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Why wasn’t the original Xbox a bigger success

Main reason it wasn’t a huge success?

  • Total voters
    151
tr1p1ex said:
I remember BF1942 on pc in 2002. I was playing on dial up initially iirc. I don't think I had broadband in my area yet for another ~ year. I was in a suburb of a top 20 city. Not in the boondocks.

Broadband in console ahead of its time in 2001.
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Dreamcast/GameCube had a broadband adapters, but yes the OG Xbox was the first console with built in broadband.
 
Ramiro_Rodriguez said:
Mostly because of the dominance of the ps2 and "problems" with a few but important third parties (Square, EA, Take Two(mostly GTA)).
The launch line up (Halo, DoA 3, PGR) was so awesome like their support of the whole generaton.
We speak about PGR 2, RalliSport Challenge 1+2, Halo 2, ports like Doom 3 and Half-Life 2, Amped 1+2, Crimson Skies, Conker, Forza etc. in four years.
The price wasn't much higher than the PS2 launch price and they reduced it a few weeks after launch.
The DVD playback kit wasn't really expensive.
The Dolby Digital 5.1 support and the LAN support were maybe too early, but nice to have for a few gamers.
And i loed the duke.
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OG Xbox was a beast.
 
Well the main reason was the cost of the Xbox to manufacture. The millions of southbridges being scrapped & GPU cost due to the contract with Nvidia done the "xbox in" in the end.

It's why it was scrapped in 2005 and the Xbox 360 came out. They never made the same mistake with that 😂

So wasn't just game or PS2 like folk will think.

If you didn't know:
Microsoft scrapped millions of Southbridges because they were susceptible to multiple attack vectors. Ironically, using tea in the next version was even worse, and they gave up after that one. 😂
 
The only answer any poll needs is "PS2".

Also the Xbox launched at a ridiculously high price in Europe, and it was just too big.

In hindsight, I'd love to have experienced it in its time. But I couldn't afford it.
 
Because MS was so dead set on beating Sony that they killed it early so they could rush out the social engineering machine known as the xbox 360.
 
I think the name put off many non-Americans. It's just a dude-bro name and so cringe to use the letter x. Plus, being associated with Microsoft put off many including myself.
 
Katatonic said:
Because MS was so dead set on beating Sony that they killed it early so they could rush out the social engineering machine known as the xbox 360.
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They killed it because it was losing too much money due to component pricing contracts. It was actually showing noticeable install base growth in it's last year due to PS2 owners seeing it as an upgrade. It quite often had the best versions of multi platform titles.
 
Back in the day I remember seeing once the original Xbox at a friend's house, seldomly would see GameCubes and Dreamcasts, while everyone else had a PS2.

I think general perception was that the original Xbox was too expensive in Brazil, despite being the most powerful of the bunch.

I was one of the losers with a second hand Dreamcast. 😂

Now I have all of them, and no time to play!
 
Punished Miku said:
I had all 3 systems. Xbox was definitely the best 3rd party machine. GameCube the best 1st party machine. PS2 was by far the worst of the 3 but got the most games.
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Wouldn't that make PS2 the best 3rd party machine by default?
At any rate - had Digital Foundry existed back then - PS2 would have won more than half of the matchups against GC. And even some against the XBox - and indeed, that's before looking at all the titles where PS2 won by default because one or both of the others didn't show up.

Anyway - XBox and GC really competed with PSOne that generation - and they both lost that one too (neither of them were number 2 globally).

Connxtion said:
Well the main reason was the cost of the Xbox to manufacture. The millions of southbridges being scrapped & GPU cost due to the contract with Nvidia done the "xbox in" in the end.
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I don't remember the SB bit - but I do remember cost to manufacture stayed flat while they kept cutting the price to match the PS2. Had they tried selling at 99$ (the final PS2 price point) they'd be losing 200$ more than they already were at launch per unit - so indeed, better sales would have not been desire-able at that point.

Anyway what I find bonkers in that generation is how many exclusives sold poorly or completely bombed. Not just on XBox (that was common place indeed) but also PS2 and GC - yet 3rd parties kept making them. Meanwhile almost all the top-sellers were multi-platform.
That and the fact that PS2 reduced price model actually added functionality - nowadays we get feature cuts and price bumps instead.
 
Same reason why it's not that popular these days. Western centric focus (for the most part) and not really focusing on JRPG's, anime and boobs.)
 
