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[LakeEarth]

I loved my big crystal box! I got that limited edition see-through one, which was pretty cool. Too bad the crystal controller broke (loose wire or something).

Spent most of my time on the system playing 3rd Strike online, which was awesome. Other games that I remember playing a lot of on that system was Fable, that awesome Buffy the Vampire Slayer game, San Andreas, MK Deception, Silent Hill 2, and of course Halo 2.

 

[sixteen-bit]

lol, I'm not a huge fan of Orta either. It's a letdown after Zwei, IMO

 

[A Black Falcon]

Orta is the best Panzer Dragoon rail shooter... it's longer and better than its also-exceptional predecessors. It's my favorite Xbox game, I'd say.

 

[koopas]

Was there an officially licensed MS arcade stick for the og? A few games I have mention on the back of the box Arcade Controller support

 

[sixteen-bit]

Was there an officially licensed MS arcade stick for the og? A few games I have mention on the back of the box Arcade Controller support

Hori's Fighting Stick EX was officially licensed. There was also a DOA3 Model of it with a slightly different button layout. I don't think MS made their own stick.

 

[IrishNinja]

lol, I'm not a huge fan of Orta either. It's a letdown after Zwei, IMO

go on

 

[bishopcruz]

Ok, decided to give Crimson Sea a try as I had heard absolutely nothing about the game before I bought it, I wasn't expecting much.

Still not sure if it's met expectations. The game is WEIRD. Really weird. It looks nice enough, with some cool for the time water effects and a decent number of bugs on screen to shoot and slash at. The characters are detailed as well, and the stages so far, while not amazing, do the job, and would have been at least somewhat impressive in 2002.

The voice acting is a special treat. Classic anime voice actors like Steve Blum come in and completely phone in some of the worst dialogue I have heard this side of Resident Evil. The game clearly doesn't take itself seriously, but I'm not certain that I'm laughing at the jokes. I'm much more sure that I am laughing at the odd writing, abrupt scene endings, and overall insanity. Some amazing dialogue right here.

Apparently the game uses the old Dynasty Warriors engine. I wouldn't know as I never played any of the early DW games. To me it honestly feels like one of those weird ass early DC games. The camera is awful, any movements are twitchy as hell, and the lock on system is finicky at best. Movement and camera control are both mapped to the left thumstick, the right stick lets you look around a little bit, but that's it. There are two attack buttons, one controls your gun, the other your melee weapon. Shooting is a mix of actual aiming, which is twitchy as hell, and an auto targeting that works a lot better. Melee is limited so far to a four hit combo with my laser sword. Hopefully I'll get more weapons later.

Despite the negatives, I still kinda like the game, it really does feel like it's part of that transition period where devs were still learning how best to use a 3d camera, and how third person action should feel with the new systems. The general feeling of weird makes the game unique as well.

This person joins your party. Yep definitely want someone along who is scared of a bug that dies in 1 fucking hit.

I think I'll keep playing for a bit more. But yeah, strange, strange game so far.

 

[Danny Dudekisser]

Yeah, Crimson Sea was fucking weird. That's why I don't know if I want to give it a second chance. Maybe I just didn't "get" it, or maybe it's actually just dumb as hell.

Anyway, I finally bought Tony Hawk 2X tonight. And realized that my Xbox component box (whatever the MS one was called) is still in the packaging. I should open that, too. Gonna be sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet.

 

[oneida]

I played Crazy Taxi 3 for hours today.

Like Crazy Taxi?

It's the best one

 

[Hubble]

IMO MS screwed up majorly for not including BC into Xbox One. Yeah, I know they must have not for cost reasons but surely, it would have been worth the cost. They could have included the 360 chipset in the Xbox One, and that would have converted MANY 360 users to Xbox One on day one. While Sony couldn't really do the same with the PS4 without much more costs. The PS3 unique architecture would have been much more of a pain to include BC into the PS4 with it nothing like x86. BC much more valuable than Kinect.

 

[Danny Dudekisser]

IMO MS screwed up majorly for not including BC into Xbox One. Yeah, I know they must have not for cost reasons but surely, it would have been worth the cost. They could have included the 360 chipset in the Xbox One, and that would have converted MANY 360 users to Xbox One on day one. While Sony couldn't really do the same with the PS4 without much more costs. The PS3 unique architecture would have been much more of a pain to include BC into the PS4 with it nothing like x86. BC much more valuable than Kinect.

