WarMacheen
Member
Midtown Madness, bring it back.
OG Xbox, one of the most innovative consoles created so what happened?
- Thread starter Kimawolf
- Start date
Dreamcast was highly innovative, it just failed. The OG Xbox was sort of carrying on its legacy with progressive scan support on almost all games like the Dreamcast but took it a step further with HD support, 4 controller ports like Dreamcast, Internet connection hardware standard like the Dreamcast but took it a step further by disallowing phone modems to make sure of a minimum level of quality, and a focus on online connectivity even more than SEGA.
Ol No Bones
Banned
The original Xbox came in my house and I rarely touched the ps2 after. The online play added replay value that I had never experienced before. I would have been content to just have the Xbox for halo multi and phantom dust. Kotor and chaos theory were a plus. The Xbox and early 360 days were stellar. It wasn't until gears 2 released that something felt lacking to me.
HigherLevel
Member
This. I made a thread a while back about how so many of the stupid decisions at MS happened after he joined MS. Hopefully they turn it around without him.
endresults
Member
After it was modded, the OG Xbox was a BEAST. Somewhere out there is a modded Xbox with a whole bunch of emulators and porn on it that I left at a friend's house when I moved out. I'm still dreaming of you, Sexy Exy.
LyleLanley
Banned
Man, I completely forgot about those. Early Xbox Live sure was a good time.
Succinct Verbosity
Member
The original Microsoft team knew that the only way into the living room was by appealing to gamers. After Microsoft had a solid foundation of gamers, they thought they'd swallow anything as they tried to broaden their market - it was/is a smart plan, but unfortunately for MS, they tried to push the One into the broader market far too abruptly.
Rogue_Ledr
Banned
FIRST POST WINS ........ AGAIN!
I really dug the OG Xbox.
I didn't even mind that it was so big.
Admiral Bone to Pick
Banned
I'd say the Xbox One is pretty innovative and that Microsoft is trying new things. It's just not necessarily the things some GAFers want, so they hate on MS and praise the PS4. But I'd argue the XB1 has a great launch period and first year lineup, and I think the Kinect will have some interesting applications going forward.
Taken on its own, the XBO has a lot of things going for it. If Sony hadn't stepped to the plate and hit a grand slam on their hardware in comparison for the price they're charging, the XBO wouldn't be getting bashed so hard.
BebopMcJigglypuff
Member
Sadly everyone I knew who had an OG xbox bought it to be a dickhead pirate and they didn't buy any games.
This thread should be titled "SEGA, one of the most innovative developers created so what happened?"
I don't know what kind of game-developing steroids SEGA were on back in those days but it was amazing. It's a shame all of their most creative games bombed. If only they weren't all on the Xbox.
I don't know what kind of game-developing steroids SEGA were on back in those days but it was amazing. It's a shame all of their most creative games bombed. If only they weren't all on the Xbox.
Pai Pai Master
Banned
The first Xbox was essentially a second attempt at Dreamcast which had a really successful launch in the west. Halo got huge and really put Xbox on the map, which helped Microsoft enjoy increased marketshare and sales throughout the 360's life time. Then they started to chase the Wii crowd, lost all focus, and it all went downhill from there.
+ Peter Moore
++ J. Allard leaving the X-box division for Zune, having that flop and MS silently "firing" him a la Japanese demotions/dismissing his ideas to where he leaves.
yea, was the OP a joke or something? you basically described the dreamcast, which was an awesome console to be perfectly honest....I'm not sure there was any innovation in the OG Xbox, they tried to go x86 and that was a nice Idea that seems to have caught on though, but I don't think that was innovative I think it might have just been Microsoft sticking to what they knew.
Microsoft haven't brought much to the console business except for refinement of other peoples Ideas, the most notable being Xbox Live.
I've heard a lot about him but what exactly were the changes he made when he took over?
Immaculate
Banned
"it had dreamcast ports so it was innovative"
Exactly! Most of the games listed were Sega too.