Great hardware (besides it's shitty DVD player), with a "small handful" of fantastic exclusives.

PS2 not only had the largest third party support (by a monumental margin), but a lot of the killer games from other publishers like GTA3/VC, MGS2 took over a year to hit Xbox. And the sequels didn't even release on the platform that gen.

As good as the few exclusive games we're on Xbox, they couldn't compete with what was on PS2. Not even close. For instance...

DMC 1,3
RE4
RE CV, Outbreak
SotC
Ico
FFX
MGS3
Okami
AC 3,5,0
Tekken 4,5, Tag
Dark Chronicle
God of War 1,2
Gran Turismo 3,
God Hand
Haunting Ground
Siren
Yakuza 1,2
Shinobido
Socom
Suikoden 4
Twisted Metal Black
Zone of Enders
Pro Evo 3

Literally a few of many that come to my mind easily. I can't do the same with Xbox.

Controller was also abysmal. To the point where I used a converter so I could enjoy Ninja Garden with a DualShock 2.
 
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PS2 had PS1 momentum and a lot of killer 3rd party exclusives. If you wanted to play FFX, FFXII, Silent Hill 2 or Silent Hill 3, Devil May Cry, etc, you needed a PS2.
 
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The PS1 -> PS2 hype was enormous. I don't think anything could have taken it down. The original Xbox did a lot of things right and cemented itself as a viable competitor, which was enough. I actually preferred the Xbox to the PS2 back in the day.
 
Brand skepticism. They were the new kid on the block and I don't think anyone thought Microsoft could challenge the hegemony of PlayStation. Even with an excellent library, Halo and the online focus, it was never going to shift mega units. They could've done everything right but they simply had too much to prove.

It did lay the foundations for Xbox 360, which was strong right out the gate and a much slicker console. The brand had cultivated a truly hardcore following with the original Xbox, which transferred right over to the sequel.

When Nintendo went down the Wii route and PlayStation initially floundered with PS3, the Xbox brand was the #1 choice for hardcore gamers. To put it bluntly, if you weren't buying a 360 over a PS3 in the years 2006-2007, you were probably dropped on the head as a baby.
 
Microsoft had a bad rep back then already.
Europeans and Japanese aren't as open to such a company.
Sony and Nintendo were the safe bet, what everyone knew and liked.
People are simple.
 
Amazing console in my opinion, loved the custom soundtrack ability and how well it was implemented, multiplats looked great on it and of course the birth of Xbox Live.

All the potential they have had and to see where they are now. What a waste.
 
Going up against the success of the PS1 and PS2 was a monumental task. While the Xbox had decent Japanese 3rd party support, it lacked a quality JRPG back then.

Having Xbox Live available at launch with online functionality for Halo, DOA3, PGR and sports games could have been a game changer.

Myself, I think the OG Xbox was the best Xbox and helped set up the success of the X360.
 
The main two factors were timing and being the new kid on the block. PS2 was a juggernaut at the time and had already established dominance. It was like a small boat launched into a massive headwind.

The association with Microsoft did not help. Neither did awkward design choices like the bulky console and the Duke controller.

It probably would've flopped, had it not been for Halo.

I liked it, personally. It's probably my favorite console, simply because of the memories of that time. It was a fun time to be a gamer. There was something cool about being on the underdog team. I know it's strange to refer to Microsoft as the "underdog," but it was a very different Xbox back then.
 
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Fafalada said:
Wouldn't that make PS2 the best 3rd party machine by default?
At any rate - had Digital Foundry existed back then - PS2 would have won more than half of the matchups against GC. And even some against the XBox - and indeed, that's before looking at all the titles where PS2 won by default because one or both of the others didn't show up.
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I'm an expert, and I'll tell you openly why the Xbox failed.

Microsoft's plan was simple: we have a better PlayStation 2 than Sony's.
The problem (here, a console lives or dies) is perception. I was there in 2001, I had the magazines. Microsoft always released numbers twice as high as the PS2, yeh nice.
But when the games came out, GT3 seemed more eye candy than PGR, Jak had more charisma than Azurik, GTA 3 than Obi-Wan. Only DOA 3 and Halo were far superior to the PS2, but two or four advanced games aren't enough. So the PS2 dropped its price in 2002, and the Xbox and GameCube lost traction.

To make matters worse for the Xbox, PS2 games became substantially more advanced in 2003 and the following years. All this proves that they at Sony were on their guard.
 