How would backwards compatibility result in many 360 users moving to the Xbone? if they wanted to play 360 games... well, they still have their 360. BC is a convenient feature, but that's hardly going to prompt someone to shell out $500 for a system that's otherwise worse than its competitor, and more expensive?


Besides, the 360's backwards compatibility was dog shit. If that's what we'd be getting more of, I'm glad they didn't bother.

 

[akidnamededdy]

How would backwards compatibility result in many 360 users moving to the Xbone? if they wanted to play 360 games... well, they still have their 360. BC is a convenient feature, but that's hardly going to prompt someone to shell out $500 for a system that's otherwise worse than its competitor, and more expensive?


Besides, the 360's backwards compatibility was dog shit. If that's what we'd be getting more of, I'm glad they didn't bother.

For people who know they want one eventually, backward compatibility is a big reason to pick one up sooner rather than later. I only got a PS2 as early on as I did because I knew it played all my PS1 games anyway, so I was able to trade that system in towards it and still play my library of games. And conserve space by not having both systems out at once.

Agreed on your other point though, XBox bc on the 360 was awful unless you wanted to play Halo 2.

Anyway, been thinking about picking one of these up and tinkering with it a bit. Seems like a fun project and it looks like there were more XBox games I missed out on than I thought. Not too many good deals to be found around here though--all the retro game shops just price according to Amazon/eBay, and I don't wanna drop 60 bucks on something I'm probably gonna break anyway, haha.

Is Goodwill a good bet?

 

[Elija2]

It also has the best version of THPS 3 (better than the PC version, even). Not sure about 4, but it's likely the same.

Just curious, but why are the Xbox versions of THPS3/4 considered the best?

 

[Borman]

THPS4 supports 720p

 

[Elija2]

THPS4 supports 720p

But the PC version doesn't?

Also I'm pretty sure the PC versions have online play while the Xbox versions don't. The Xbox version of THPS3 does have the exclusive Oil Rig level, but there's a mod that puts it in the PC version as well.

 

[IrishNinja]

I played Crazy Taxi 3 for hours today.

Like Crazy Taxi?

It's the best one

get the fuck out
seriously? oh man i'm gonna love the poop out of this one then

 

[Borman]

But the PC version doesn't?

Also I'm pretty sure the PC versions have online play while the Xbox versions don't. The Xbox version of THPS3 does have the exclusive Oil Rig level, but there's a mod that puts it in the PC version as well.

I remember the PC versions being fairly poorly made though, I could never get THPS3 to work properly. May have changed over time (and Im not one to vouch for one being better than the other hah)

 

[Danny Dudekisser]

I remember the PC versions being fairly poorly made though, I could never get THPS3 to work properly. May have changed over time (and Im not one to vouch for one being better than the other hah)

Yeah, PC version had a lot of general glitchiness that wasn't in the console versions. It also lost the Oil Rig level, and lost the Xbox exclusive character (though I think it got the dude from Doom 3 to replace it.) Visually, the Xbox version had slightly better textures than the PS2 and Gamecube versions, and I'm pretty sure those didn't translate over to the PC version, either.

get the fuck out
seriously? oh man i'm gonna love the poop out of this one then

Yeah, I remember playing the demo for CT3 once, back in 2002. Didn't really click with me, but I can't say I gave it a chance. After reading that, though, I'm definitely interesting in picking it up. Love me some Crazy Taxi.

 

[A Black Falcon]

One weird thing about Crimson Sea is that Crimson Sea 1 is an Xbox exclusive, but Crimson Sea 2 is a PS2 exclusive...

 

[IrishNinja]

One weird thing about Crimson Sea is that Crimson Sea 1 is an Xbox exclusive, but Crimson Sea 2 is a PS2 exclusive...

"because fuck our fanbase; we got a system seller here boys!!" haha what a weird decision

 

[sixteen-bit]

I played Crazy Taxi 3 for hours today.

Like Crazy Taxi?

It's the best one

for srs?

I need to check it out. I even liked CT2, lol and that got mad hate. Surprised I haven't played this yet now that I think about it.

 

[A Black Falcon]

"because fuck our fanbase; we got a system seller here boys!!" haha what a weird decision

Yeah, changing platforms between generations is common, but during a generation, going from exclusive to one system to exclusive to another? Definitely rare, and a really weird move.

 

[Oemenia]

Agreed on your other point though, XBox bc on the 360 was awful unless you wanted to play Halo 2.

