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[Hector Hall]

I bought and original Xbox and a Game Cube for that generation, after the demise of Dreamcast.

Good system, graphically it was ahead of both PS2 and Cube, and had a handful of great exclusives as KOTOR, Jade Empire, Ninja Gaiden/Black, Doom 3, Half Life 2, Morrowind or Halo 1/2. To be frank, FPS was like some computer crap and wasnt so popular, and could only play Morrowind fir two hours without being bored to death. But KOTOR 1 and 2 and Ninja Gaiden and Jade Empire, man I loved those.

There were also little gems as Panzeer DragoonOrta, Kingdom Under Fire or Otogi Myth of Demons.

Cube I really loved Rogue Squadron 2, Resident Evil 0 and 4, Zelda Twilight Princess and F Zero GX, and Mario Sunshine was original at the time.

Xbox flaws were it was massive, design ugly as f, controller was ass (I bought a third party one because couldn't stand the one included with the console), it missed lots of big games or got it a couple years later because MS paid, original price was totally out of market, arrived 2002 in some countries. Paying for online was seen as an aberration, too.

It made enough of a dent as to justify a second console, specially in the US, we're by 2005 numbers showed some PS2 users were getting Xbox for Halo 1/2 or access to a slightly better port of games.

 

[RoboFu]

I thought it was a pretty good success considering it was new. It had a handful of highly praised popular games.

It was big enough to make Xbox 360 a huge success.

 

[Yoboman]

You can delete all those poll answers, the answer is: PS2

 

[Breakfast at Noon]

American made console by Microsoft.
At the time a lot people just saw it as a CD32 and was expecting it just to be a fart in the wind.

 

[bender]

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

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.

I might be mixing up my OG Xbox lore with the poor documentation of the GPU and DirectX implementation that has made emulation so tricky. I would be a tad skeptical of what Moore is saying above as it might be a way to spin the reason why 360 HDD prices were so expensive, but I do remember reading about poorly thought out contracts Microsoft signed that didn't allow of price drops based on volume or age of the component and I'd guess if they signed such a disadvantageous contracts it probably wasn't an isolated occurrence.

 

[snapdragon]

DC, GC and XBOX were great systems

PS2 was just better, basically the whole gaming industry supporting it, best third party support of any home console ever

 

[snapdragon]

It was such an ugly console. Plus disaster of the Duke controller.

the design is fucking awful but the duke contorller is extremely comfy

Almost all other modern controllers feel like they are made for women or children

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

The poll should've been multiple-choice IMO because there's no one single answer to the question. Multiple factors contributed to OG Xbox "only" doing 25 million.

But I guess if I had to choose the main reason, it was lack of serious 3P support. They got some inroads with SEGA and Tecmo, but both companies still focused the bulk of their dev efforts on PS2. As did all other 3P that gen. And, large critical ones like Squaresoft & Enix just completely ignored the Xbox, for various reasons.

That's why the 360 getting as much 3P support it did (and having the better multiplats in 90% of cases from 2006 - 2010) was such as massive deal: it symbolized the Xbox brand actually being taken seriously on the same level as PlayStation for industry-wide support. It's not a coincidence that 360 saw major growth over OG Xbox and early success, in large part because of its strong 3P support from all Western 3P and most Japanese 3P. Even stalwarts like Square got onboard with 360 support, which was unthinkable to many until it happened.

Nintendo and Sony. And the fact Xbox had to come in and establish itself.

Sony launched a year earlier and was king. Nintendo GC was the established 2nd console and had the 3rd party support at launch.

Xbox didn't have Madden etc early in its lifecycle. Xbox was an unknown quantity.

Also Xbox was ahead of its time with its feature set. Broadband wasn't widespread in 2001.

But Xbox outsold the GameCube (25 million vs 21 million).

If anything, particularly in America it'd seem Xbox was the 2nd console and GameCube a very distant 3rd. But IIRC, GameCube did much better in Europe, where the Xbox was a flop.

The system had quite a few successes in its own way - especially considering that fact it had a shorter lifespan than the PS2 AND also came out after it.

I'd say the main reason was actually because they went for the 360 pivot. The marketing and release of the 360 basically nulified the system fast.

True, they did cut OG Xbox's legs short for 360. MS could've probably sold 5 million Xboxes across 2005 & 2006 if 360 had a late 2006 release instead.

However, I understand the reason for the shift. They were losing too much money on OG Xbox production, and couldn't get the prices in volume down low enough because of the way contracts were written with Intel & Nvidia. So they rather started fresh with something new.

 

[Crayon]

It was much less common for people to have a second console back then. It came a while after ps2 so most were already set for the gen.

 

[RetroGamingUK]

the design is fucking awful but the duke contorller is extremely comfy

Almost all other modern controllers feel like they are made for women or children

Nintendo (Pro) and Sony's controllers have gotten bigger.

