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Xbox Original Xbox nostalgia.

Oscillator

Oscillator

Moblin
Apologies for contributing to the glut of Xbox threads... hopefully this one brings some good vibes. ^_^










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The original Xbox never outsold the PS2, but it pretty much set the template for where console design would go from then on.

  • Integrated hard drive
  • PC derived architecture that allowed tools to be developed and shared between PC and console
  • Fully fleshed out live service that allowed online multiplayer and DLC

Insanely forward thinking console, and it had the games to match. It's an absolute travesty what has happened to the Xbox brand since.
 
JazzPotatoes said:
The original Xbox never outsold the PS2, but it pretty much set the template for where console design would go from then on.

  • Integrated hard drive
  • PC derived architecture that allowed tools to be developed and shared between PC and console
  • Fully fleshed out live service that allowed online multiplayer and DLC

Insanely forward thinking console, and it had the games to match. It's an absolute travesty what has happened to the Xbox brand since.
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Yeah. Launched by setting a template both for multiple XB/PS consoles that would follow it and for online multiplayer and infrastructure on consoles in general. Then was able to capitalise on the late and pricey PS3 launch to give 360 the boost it needed to bed in as a major competitor, getting players all set up in the whole ‘digital ecosystem’ that then encourages people to go not only where their friends are, but where their old games are too.

The original Xbox was disruptive in the best way.

But then the XB1 launch happened with a plan that put domination over the living room as a US-focused media hub first, and giving a portfolio of studios room to grow and make the games they are good at making second. They’ve been circling the drain ever since.

Thing is, it’s not like their original XB/360 plans weren’t aimed at grabbing the console gaming mainstream from Sony. It’s just that they did it by making online gaming both easy and attractive with good games, a platform people wanted to be on. That’s like running a games platform 101.
 
PixelKnight said:
Yeah. Launched by setting a template both for multiple XB/PS consoles that would follow it and for online multiplayer and infrastructure on consoles in general. Then was able to capitalise on the late and pricey PS3 launch to give 360 the boost it needed to bed in as a major competitor, getting players all set up in the whole ‘digital ecosystem’ that then encourages people to go not only where their friends are, but where their old games are too.

The original Xbox was disruptive in the best way.

But then the XB1 launch happened with a plan that put domination over the living room as a US-focused media hub first, and giving a portfolio of studios room to grow and make the games they are good at making second. They’ve been circling the drain ever since.

Thing is, it’s not like their original XB/360 plans weren’t aimed at grabbing the console gaming mainstream from Sony. It’s just that they did it by making online gaming both easy and attractive with good games, a platform people wanted to be on. That’s like running a games platform 101.
Click to expand...

It's easy to forget now, but back when Xbox Live first appeared, it was an absolute game changer for the gaming industry. When they finally got round to launching it after the actual console launch, it just felt light-years ahead of anything Sony and Nintendo were doing with multiplayer. Not only the actual online multiplayer, but the interface, the integration of things like lobbies and clans, the communication. As you say, disruptive in the best way.

People also forget that Live was so disruptive that initially some publishers refused to play ball:- EA famously refused to allow online multiplayer for their games and we're publicly mulling launching their own version of Live that you would have to pay for separately. Absolutely mad times...

Also, it cannot be understated just how hungry the Xbox team was at that point to prove themselves and get killer games on the console. The OG Xbox has a slew of games that deserve to sit on the all-time list: Both Halos, Panzer Dragoon Orta, Ninja Gaiden Black, KOTOR, Steel Battalion, Morrowind... Phenomenal
 
I never owned an original Xbox, but playing Halo 2 at a friend's house made up my mind to get a 360 (which I did super late). I also played a bunch of the Chronicles of Riddick, Project Gotham Racing, and a bunch of titles that make me really have appreciation for a console that I never really owned.

I was in Dublin a few months ago and I went into a second-hand shop that had Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory (one of my favourite games of the PS2-Xbox-GC era) for the Xbox and I just impulse-bought it and it is still crazy good. That gen was, IMO, when 3D gaming really grew into its own.