Well the emulator covers half of the library and thats mostly the good and popular stuff.

It works just fine majority of the times even if it could be better.

One weird thing about Crimson Sea is that Crimson Sea 1 is an Xbox exclusive, but Crimson Sea 2 is a PS2 exclusive...

Being exclusive can generate interest, for example Ridge Racer 7 is just and updated RR6 but was viewed as a new exclusive entry for the PS3.

 

[A Black Falcon]

Being exclusive can generate interest, for example Ridge Racer 7 is just and updated RR6 but was viewed as a new exclusive entry for the PS3.

Yeah, but RR7 was basically just an enhanced port. Crimson Sea 2 was a full sequel.

 

[BennyBlanco]

I guess this is the new list then:

Tony Hawk 3 (better than PC version it seems, so must own)
Conker: Live and Reloaded
Blinx
Blinx 2
Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge
Dino Crisis 3 (game probably sucks but its exlusive)
GunValkyrie
Jet Set Radio Future
Ninja Gaiden Black
Panzer Dragoon Orta
Phantom Dust
Steel Batallion
Crazy Taxi 3: High Roller (Its on PC but not easy to find)
OutRun 2
Shenmue 2
Crimson Sea
Grabbed By the Ghoulies
Otogi 1 and 2
Armed and Dangerous
Breakdown Another
Spikeout

Anyone wants to add something? its time to raid Kijiji, local shops, etc

Good list. I would add a couple to grab if you found them for cheap tho.

The Punisher
The Warriors
Genma Onimusha
Ninja Gaiden Black
Shenmue 2
Wreckless
PGR 2

 

[oneida]

Depending on what you make of these images, I may have just scored a factory sealed copy of PSOE1&2 for $7 shipped.

The seller had the condition listed as "Very Good" but it's possible that was just the default condition listing and it was not changed.
Hard to tell if the residue is on top of or beneath the plastic wrap.

But oneida, you say, the Xbox version of PSOE1&2 is unplayable unless you've got an XBL account on your OG Xbox!

And I look at you

and wink

 

[Danny Dudekisser]

Sticker seems to be on top of the plastic wrap. Game is likely resealed, as it has the heat shrinked wrap instead of the folded plastic... But then, the security sticker makes me wanna think that yeah, you scored a new copy. In any case, nice.

 

[sixteen-bit]

I like how the swords make a green X

 

[Danny Dudekisser]

Just rebought Outrun 2 after foolishly selling it when I got Outrun 2006. $12 for a new copy, so it was certainly cheap enough.

 

[oneida]

Just rebought Outrun 2 after foolishly selling it when I got Outrun 2006. $12 for a new copy, so it was certainly cheap enough.

OutRun 2 fucking rules. This probably qualifies as sacrilege, but I'll take an afternoon with OR2 over an afternoon with OR most days.

 

[Borman]

I think I have a sealed copy of the Japanese PSO. Ive forgotten hah.

Edit: THPS4 looks great as well, other than the character models (which was never a strong point anyway)

 

[Danny Dudekisser]

OutRun 2 fucking rules. This probably qualifies as sacrilege, but I'll take an afternoon with OR2 over an afternoon with OR most days.

Oh, I totally agree. And I love the original Outrun. The thrill of skillfully drifting through massive stretches of road in Outrun 2 has yet to be beaten.

Edit: THPS4 looks great as well, other than the character models (which was never a strong point anyway)

THPS4... man...

So is that game good? Like... as good as the THPS games before it? Because I never really bothered with a game after 3. Which... looking back, is kinda crazy, because I loved the THPS series up to that point.

 

[Borman]

Oh, I totally agree. And I love the original Outrun. The thrill of skillfully drifting through massive stretches of road in Outrun 2 has yet to be beaten.




THPS4... man...

So is that game good? Like... as good as the THPS games before it? Because I never really bothered with a game after 3. Which... looking back, is kinda crazy, because I loved the THPS series up to that point.

I was like you, so it's fairly new to me. I played it a bit when it came out, but I had moved on by then. It seems to be fairly fun, as it hadnt abandoned everything that made the series great like they had with THUG (In my opinion anyway)

 

[Deband]

My favorite Xbox game. I bought one at launch but it was the XBL beta that just blew my mind. It came with the demo disc thingy with the first Moto GP on it. Those 16 player(hope I remember this correctly) races were just magic and everyone had a headset, which made it a crazy laugh.