Same goes for Sony, to be fair.
Sho_Nuff82
Member
The lesson, through three hardware generations, is that MS is pretty bad at planning profitable hardware. When given carte Blanche to make whatever they pleased, they made a deal with the devil with Nvidia. When taking directives from corporate, they stuck a $100 peripheral in the box that has 1 AAA game planned in the first 6 months.
360 was arguably their most balanced hardware, and they went with the cheapest possible fab process, with disastrous results.
Their software "strategy" seems to be throwing whatever they can against the wall until something sticks. Remember Lips? One vs 100? Amped? Lost Odyssey? MechAssault?
Their software choices for the one look good so far, but how many franchises will they stick with if they don't pan out immediately?
360 was arguably their most balanced hardware, and they went with the cheapest possible fab process, with disastrous results.
Their software "strategy" seems to be throwing whatever they can against the wall until something sticks. Remember Lips? One vs 100? Amped? Lost Odyssey? MechAssault?
Their software choices for the one look good so far, but how many franchises will they stick with if they don't pan out immediately?
Mass Effect
Member
The same thing that happens to all good things; The suits took over.
They mad it big, but everuthing was there already.
.... I miss MechAssault.....
CurlySaysX
Banned
Microsoft got Scroogled.
- One - SEGA deserves credit for a lot of that early stuff
- Two - OG Xbox/Live was designed following on from Dreamcast and targeting what as seen by MS as optimal strategy to get into console market and deliver more PC like experiences targeting a Western demographic (Live/Halo being the core of this)
- Three - this was simply an entry strategy and not their core strategy for consoles. Since around mid-point 360 I'd say their true focus has become more apparent as they sought to expand from the safe base of a solid core of gamers via initiatives like Kinect, making the OS essentially an integrated storefront and menu and increasingly targeting non-gaming services and content
Sony introduced a couple concepts that whether they are good or bad is up for debate:
Selling a console below manfacturing costs, I believe they were the first to ever do this. Great for consumers, good for the company only if they can sell enough games/accessories to cover the loss (as Sony failed to do with the PS3)
Including a DVD player in the PS2 system in attempt to make it a more all-in-one media center. Sadly, this type of mindset is what gave us the $600 PS3 and the XB1...
Halo 1,2 Kotor 1 and 2, Fable, Doa 3, Mech Assault, Steel Battalion, Ninja Gaiden, Crimson Skies. Best list of exclusives on any console that generation. The original Xbox was an incredible console. Had the best controller too when they released the S.
Xbox was never the same once J Allard left. Too much turn over, became an initiative run by suits instead of a hungry team looking to make a name for themselves.
Xbox was never the same once J Allard left. Too much turn over, became an initiative run by suits instead of a hungry team looking to make a name for themselves.
VicDaMoan03
Member
Money happened. As in Microsoft wasn't making any, in fact they were losing money. Any corporation, Microsoft especially, doesn't like to lose money.
Unlike most here, the OG Xbox was special to me. Its one of my favorite consoles to date.
Unlike most here, the OG Xbox was special to me. Its one of my favorite consoles to date.
Most of those games were third party, MS still has a poor lineup of exclusive first party developers, considering the state of the Halo franchise it looks even worse now.
Live, as awesome as it was was MS way to make more money after selling us the console, Live has grown in subscription numbers but not in quality along with those numbers.
MS has not changed their goals, they just now have shittier ways to achieve them.
Maybe, but they were pretty instrumental in bringing us discs, The saturn bet them to market slightly on the CD front, but they led the charge in DVD and then Blu-Ray playback.
Also weren't Sony the first to bring dual analog sticks to consoles? that seems important.
They were also the first to attempt motion gaming with the eye toy I believe.
I'm not sure on the motion gaming and the dual analog sticks but I can't think of anyone else doing it first, I know they at least bet todays competitors (nintendo and MS) to market with both of these controls.