 

[Codes 208]

Because the market was already dominated by the ps2

Even with games like halo 2 and star wars KotOR, you can only do so much when the competition already has the high ground

 

[tr1p1ex]

But Xbox outsold the GameCube (25 million vs 21 million).

If anything, particularly in America it'd seem Xbox was the 2nd console and GameCube a very distant 3rd. But IIRC, GameCube did much better in Europe, where the Xbox was a flop.

Yeah but the question was why didn't it do better.

 

[TwiztidElf]

IMO- atleast for that console, it was simply a newcomer. It was still the new guy on the block and needed to establish some sort of footing. Didnt have the foundation or games Playstation had already built via in house or partnerships.
A solid launch pad for the first half of the 360s life.

Bad poll doesn't even have a response for the main reason. No existing market presence or brand recognition. (Sure, it has branding and marketing options, but the branding and marketing was good, it was the lack of existing market presence that was the issue).

The main reason is what Bondo has posted here. No prior market presence, going up against established and strongly entrenched brands.
OG Xbox was successful in its objective, and that was to establish the brand.

 

[kevboard]

Bad poll doesn't even have a response for the main reason. No market presence or brand recognition.

The main reason is what Bondo has posted here. No prior market presence, going up against established and strongly entrenched brands.
OG Xbox was successful in its objective, and that was to establish the brand.

and it beat Nintendo. being new and beating Nintendo first try was a bigger achievement than they probably throught possible

 

[Artistic]

I was 8...9 years old when the original Xbox released.

I have no true recollection of the history but I think it was the marketing of the entire thing. I know the Halo: CE commercials had like a mystique or mysterious aura to them, to say the least.

Maybe a more aggressive approach would have been achievable and successful.

 

[IFireflyl]

Xbox was definitely the best 3rd party machine.

PS2 was by far the worst of the 3 but got the most games.

I could not disagree with you more. The PlayStation 2 and its game library is incredible. Not just in terms of quantity, but in quality.

 

[Artistic]

Most games ran better on Xbox from what I remember, should be common knowledge.

 

[Three]

Was releasing a cheaper model without a HDD not an option then?

I think that would have been difficult especially as games may have depended on a hdd cache so it would have been a lot of work so why not just launch a new gen they thought. I think it was more an issue of customer lifetime value though. They simply weren't getting enough money from customers over the lifetime of the console to cover hardware costs and some were just buying it as subsidised hardware for XBMC. PS3 had a similar issue with linux and clusters before they removed it.

I would be a tad skeptical of what Moore is saying above as it might be a way to spin the reason why 360 HDD prices were so expensive,

He was already at EA when he had that interview but maybe. He could have been excusing his actions while he was there.

 

[REDRZA MWS]

Wasn't a failure to me, bought on launch day (as with every PS console), and loved every minute. I mean freaking HALO CE packed in, built in HDD and Ethernet, and Xbox Live. Loved my OG xbox man. Played all night sessions of Halo, sports games and shooters online via broadband for that time?

 

[REDRZA MWS]

What you might be thinking of as well is that, IIRC, Madden 2003 did not have XBL while the PS2 game did have online.

With the purchase of an Ethernet adapter while Xbox came standard. MS had the foresight even back to the OG, built in HDD and Ethernet port. Xbox Live….. and yes, their hardware is almost always more powerful.

 

[RetroGamingUK]

With the purchase of an Ethernet adapter while Xbox came standard. MS had the foresight even back to the OG, built in HDD and Ethernet port. Xbox Live….. and yes, their hardware is almost always more powerful.

You're comparing March 2000 hardware to November 2001 hardware.

I don't see much point building an ethernet adaptor into PS2.

 

[bender]

He was already at EA when he had that interview but maybe. He could have been excusing his actions while he was there.

Or doing a solid for his former collogues and now business partners. I'm happy to be wrong, but I could have sworn the switch to ATI was due in part to the unfavorable contract Microsoft signed with NVidia for the Xbox. It's been ages since I've read about it so I could be conflating things.

 

[Markio128]

I loved the OG Xbox, but I think the biggest issue at the time was that it just wasn't as cool as the PS2. Sony really knew how to tap into popular culture, hence why the PS2 appealed to the mainstream.

 

[RickMasters]

P.S. Panzer Dragoon Orta was neat as well. Gunvalkyrie. Jet Set Radio. Etc. Lot of Sega games.

It was actually that initial sega partnership along with halo and PGR that made me get an OG Xbox. Overall I think they could have had a better range of first party IP. Fable was pretty cool the first time round though.

but that gen you really had to have all three. GC had Fzero, Zelda and Mario among others, PS2 had everything from GT3 to shadow of collosus ( arguably this was peak Sony 1st party era) but that new Xbox showed promise. So I bought in to it.