When the second game arrived it had less players cos there was no demo but it had such an awesome community. Think there was around 40k players on the scoreboards, which worked based on your lap times whether you got a PB in the time trial mode or in the online racing. I still miss this way of ranking players. I remember so many Saturday nights with full rooms all having a mad laugh. I haven't tried any newer bike racing games seems the genre has gone down the toilet since Climax got shut down. Here's a screen of some gameplay.

Did anyone else play either of these games?

 

[Borman]

I played the demo for MotoGP. Was never any good at being competitive in racing games online though. I dont remember playing much of anything but that and Unreal Championship when XBL launched, it was a bit slow back then. But, RTCW...that changed things.

 

[sixteen-bit]

Coming to think of it, weren't the 2 different series by 2 different companies both named "MotoGP"? Must have been confusing lol.

 

[Danny Dudekisser]

I'm figuring out exactly what I want to add to my collection, now that I'm kinda into buying Xbox games. Are Crimson Skies and Mechassault still worth bothering with? They seem cool, but I have no idea whether they hold up.


Was also curious if it's still worth rebuying Dead or Alive Ultimate. I had it back in the day (along with 3)... but I dunno. Is it still worth having? I played the shit out of DoA4 and was SS ranked on that, but maybe DoA 2 plays differently enough that it's still something I should own.

If nothing else, the stages were a hell of a lot cooler in DoA Ultimate.

Edit: oh, and I know this is kind of a ridiculous question, but... was Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball actually good? I never played the thing.

 

[Estocolmo]

A very nice nostalgic thread. I hope we can see some pictures of your Xbox game collections and so on, would be nice to see

 

[Borman]

I'm figuring out exactly what I want to add to my collection, now that I'm kinda into buying Xbox games. Are Crimson Skies and Mechassault still worth bothering with? They seem cool, but I have no idea whether they hold up.


Was also curious if it's still worth rebuying Dead or Alive Ultimate. I had it back in the day (along with 3)... but I dunno. Is it still worth having? I played the shit out of DoA4 and was SS ranked on that, but maybe DoA 2 plays differently enough that it's still something I should own.

If nothing else, the stages were a hell of a lot cooler in DoA Ultimate.

Edit: oh, and I know this is kind of a ridiculous question, but... was Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball actually good? I never played the thing.

I was never a big fan of MechAssault, but Crimson Skies is every bit as good as it was. It holds up great, and is extremely cheap since it sold well.

I never really played DoAU that much, though I have a new copy on the way. DoA3 is great though, had a few people playing that at my place over the summer. DoAXBV has become a guilty pleasure for my friend and I as we drink hah. It's a fairly simple simple game, two buttons, but it can really be fun.

A very nice nostalgic thread. I hope we can see some pictures of your Xbox game collections and so on, would be nice to see

I have some new lighting stuff on the way so I can take nice pictures and video of my stuff.

 

[Borman]

Double posting again, bleh.

Here is a picture to give you an idea of the mess I have going. The wires are all for lights, I moved recently and havent gotten to figuring them out yet.

No, that isn't all of them -_-

 

[Shenzakai]

First of all thanks to you, OP, for creating this thread!

I came first in contact with OG Xbox back in 2002 when my older brother bought it shortly after launch in Europe for 479 Euros! I didn't had any interest in the console back in the days because I was PC-only during this time and my consoles before were japanese-only (Dreamcast, N64, PSone, SNES, NES in particular). I just laughed at MS's huge box and controller and last but not least the impertinent price tag, which I wasn't able to afford even if I wanted.

Nevertheless I had a look on Halo and played it coop on Legendary with my brother. We had a ton of fun and I was literally blewn away by the graphics. Man, they were gorgeous. I was eager to play Halo since a friend, my brother and myself couldn't wait to play this since it's original announcement for PC. With this short burst my experience with OG Xbox ended. While I love the 360 and own the XOne since launch this thread totally got me hooked up and I've purchased an OG Xbox from eBay with two Duke controllers (I LOVE them like back in the days), original package and documentation in very good shape. I only hope it keeps running since it has been manufactured on March 3rd 2002. After my first playsession which lasted ~1hr and shutting down the console it made some strange crackling sounds. Hopefully it wasn't the power supply or some consistors.