I have been playing around with the xemu emulator and it has been a walk down memory lane for xbox. There are some oddball games on that console.

xemu is finally good now.
 
Punished Miku said:
I had all 3 systems. Xbox was definitely the best 3rd party machine. GameCube the best 1st party machine. PS2 was by far the worst of the 3 but got the most games. It is what it is. Popularity contest basically. Japanese games weren't universally available everywhere at the time, and western games were just barely starting to gain an audience on console. FPS and WRPG wouldn't explode until 360 era, but the seeds were there already with Morrowind, KOTOR, Jade Empire, Halo, etc.

P.S. Steel Battalion was awesome.
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Steel Battalion is great yes. Believe it or not, I have a complete in box set! Bought it 60$ years ago.
 
The biggest contributor is the late release, there was a mere 3-4 years between dukebox and th 360, depending on region. That's a short time to build a following from scratch.

The second reason is the credibility of Microsoft. I mean, I follow games and it took me a while for it to sink in that Xbox had some seriously good shit - Halo, Rallisport Challenge, Panzer Dragoon, Splinter Cell, Ninja Gaiden, Midtown Madness, high res GTA Vice City, KOTOR…
 
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Azelover said:
Mostly late release.. but also it lacked the right games. Nintendo had their longtime popular IP, Sony had GTA as exclusive and a bunch of other hits. With Xbox the only thing that really caught on was Halo..
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Late doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things or DreamCast would have done way better.
 
There was no option for "it was lame/gay."

That's what I would've clicked. My friends and I did a whole podcast episode where we talking about our favorite video game consoles of all-time. Toward the very end, one of my friends was like "oh yeah, we didn't acknowledge X-Box at all." Then we all laughed and moved on.
 
The truth is that is lacked 3rd party games. Moreover, the games they did have, lacked really taking advantage of the hardware. The OG XBOX was so much more powerful than a PS2 that it was essentially a new generation, but developers did not fully take advantage of it due to the smaller install base.
 
OG Xbox was somehow a success, at least for MS, it secured the 360, and that´s because:

- It took worldwide console sales second place from Nintendo.
- Brought franchises like Halo, Forza Motorsports, 3D Ninja Gaiden, Fable, which are relevant still today.
- Had less exclusives than PS2, but some of them were high ranked games and/or cult classics like Project Gotham, the DOAs, Otogi, JSRF, Panzer Dragoon Orta, US Shenmue 2, Unreal Championship, etc...
- Due it´s power, had the best multiplattform version of hot games like San Andreas, Splinter Cell, NFSU, etc.
- Had console-exclusive PC ports of historical games like Morrowind, Doom 3, Half Life 2, Far Cry, impossible to replicate on any other console from that gen.
- In regions like Latin América, or at least my country, Colombia, due the possibility of modding it and install on it pirated games and emulators, and also having Halo and hot 3rd partys, like Def Jam, GTA, NFSU, PES, Black, Burnout, Silent Hill, etc, it became the actual "On Vogue" console during mid 00s, even above PS2. Since PS2 price was too high during it´s first and FAT model years here, and DC and GCN were not that popular (but also not that unknown), lotta people here made the jump from PS1 straight to OG Xbox by 04 to 06, believe it or not. Of course PS2 was also way popular here (and PSP Too), but that happened when it became affordable with the slim model and specially after OG Xbox lost it´s impulse due to the first 360 years. So PS2 had it´s peak here on the second half of the 2000s and ultimately became the cheapest way to have a console with games still releasing if you couldnt afford Wii/360/PS3

So, call me crazy, but Xbox Series and even One would whish some of all OG Xbox milestones.
 
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There's always a console that just hits that sweet spot of being powerful enough without being clunky and expensive to develop for, big install base, and fair price. Unfortunately the other competition get relegated to the sidelines even if they aren't bad consoles like Xbox and GameCube.

NES, SNES, PS1, PS2, 360, PS4, Switch just have that magic sauce.
 
Xbox signed some terrible contracts with component manufacturers like NVidia which made dropping and keeping up with the PS2's pricing rather painful which helped Microsoft cut the lifecycle of the product rather short. Considering it was the new kid on the block and going up against the behemoth that was the PS2, I think it did reasonably well thanks in large part to Halo. It's sad that they didn't take better care of that franchise and fitting as that's a large part of why they'll be exiting the console space all-together.
 
