fur boots and long white beard. One Wireless Controller. Depictions of Santa Claus also have a close relationship with the Russian character of Ded Moroz ("Grandfather Frost"). Perfect Dark Zero. In many Eastern Orthodox traditions, Santa Claus visits children on New Year's Day and is identified with Saint Basil whose memory is celebrated on that day. Xbox 360 Faceplate. He forms an important part of the Christmas tradition throughout the Western world and Japan and other parts of East Asia. Friends Lists.

This inspired the mythical figure of Sinterklaas, the subject of a major celebration in the Netherlands and Belgium, Germany (where his alleged date of death, December 6, is celebrated the evening before on December 5), which in turn inspired both the myth and the name of Santa Claus (actually a mispronunciation of the Dutch word "Sinterklaas" by the English settlers of New Amsterdam (later renamed New York)). Custom Playlists. Santa is a variant of a European person folk tale based on the historical figure Saint Nicholas, a bishop from the region that is now present-day Turkey, who gave presents to the poor. Favorites List. . Marketplace. Father Christmas is also present instead of "Santa" in Italy ("Babbo Natale"), Brazil ("Papai Noel"), Czech_Republic ("Ježíšek"), Portugal ("Pai Natal"), Romania ("Moş Crăciun"), Germany ("Weihnachtsmann"), Ireland ("Daidí na Nollag"), France and French Canada ("Le Père Noël"), Spain and Mexico ("Papá Noel"), Afghanistan ("Baba Chaghaloo"), and South Africa. Xbox Live.

Using 'Santa' in places that predominantly call him 'Father Christmas' is often viewed as an Americanism and is quite rare, although they are generally regarded as the same character. Initial Setup - Runs the system setup that executes the first time the Xbox 360 is used. "Father Christmas" is similar in many ways, though the two have quite different origins. Computers - Manage connections to other computers over network. Father Christmas is a well-loved figure in many countries and predates the "Santa Claus" character. Network Settings - Create and manage internet connections, set up wireless connections. Each name is a variation of Saint Nicholas, but refers to Santa Claus. Memory - Manage things on the harddrive such as game saves, profiles, and downloaded content.

Santa Claus (also known as Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Father Christmas, Kris Kringle, Santy or simply Santa) is a folk hero in various cultures who distributes presents to children, traditionally on Christmas Eve. Family Settings - Toggle parental controls, adjust profile levels. "Why Track Him?" at NORADsanta.org. Console Settings - Edit Xbox 360 settings such as display, audio, and language. ISBN 0609605631. Media Center - Activate Media Center extender. New York: Crown Publishers, 2000. Video - Watch videos stored on the HD.

Twenty Ads that Shook the World. Pictures - View pictures stored on a camera, a computer or other portable devices. Twitchell, James B. Music - Listen to music from the hard drive, computer or other USB-connected devices. ISBN 0786402466. Trailers - Watch downloaded movie/game trailers. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 1996. Demos - Play downloaded game demos.

Santa Claus, Last of the Wild Men: The Origins and Evolution of Saint Nicholas, Spanning 50,000 Years. Xbox Live Arcade - Allows the user to play games they have downloaded from the Xbox Live Marketplace. Siefker, Phyllis. Played Games - Displays a list of all the games the user has played. ISBN 0060972610. Achievements - Allows the user to view all of their unlocked achievements from games they have played. New York: HarperCollins, 1988. Xbox Live Marketplace - Download a wide variety of content such as avatars, trailers, even game demos.

Legends, Lies, and Cherished Myths of American History. Friends - Displays the user's Xbox Live friend list. Shenkman, Richard. Messages - View messages, friend requests or game invites sent by other Xbox Live members. ISBN 0822216310. Connect to Xbox Live - If offline, allows the user to connect to Xbox Live. New York: Dramatists Play Service, 1998. There are several ways to utilize the custom soundtrack option: by ripping music from audio CD's, by streaming music directly from a PC, plugging in a USB Flash Drive, or by plugging in a USB-capable portable music player.