Which I'm totally missing in terms of games in this thread are the Oddworld games! Wasn't anyone playing and actually enjoying Munch's Oddysee and especially it's awesome successor Stranger's Wrath?! The first one I've played as a launch title on my brothers Xbox back in the days, but I didn't finish it. I can remember that I really was enjoying it for it's weird style and characters as well as it's gorgeous humor!
Now I've started with Stranger's Wrath on my OG Xbox and man, this game totally rocks! Stranger is some ass-kicking, frikkin' cool character, again the humor is great and boy, the graphics are just awesome! Even today! All these details, lightning and huge landscapes. Gorgeous! The OG Xbox was a beast and way ahead of it's time

My collection
Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee
Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath
Conker: Live & Reloaded
Grabbed by the Ghoulies
Panzer Dragoon Orta
Psychonauts

JSRF and Shenmue II incoming, hopefully in good condition.

Oddworld Stranger's Wrath

Here are some shots of my OG Xbox and setup (the stains are from cleaning the console with a wet cloth, but shortly after they have desiccated)

 

[Borman]

I actually have been working on a piece for a prototype version of Strangers Wrath. Lots of neat videos on my site if you're interested:
http://ptoponline.com/?p=1373

 

[wanders]

Anyone know what's the easiest and cheapest way of injecting a OG Xbox game save to a 360 slim?

I want to load up a Phantom Dust game save that I found online but I don't know what my options are.

 

[Emperor Bohe]

Anyone know what's the easiest and cheapest way of injecting a OG Xbox game save to a 360?

I want to load up a Phantom Dust game save that I found online but I don't know what my options are.

probably by using Modio, but I'm unsure if that supports OG Xbox games.

 

[Danny Dudekisser]

Was bored today, so I finally went ahead and hooked this sonbitch up:

I haven't actually used the thing in... uh... 7 years, so I was glad it turned on. I tried using it with composite cables at first, just to remind myself what it looked like, and then opened up the component box. Night and fucking day. Composite has always looked really washed out on the Xbox. Component, unsurprisingly, fixes that. I'm pretty amazed by the image quality on this system. And the color looks so, so good.

Maybe more surprising, though, is the sound quality. I'm using the official MS component box, which has optical out. It sounds crazy good. Sound is extremely clear, and games seem to make much better use of LFE than the PS2 or GC do. It doesn't sound compressed, nor does it sound boomy even when it comes to the bass. I like it.

Ninja Gaiden Black is obviously still fantastic. I haven't played Black since 2005, and the last time I played NG was with Sigma... and now I realize exactly how awful of a port that was. Black is still as good as it gets, and I'm stunned by how good the game still looks. Something about the lighting outside of Han's Bar in level 4 just makes me feel good. It's weird, I know.


So, it's weird. I knew that "HD AV Pack" would make a difference, but it's really revitalized the system for me. Clearly, between that and the stupid cheap game prices right now, this is a good time to work on my XBox collection. Before everyone else catches on.

 

[Borman]

And you did turn on 480p, right? Amazing how many people forget hah. Try out some of the HD games and continue to be amazed.

 

[Rich!]

And you did turn on 480p, right? Amazing how many people forget hah. Try out some of the HD games and continue to be amazed.

took me fucking ages to work out how to get 480/720p and 1080i working on my PAL console. had to install some crazy homebrew app

works brilliantly now though

 

[Borman]

took me fucking ages to work out how to get 480/720p and 1080i working on my PAL console. had to install some crazy homebrew app

works brilliantly now though

Yeah, Enigma Video Switcher does the job just fine

 

[Rich!]

Yeah, Enigma Video Switcher does the job just fine

yep! That's the one. Amazing to see 1080i from a 2002 console.

I hear that it doesnt play well with Panzer Dragoon though...which is a shame, as I'd like to buy an NTSC version.

 

[Danny Dudekisser]

And you did turn on 480p, right? Amazing how many people forget hah. Try out some of the HD games and continue to be amazed.

Yeah, it just does it automatically when you set it in the dashboard, right? I also had widescreen on, but it stretches everything out, other than the actual gameplay (in NGB, at least), so I turned it off again. 4:3 is just the way to go with that generation.


Unfortunately, I can tell that my disc drive is about to crap out, which isn't surprising considering the abuse this system's seen over the years. I was planning to just buy a new one. Problem is, I dunno which version number to look for, or when the Xbox hardware saw those revisions. Because don't the 1.6 Xboxes have an issue playing certain games in 480p? Yuck!

That, and I was kinda hoping to get one of the fancy pants limited edition systems, but wanna know whether or not it's "safe" to replace my launch day one with it.