PS2 is the most overrated system ever. OG Xbox was much better with better games.
Failed because people were dubious about Microsoft and PS2 had a huge head start. Games were better on Xbox but PS2 got GTA3 and Vice City first and those were the killer apps that generation.
 
Because the PS2 was an absolute cultural juggernaut. I had all four at the time, even the Dreamcast. I actually thought the GameCube was the best. I honestly didn't get the success at the time. I vividly remember getting the PS2 the day after playing Sonic Adventure 2, Soul Caliber etc and being surprised how blurry everything was. Thought something was wrong with the TV. GameCube over a good component was so sharp and even the most graphically demanding games were 60fps. Splinter Cell on the Xbox wss like a different generation to the PS2 version and so on. Ultimately the PS2 was the Minecraft, Fortnight, Roblox of it's time. It was the in thing. If the Series X version looked a generation ahead of the PS5's it would matter to us as adults. However, most kids don't care.
 
bender said:
Xbox signed some terrible contracts with component manufacturers like NVidia which made dropping and keeping up with the PS2's pricing rather painful which helped Microsoft cut the lifecycle of the product rather short. Considering it was the new kid on the block and going up against the behemoth that was the PS2, I think it did reasonably well thanks in large part to Halo. It's sad that they didn't take better care of that franchise and fitting as that's a large part of why they'll be exiting the console space all-together.
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People blame nvidia (they were not very competetive with ATI in terms of price, that's true) but it was the HDD cost that made them stop and then launch the 360 where they charged extortionate prices for proprietary HDDs.

Moore: Hard Drive 'Killed' Original Xbox, Forced Microsoft to Prematurely Abandon Platform

www.shacknews.com www.shacknews.com

They were having difficulty competing with PS2s prices. The PS2 did price cuts down to $150 with a better library of games. So in normal MS fashion they killed the installbase/sales to increase their margins.
 
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Microsoft had an uphill battle because they were Microsoft. People were skeptical about their intentions, and I can understand why. After Dreamcast's demise I was very curious about a new kid on the block, but a lot of people were not.

Xbox was very America focused, from the design to the services and marketing. In my country Sweden Xbox launched at a retail price of what had been 770 USD in today's money. They slashed the price by 200 USD after just two months offering us who had bought it two games and an extra controller. Xbox existed in Europe, but it was a small platform outside of the UK. And in Japan, well you know what happened there. Xbox was always America first, and that became obvious once again when they revealed the Xbox One.
 
PS2 avalanched all the other consoles that generation (far and away the best and widest third-party support) bar the GBA.
GC and XB battled for a distant second place and end up, more or less, to a draw (XB sold a bit better in USA, GC a bit better in Japan), with the difference that GC was overall profitable instead Microsoft burnt $4 billion on the first Xbox without batting a eyelid (Sega was forced out of the console business with "only" $1 billion of losses...*) which highlight well the difference between big corporations and smaller gaming companies like Nintendo and Sega.


* EDIT: Considering only the console division of Sega the operating losses from April 1994 to March 2021, so roughly one and half generation, amounted to ¥220 Bn).
 
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RetroGamingUK said:
@Team Andromeda got me thinking about this.

I recall buying one (the crystal model) along with Halo 2 at launch and a Live subscription and having an unforgettable experience online that weekend.

I soon built up a decent collection and it became my main console towards the latter half of that gen once PES went online.

I also loved the Sega exclusives and excellent PC ports like Doom and Half-Life.

I was quite surprised when it was dropped shortly after the 360 released.

So, what happened? Why couldn't it compete with PS2?
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6th gen was most competetive console gen ever, og xbox was fire(had it myself too, likely as only guy in my smalltown), it hag huge hardware advantage vs other 3 consoles and it had plethora of console only and true exclusives+ many multiplats, but simply competition from ps2 was too strong, it still sold not bad considering it had to compete vs industry veterans like sega and ninny on top of best/most sold stationary console ever, ps2 had crazy amount of high quality big profile exclusives, to name a few 3 full fat gta games that were at least back then 10/10 and even now are considered classics- exclusives, very highly praised FF game back when franchise was at its prime(ff10) on top of ff11, and ff12 too.

OG xbox would sell much better than xbox one and xbox series if it could compete vs current gen consoles instead(ninny with its switch/switch2 that are handheld hardware and playstation with ps5/pr0), likely would break x360 sales records.
 
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