Which brings me into what an amazing piece of hardware the Series X that you can put game discs from 20 years ago and they just work, and how sad I am that it is going to be the last of its kind (and rightfully so)
 
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Chaos Theory is still the best stealth game to this day, and nothing else since has come even close.

Splinter Cell in general is crazily underrated - a number of other games get credited for gameplay innovations that actually had their start here.
 
JazzPotatoes said:
Chaos Theory is still the best stealth game to this day, and nothing else since has come even close.

Splinter Cell in general is crazily underrated - a number of other games get credited for gameplay innovations that actually had their start here.
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Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory owns. I loved the series so much growing up, and you're absolutely right that nothing else has come close. I played 1 and CT to death (somehow skipped pandora tomorrow due to me living far away from game stores and then not finding it for the GameCube), and even played the weird 2D side scrolling Splinter Cells on the GBA which were really fun. Then it kind of lost me in the 360 era with its turn towards more spectacle, but they were still OK games.

One of the things I love about the original Splinter Cell games is their commitment to stealth gameplay. Life will get harder for you if you screw up, and the satisfaction from clearing a level without sounding off alarms, without killing anyone, just in, out, is a dopamine hit that few games can manage to pull off. I'd argue is because even the best stealth-adjacent games don't make you play stealthily. Dishonored 1 and 2 are amazing games, and you can infiltrate but the game gives you too many options to not do so. Hitman is also great, especially the newer ones, but there's something that only Splinter Cell could manage.
 
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The thing that Chaos Theory understands is that just because you're forcing the player to play stealthily, that doesn't mean you can't give them options.

Most other games with stealth as an option generally force the player down a strict path of playing a certain way, or foregoing stealth entirely. Chaos Theory gives the player so many choices in any given situation that you never feel like stealth is limiting your actions. Different gadgets, different paths, different actions and moves, all of it there to give you different options in how to be a sneaky bastard
 
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My cousins had an Xbox, while I was still mainly gaming on an old PS1. None of my close friends had a PS2 and I don't think I've ever played one for more than 15 minutes. I only got a GameCube in early 2005, so that Xbox was pretty much the defining experience of that generation for me.

My fondest memories are from playing Halo 1 and 2 co-op, or spending countless hours lost in the world of Morrowind.
 
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Console absolutely rules if you’re a Sega fan. I will praise Outrun 2 all day as an incredible arcade racer that everyone needs to play. In general it’s also a great console to collect for if you’re into retro games as games are cheaper than the PS2/Gamecube versions and often look and run better.
 
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Give it up give it up give it up for Master T
Say "HO" to the greatest rapper round the DJTJ
I jammed your rep, your head spinning like a B-Ball
Can't stop it, can't even slow it down y'all
You know you got no choice you gotta move when I get goin
Move to the rhythm of the funk when I get flowin
Heh. Toejam's in the hood!
Damn I'm good.
 
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Halo really changed the way I view shooters and even today its influence is felt across the industry. Me and my friends would spend nights playing halo 2 online. Eventually only me and my friend Luke would play Halo 3 together. He would text me at like around 11:30pm with just the words "Halo" and we would be online going through the matchmaking playlist.

So many good fun times.
 
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The strength of the original Xbox was that it brought PC experiences to console users. That machine was beefy. You of course had Halo at launch which was far above any other shooter on the console market at the time. If you wanted to play the best versions of all those Tom Clancy games, including Splinter Cell, you had to play them on Xbox. KOTOR and Fable brought a level of choice making that wasn't present in most console RPGs. You could play slightly compromised, but still proficient, versions of Doom 3 and Half-Life 2. Then there's of course Xbox Live which unfortunately introduced paid online play but it was well above what was offered on PS2. It would take Sony a few years into the PS3's lifespan to offer anything comparable.
 
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For months I used one beach's screen from Dead or Alive 3 as my desktop wallpaper. That console was a beast back on these days and everything from it was truly impressive.
 
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