While all the kinect, tv, snapping stuff is great. They should have made sure they had a more powerful gpu. The main reason for upgrading in a new hardware generation has traditionally always been graphical fidelity. Saying its an "All in One box" with voice commands and such gets clouded when they can't also say its the most powerful game system too and it has become an easy to convey bullet point to the casual consumer who ask simple questions like "which one is better". With XB1 MS made the mistake of believing people have a brand loyalty or rather a passion towards Xbox brand the way they do Playstation. It probably wouldn't have been suck a big deal if it launched before PS4, but now they have just given core gamers who've either grown up with a PSone in the 90s or just have a negative attitude towards MS has a company a reason to easily dismiss it.
Yep. Non-game players. They make money, not games. They give you content, not games. They want to engage you and become your single entertainment solution, not let you play games.
and we now see that Microsoft barely deserved to live, and wouldn't have survived it's birthright trial if it hadn't feasted on the carcass of Sega.
pants
Member
This basically. OG Xbox was created by hardcore gamers and it showed.
ElectricBanquet
Member
OP forgot to mention that the original Xbox was also where MS experimented with DLC and the first version of Xbox Live Arcade, so it really was a precursor to the generation that followed.
As for what happened to MS, I think they always wanted to expand Xbox to become an entertainment platform beyond just games, but they've definitely made some mistakes in how they went about it.
As for what happened to MS, I think they always wanted to expand Xbox to become an entertainment platform beyond just games, but they've definitely made some mistakes in how they went about it.
The same thing that happened to PS2 era Sony and SNES era Nintendo and 2600 era Atari happened to MS; Success. It took the hunger out of the organization. Their success masked what they were doing wrong and what they were doing right so they couldn't identify what they needed to stop doing and what they needed to keep doing.
GameAddict411
Member
The X360 became a huge success, that's what happened.
KoolAidPitcher
Member
I wish that feature was on the 360. Xbox Live was so much better in the old days.
OG Xbox Live Promotional Video (Dark Master)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsdU2tBVlEM
justsomeguy
Member
I remember importing one of those bad boys to the UK... bless my friend who carried it back from the States - that thing was a MONSTER!
Biggest regret was not getting my preferred XBL username as it took a few days to get my live disk (or I was away or something) and by the time I got it, it had gone. Damn.
So forgetting the seemingly-snarky "Dreamcast was great!" posts earlier (although it was - I loved mine!) - what it did different was building Xbox Live on top of requiring broadband. That moved the market at a time when broadband penetration was low. That, to me, was the difference... Plus of course Halo showing that consoles could push out the absolute very best gaming experience at the time.
Those were the days... the magic has gone now for me (or maybe that's just the age difference... late 30s now... I was a dewy eyed youth then by comparison!)
Biggest regret was not getting my preferred XBL username as it took a few days to get my live disk (or I was away or something) and by the time I got it, it had gone. Damn.
So forgetting the seemingly-snarky "Dreamcast was great!" posts earlier (although it was - I loved mine!) - what it did different was building Xbox Live on top of requiring broadband. That moved the market at a time when broadband penetration was low. That, to me, was the difference... Plus of course Halo showing that consoles could push out the absolute very best gaming experience at the time.
Those were the days... the magic has gone now for me (or maybe that's just the age difference... late 30s now... I was a dewy eyed youth then by comparison!)
We lost J Allard and we gained Mattrick. Is my explanation for going from great to shit.
But also, Dreamcast was a nice online system and very ahead of its time but I feel like the original Live launched at the same time decent internet became available to the masses, propelling it. No dial up modem barrier definitely helped.
Until Mech Assault/live launched nothing had competed with the PC Multiplayer space for most adults.
But also, Dreamcast was a nice online system and very ahead of its time but I feel like the original Live launched at the same time decent internet became available to the masses, propelling it. No dial up modem barrier definitely helped.
Until Mech Assault/live launched nothing had competed with the PC Multiplayer space for most adults.
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