Digital Foundry Retro: Xbox 360 Revisited - Every Launch Game Tested - Part 1

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Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?




Recently, we got hold of a launch Xbox 360 that had never been powered on before. First, we unboxed it for your viewing pleasure and now we're putting it to good use. See the original "Blades" dashboard on the original launch firmware, before we dive into the first part of our extensive look at EVERY launch game for Microsoft's greatest console.

00:00 - Introduction
01:47 - The Beginnings of Xbox 360
03:04 - The Blades - Freshly Captured for You
08:43 - Chapter 1 - First Party Games
11:46 - Perfect Dark Zero and Kameo
17:03 - Every Party
19:40 - Chapter 2 - Ridge Racer 6
21:57 - Tetris: The Grand Master Ace
24:34 - Chapter 3 - PC Ports/Call of Duty 2
33:32 - Quake 4
37:52 - Condemned
42:14 - Need for Speed: Most Wanted
47:56 - Outro for Part 1
 
PGR3 was my fav launch title, so fucking good

Glad the thumbnail doesn't look like mugshots of convicted pedophiles.
It always motivates me to book a dentist appointment
chappelles-show-the-playa-haters-ball.gif
 
the blueprint for every modern console.

the Xbox 360 was the last revolutionary console... we have plateaued ever since then.

downloadable games, achievements, cross-game party chat, background downloads while playing games, background music playback, a sidebar that can be called up at any time to invite friends, start a chat or look up your achievements or background downloads...

if you took a launch day Xbox 360, gave it modern hardware and keep everything else the same, it would still not feel out of place in the modern era.
 
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the blueprint for every modern console.

the Xbox 360 was the last revolutionary console... we have plateaued ever since then.

downloadable games, achievements, cross-game party chat, background downloads while playing games, background music playback, a sidebar that can be called up at any time to invite friends, start a chat or look up your achievements or background downloads...

if you took a launch day Xbox 360, gave it modern hardware and keep everything else the same, it would still not feel out of place in the modern era.

This will be a rhetoric used by Xbox widows for the next 40 years.
 
This will be a rhetoric used by Xbox widows for the next 40 years.

it's simply... the truth.
it literally introduced nearly everything modern consoles still do in nearly the exact form they still do it.

I know you apparently have been touched inappropriately by Microsoft as a kid, given the posts I've seen by you, but even someone with M.D.S. should be able to agree that consoles have not evolved much beyond the Xbox 360, and are just faster versions of it... although, the PS4 and Xbox One were much slower in some ways actually. but at least current gen consoles run decently quick again.
 
it's simply... the truth.
it literally introduced nearly everything modern consoles still do in nearly the exact form they still do it.

I know you apparently have been touched inappropriately by Microsoft as a kid, given the posts I've seen by you, but even someone with M.D.S. should be able to agree that consoles have not evolved much beyond the Xbox 360, and are just faster versions of it... although, the PS4 and Xbox One were much slower in some ways actually. but at least current gen consoles run decently quick again.
The cancer that created online P2P, the console is the server, paid.

And this jingoistic rhetoric that normalized paid online P2P. Xbox created it, and its trained fanboys transformed it into a "glorious future."
 
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The cancer that created online P2P, the console is the server, paid.

what do peer-to-peer connections have to do with this? 🤣

if you incorrectly use P2P to mean pay to play, well that was introduced with the original Xbox not the 360.
 
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what do peer-to-peer connections have to do with this? 🤣

if you incorrectly use P2P to mean pay to play, well that was introduced with the original Xbox not the 360.


The cancer that created online P2P, the console is the server, paid.

And this jingoistic rhetoric that normalized paid online P2P. Xbox created it, and its trained fanboys transformed it into a "glorious future."


Then they say you're cult followers who just repeat the script without thinking, and you don't know where that came from...
It vomits "supreme Xbox live" and can't understand P2P in the context of a network.
 
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First a thread reminiscing about the Master System and now this one about Digital Foundry with the Xbox 360... Too many nostalgic moments during the Christmas season when I'm more sensitive 🥲🥲
 
the blueprint for every modern console.

the Xbox 360 was the last revolutionary console... we have plateaued ever since then.

downloadable games, achievements, cross-game party chat, background downloads while playing games, background music playback, a sidebar that can be called up at any time to invite friends, start a chat or look up your achievements or background downloads...

if you took a launch day Xbox 360, gave it modern hardware and keep everything else the same, it would still not feel out of place in the modern era.
the blueprint for every modern console.

the Atari Jaguar was the last revolutionary console... we have plateaued ever since then.

downloadable games, achievements, cross-game party chat, background downloads while playing games, background music playback, a sidebar that can be called up at any time to invite friends, start a chat or look up your achievements or background downloads...

if you took a launch day Atari Jaguar, gave it modern hardware and keep everything else the same, it would still not feel out of place in the modern era.
 




Recently, we got hold of a launch Xbox 360 that had never been powered on before. First, we unboxed it for your viewing pleasure and now we're putting it to good use. See the original "Blades" dashboard on the original launch firmware, before we dive into the first part of our extensive look at EVERY launch game for Microsoft's greatest console.