Hated the duke controller. Loved the S controller. I don't think Xbox really win me over until first half of the x360.it's one thing to go online with your real life friends but when you meet your "gamer" friends who play all that other stuff that ain't COD/madden/fifa that's when it got really good.

 

[AmuroChan]

PS2 had the most # of available games overall. It was coming off of a very successful PS1 console, it's a sleek looking machine that became a lot of people's primary DVD player, it was priced appropriately, and it was easy AF to mod. It was the easy #1 choice for that generation.

 

[Donald mac Ronald]

Pretty sure bill gates was trying to market the thing with burgers. Gamers probably went out and bought burgers instead of Xboxes since they were cheaper and did the same job. A cheap thrill.

 

[deriks]

Nice, but not the biggest deal ever

Even thou the hardware per se of Xbox was better, PS2 got great games every month ever. Even fucking Game Cube have some tittles that are great to this day. Xbox... Some

 

[IFireflyl]

There isn't an option for why I think it wasn't a bigger success.

For me, I had a PlayStation before the PlayStation 2 was released, and it was so amazing I knew I wanted the PlayStation 2 which also was fully backwards compatible with PlayStation games. When I could only afford one console, I'm going with the one that I:

1. already know and love.
2. already has an established and expansive library of games.
3. has upcoming exclusives that are in a series played on prior consoles.

Basically, if PlayStation 2 wasn't a successor to PlayStation, and both PlayStation 2 (which would only have been called PlayStation at that point) and Xbox released at the same time, I think Xbox could have done better. But there was a system already strongly established that it had to contend with, and that is the reason it wasn't a bigger success. In my opinion.

 

[electricmastro]

Best selling Xbox games in the US (source) (source)

1. Halo 2 - 6,670,000
2. Halo: Combat Evolved - 4,910,000
3. Fable - 1,970,000
4. Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell - 1,800,000
5. Grand Theft Auto Double Pack - 1,590,000
6. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic - 1,480,000
7. Madden NFL 2005 - 1,420,000
8. Madden NFL 2006 - 1,410,000
9. Project Gotham Racing - 1,400,000
10. Call of Duty 2: Big Red One - 1,390,000
11. ESPN NFL 2K5 - 1,380,000
12. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas - 1,260,000
13. Need for Speed: Underground 2 - 1,240,000
14. Star Wars: Battlefront - 1,120,000
15. Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon - 1,120,000
16. Dead or Alive 3 - 1,060,000
17. Need for Speed: Underground - 1,020,000
18. Spider-Man: The Movie - 807,797
19. Madden NFL 2004 - 806,761
20. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3 - 786,646
21. Medal of Honor: Frontline - 764,085
22. Max Payne - 756,461
23. MechAssault - 728,859
24. True Crime: Streets of LA - 726,506
25. Project Gotham Racing 2 - 666,901

Best selling PS2 games in the US (source) (source)

1. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas - 8,200,000+
2. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City - 8,200,000
3. Grand Theft Auto III - 7,130,000+
4. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock - 7,130,000+
5. Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec - 7,130,000
6. Madden NFL 2005 - 4,350,000
7. Guitar Hero II - 3,950,000+
8. Madden NFL 2004 - 3,950,000
9. Kingdom Hearts - 3,710,000+
10. Madden NFL 06 - 3,710,000
11. Madden NFL 07 - 3,180,000+
12. Madden NFL 2003 - 3,180,000
13. Need for Speed: Underground - 3,000,000
14. Star Wars: Battlefront II - 2,800,000+
15. Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition - 2,800,000+
16. Final Fantasy X - 2,800,000+
17. Gran Turismo 4: The Real Driving Simulator - 2,800,000+
18. God of War - 2,800,000+
19. Medal of Honor: Frontline - 2,800,000
20. SOCOM U.S. Navy Seals - 2,650,000
21. Spider-Man: The Movie - 2,510,000
22. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty - 2,310,000
23. Madden NFL 2002 - 2,300,000
24. SOCOM II U.S. Navy Seals - 2,140,000
25. Tony Hawk's Underground - 2,110,000
26. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 - 2,070,000
27. Dragon Ball Z: Budokai - 2,040,000
28. Kingdom Hearts II - 2,030,000
29. Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy - 2,010,000
30. ESPN NFL 2K5 - 2,000,000

So it looks like Xbox not having Grand Theft Auto earlier somewhat hurt it, for starters. Not having compelling RPGs like Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy X didn't help either, as well as hack and slash, exploration-oriented games like God of War.

So a lack of strong action-adventure titles is what prob hurt Xbox the most. Fable and Grand Theft Auto helped Xbox in this respect, but it needed more.