There were a number of people who thought that a hard drive was overkill in a game console. Enter Blinx: The Time Sweeper. Here's a game that uses the hard disk in such a unique way, they were able to patent it. And that's the X-Factor of it—the time controls inBlinx are only possible on Xbox.
Here's how it works: as you play, you collect "time crystals." Collect three of the same type and you gain a time power. Record actions, play them back and have dual characters cooperate to complete challenges. Throw the world into slow motion while moving about in real-time, fast-forward to achieve goals more quickly, or even rewind the world to gain more chances to complete challenges, open hidden areas, and more. Then you use these time controls strategically throughout the game to get an edge on your opponents, or get into areas you wouldn't be able to otherwise.
There are also non-strategic places to use time controls—because the visual effects are that cool. For instance, freeze time and then run around in the water… you leave a trench behind you like walking through a snow drift. Visually impressive, but visually clever as well.
In case you wonder about such things, here's why (in very broad terms): The game accesses about 200MB of the hard drive to constantly cache the game information. As you invoke the time controls, the game looks to the cached information. Then it can replay, rewind, and manipulate gameplay any way you need to show a time control. So we got a whole new gameplay direction inBlinx, I think it's really going to expand how games are developed. (Good thing they patented it.)