00:00 - Introduction
01:47 - The Beginnings of Xbox 360
03:04 - The Blades - Freshly Captured for You
08:43 - Chapter 1 - First Party Games
11:46 - Perfect Dark Zero and Kameo
17:03 - Every Party
19:40 - Chapter 2 - Ridge Racer 6
21:57 - Tetris: The Grand Master Ace
24:34 - Chapter 3 - PC Ports/Call of Duty 2
33:32 - Quake 4
37:52 - Condemned
42:14 - Need for Speed: Most Wanted
47:56 - Outro for Part 1

One of the best launches by a long mile. Could have been a great victory if they had worried more about quality control before launch and, as a user, if they actually did make storage mandatory with every console and user replaceable. Built-in WiFi and maybe HDMI would have not hurt either, having to pay 79€ Euros for the WiFi adapter was a bit much. Knowing something like Oblivion was going to come out, games like Gears and Condemned, and the Jeff Minter music visualiser (golden) were big sellers for me.
BC was a bit of a hit and miss as even a big sellers like Halo / Halo 2 had glitches.
 
the blueprint for every modern console.

the Atari Jaguar was the last revolutionary console... we have plateaued ever since then.

downloadable games, achievements, cross-game party chat, background downloads while playing games, background music playback, a sidebar that can be called up at any time to invite friends, start a chat or look up your achievements or background downloads...

if you took a launch day Atari Jaguar, gave it modern hardware and keep everything else the same, it would still not feel out of place in the modern era.

the 360 matches the 64bits of the Jaguar! and it has 360 in the name, so it's clearly 360 times better than the Jaguar!
 
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I'm
This will be a rhetoric used by Xbox widows for the next 40 years.
Heres the thing kevboard kevboard may be a fanboy (unless I'm mixing him up with someone else but I don't think I am) but what he's saying isn't wrong.

Ultimately I think Microsoft have done more negative things to the industry then positive but I don't see any lies in the post. These are all things outside of maybe the music thing that are standard and will stay standard going forward.

Negatives don't erase positives whether you want them to or not.
 
The cancer that created online P2P, the console is the server, paid.

And this jingoistic rhetoric that normalized paid online P2P. Xbox created it, and its trained fanboys transformed it into a "glorious future."

Then they say you're cult followers who just repeat the script without thinking, and you don't know where that came from...
It vomits "supreme Xbox live" and can't understand P2P in the context of a network.


Yeah, we get it, you're very edgy..

HytW2c8YfmqN3k6C.gif
 
I'm

Heres the thing kevboard kevboard may be a fanboy (unless I'm mixing him up with someone else but I don't think I am) but what he's saying isn't wrong.

Ultimately I think Microsoft have done more negative things to the industry then positive but I don't see any lies in the post. These are all things outside of maybe the music thing that are standard and will stay standard going forward.

Negatives don't erase positives whether you want them to or not.

I am not a fanboy. speaking the truth is however apparently often considered being a fanboy on here.

hence how Digital Foundry is constantly either Nintendo haters or Nintendo shills, depending on which retard is offended by the most recent video of theirs.

I too have been called a Nintendo fanboy here, then the next week after I was a Nintendo hater because Nintendo fanboys get an aneurysm whenever the truth is spoken out loud, that the Switch 2 is only a bit more powerful than the PS4...
 
I am not a fanboy. speaking the truth is however apparently often considered being a fanboy on here.

hence how Digital Foundry is constantly either Nintendo haters or Nintendo shills, depending on which retard is offended by the most recent video of theirs.

I too have been called a Nintendo fanboy here, then the next week after I was a Nintendo hater because Nintendo fanboys get an aneurysm whenever the truth is spoken out loud, that the Switch 2 is only a bit more powerful than the PS4...
As I said I could be mistaken.
 
I got one in late 2012, and still used and liked it way more than the PS3 I got at the start of the same year. I feel like I spent more time downloading updates on my PS3 than playing games.

Kameo proved to me, without a doubt, that giving Rare to MS was one of the savviest decisions Nintendo ever made.

360 deserves love just for having so many Cave shooters. It's a crime that Mushihimesama Futari was console-esclusive for it, and only released in Japan too.
 
The Blades are one of the best console interfaces of all time, and every interface MS has done since was significantly worse. I'll never understand why they had to monkey with it for what feels like every year. I'll never forgive them for selling paid themes and then making them utterly useless by completely changing the dash. Scumbags.
 
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Buying a 360 and plugging into a brand new 720p LCD projector with the YUV cable was one of the last "holy shit" moments in terms of technology advances.

I wouldn't say things have plateaued since then but the gap coming from the GameCube was simply gigantic.

Although most launch games were kinda mid (except NFS MW) and the console really took a few months to take off.
 
Buying a 360 and plugging into a brand new 720p LCD projector with the YUV cable was one of the last "holy shit" moments in terms of technology advances.

I appreciated that it supported unconventional inputs like VGA, connecting it to a PC monitor was a very cheap way to get HD over our then-480p TV.

Games like Dead Rising really made it damn near impossible to play in SD.
 
I do love Johns vids and DF Retro (I wish he'd do more), but do find it funny when his voice cracks on random words
I liked Johns DF Retro videos until the Hogwarts Legacy incident. Fucking coward hiding behind pathetic excuses like "children's bullshit" and he doesn't like open world games just to appease his purple forum mates.

Haven't watched a DF video since.
 
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