The Santaland Diaries and Seasons Greetings: Two Plays. Microsoft claims all games will support custom music. Sedaris, David. 3 USB 2.0 ports. Nicholas of Myra" in the Catholic Encyclopedia at NewAdvent.org. Some games will optionally support native 1080i and 480p video resolutions as well. "St. The GPU can downsample 720p to lower display resolutions (including 480i SDTV and 480p) and dynamically crop or scale 16:9 to fit 4:3 screens.

ISBN 097488958X. All games must support a 16:9 aspect ratio, and a minimum of 720p HD resolution with 2x full-scene anti-aliasing enabled. 1948; facsimile reprint, Mohegan Lake, N.Y.: Red Jacket Press, 2005. DVD playback on the console has similar lockouts. Roads. Games bought for the console in a specific region can only be played in a console from the same region, though some games are region-free. Quinn, Seabury. The console makes use of regional lockout.

"Celluloid Santas" at Factmonster.com. Media Center Extender capability. Potter, Alicia. Support for WMV HD and progressive or interlaced DVD video playback. 309-317. 45.9 cm (L) x 35.8 cm (W) x 18.3 cm (H) (22.15 x 20.15 x 13.27 in). 302 (October-December 1963), pp. Weight 3.5 kg (7.7 lb).

"The Japanese Popular Christmas: Coping with Modernity." American Journal of Folklore, 76, no. additional MPEG2 decoder for DVD video playback. Plath, David W. Bink Video is licensed for games like Project Gotham Racing 3. ISBN 0961423498. VC-1 supports DVD quality and high definition quality video. Kennewick, Wash.: Natural Products Company, 1993. VC-1 or WMV will be used for streaming video.

Pharmacotheon: Entheogenic Drugs, Their Plant Sources and History. VC-1 at non-HD NTSC and PAL resolutions. Ott, Jonathan. Uses XMA codec (advanced audio technology from Microsoft). 17-29. Voice communication except during games or applications that do not support voice. 1 (Summer 1994), pp. No voice echo to game players on the same Xbox console; voice goes only to remote consoles.

"Yes, Virginia, There is a Gender Difference: Analyzing Children's Requests to Santa Claus." Journal of Popular Culture, 28, no. 256+ audio channels. Otnes, Cele, Kyungseung Kim, and Young Chan Kim. 32 bit processing. ISBN 0649412239. 320 independent decompression channels. Knopf, 1996. Supports 48 kHz 16-bit audio.

New York: Alfred A. All games support at least six channel (5.1) Dolby Digital surround sound. The Battle for Christmas. 1 TFLOPS theoretical peak performance of CPU and GPU combined. Nissenbaum, Stephen. 115 GFLOPS theoretical peak performance for CPU. December 23, 1823. 1 GB/s southbridge bandwidth (aggregated 500 MB/s upstream and downstream).

Nicholas." Troy (N.Y.) Sentinel. 21.6 GB/s front side bus (aggregated 10.8 GB/s upstream and downstream). "A Visit from St. 32 GB/s GPU to eDRAM bandwidth (2 GHz × 2 accesses per clock cycle on a 64 bit DDR bus). [Moore, Clement Clarke]. 256 GB/s eDRAM internal logic to eDRAM internal memory bandwidth. In the Ten Ages of Christmas at BBC.co.uk. 22.4 GB/s memory interface bus bandwidth (700 MHz × 2 accesses per clock cycle (one per edge) on a 128 bit bus).

ISBN 0393057178. 96 Shader operations per cycle across the entire shader array. Norton, 2005. 2 Shader operations per pipe per cycle. W. Support for DirectX 9.0 Shader Model 3.0, limited support for future DirectX 10 shader models. New York: W. Unified shader architecture (This means that each pipeline is capable of running either pixel or vertex shaders.).

Classical Music in America: A History of Its Rise and Fall. 1 ALU per fragmentpipe for vertex or pixel shader processing. Horowitz, Joseph. 3 groups of 16 arithmetic logic units. ISBN 0879758481. 48-way parallel floating-point dynamically-scheduled shader pipelines