Original Xbox - Share your memories

simpatico

simpatico

Member
iu


OG Xbox is aging like fine wine in my memory banks. I was 19 when it released. Had a quasi-full-time job and my first taste of personal spending money. I was dug in on PS2 when it released, with the duke controller stopping me from looking at it too closely. One day a new issue of Game Informer arrived at my house, and I saw the good news about the S Class controller. Was bored with my PS2 and in this era it was not uncommon to take massive hauls to gamestop for a trade-in jubilee. Packed up all my PS2 stuff and went down to Gamestop and picked up an Xbox and some games. Halo CE and a smattering of other launch window titles. Look at this list and imagine having access to it all of a sudden.

Halo CE
Dead or Alive 3
NFL Fever
Splinter Cell
Project Gotham Racing
Ghost Recon
Elder Scrolls III Morrowind
Bloodwake
RalliSport Challenge
Soul Caliber 2

Holy shit. You guys want to talk about games catering to muh sophisticated, mature adults, well, this felt like that coming off PS2 and Dreamcast. I felt like gaming was growing up at the same rate I was. There wasn't a library like it (outside of PC which I had no access to at the time). Western developed games on console were still a novelty at the time. It felt new and fresh. Browsing the shelves at EB Games was always exciting. I wasn't on the internet whatsoever at the time, so I never once connected to Live, but being able to rip what seemed like an infinite number of CDs onto my console and play them back during gameplay was a revelation. I was hooked.

Not long after we got the second wave of games, which continued to blow my mind.

Riddick Escape from Butcher Bay
GTA San Adreas with clear and obvious upgrades over the PS2 version
Halo 2
Forza Motorsport
RalliSport Challenge 2
SSX
Burnout
Ninja Gaiden
Star Wars KOTOR
Fable
NFS Underground 2


Third party ports that were clearly superior on the system included NFL 2K series, NBA 2K series, Tony Hawk, Tom Clancy anything, Timesplitters, Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance. Not to mention actually getting to play and own the PC games that Game Informer teased me with. Half Life 2, FEAR, Doom 3, Max Payne, Far Cry etc. This was huge. I remember looking at that FEAR review in gently caressing the magazine pages. Being able to actually play and own it? Insanity.

It was the place to be. In some ways it was the last console that really felt like something new and novel that was just completely inaccessible before. I was firmly in the PS3 camp at the start of the gen afterwards. It had all the qualities that OG XBox did and seemed like the natural follow up, but the games never came. I had a negative view of Xbox 360 at the time because it felt like it changed course. By mid-gen I left consoles altogether and went to PC.

Xbox was the last console, and it took the medium out with a bang for me.
 
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My fondest and the memory that is most ingrained in my head from the OG launch is the theme from Halo. Leading up to the launch I was manager of EB Games. We had a window display that ran the theme in a loop. Like all console launches, I was damned excited. It helped that I received a free Xbox (actually multiple that generation) and other cool swag. MS came into the market giving us consoles, Xbox Live, games and swag. I can see why the social media warriors defend them. We had some store managers that were like that very early on. :messenger_grinning_squinting:

That whole generation was so much fun for me. I want to give Xbox a nod for trying things like LAN parties and games like Steel Battalion back then. Great times.
 
reinking said:
My fondest and the memory that is most ingrained in my head from the OG launch is the theme from Halo. Leading up to the launch I was manager of EB Games. We had a window display that ran the theme in a loop. Like all console launches, I was damned excited. It helped that I received a free Xbox (actually multiple that generation) and other cool swag. MS came into the market giving us consoles, Xbox Live, games and swag. I can see why the social media warriors defend them. We had some store managers that were like that very early on. :messenger_grinning_squinting:

That whole generation was so much fun for me. I want to give Xbox a nod for trying things like LAN parties and games like Steel Battalion back then. Great times.
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I remember all night basement sessions of Halo CE splitscreen with a bong on the coffee table and stacks of stuffed crust pizza. You really had to be there. That was peak multiplayer gaming. Online gaming never matched that for me.

Even Morrowind was multiplayer at my house. We had the damn map hanging on the wall of my basement. One guy would be over there looking at it giving navigation vectors to the guy holding the controller.
 
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It would be really nice if they get that xemu emulator working right. Taking forever.

Otogi 1 and 2 are backwards compatible on Xbox One.
 
I'm too young and I feel like I missed out on the glory days of playing Halo 2 on Xbox Live while drinking Mountain Dew Code Red and getting called the N-word.
 
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Damn....was so long ago......grabbed my OG Xbox 3 months after launch with Halo CE & was blown up from game AI & scale.
Ofc then came "THE FUCKING LIBRARY" level & Ruined everything :)(joking)
 
Good custom soundtrack implementation. Putting songs from CDs onto the hard drive with GTA Vice City having the ability to play them through the car radio.

The launch of Xbox Live with Star Wars Battlefront being a personal fave to play and talk shit with people

Third party games looking great for the time

Game cases were cool , that boss logo with black heading

Whole vibe of the brand and console which carried on a few years pre Kinect with 360, it felt like they were ahead of the competition in certain areas whilst PS2 was great as well
 
digoutyoursoul said:
Good custom soundtrack implementation. Putting songs from CDs onto the hard drive with GTA Vice City having the ability to play them through the car radio.

The launch of Xbox Live with Star Wars Battlefront being a personal fave to play and talk shit with people

Third party games looking great for the time

Game cases were cool , that boss logo with black heading

Whole vibe of the brand and console which carried on a few years pre Kinect with 360, it felt like they were ahead of the competition in certain areas whilst PS2 was great as well
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By the end of the gen I had all 3 systems with a good library for each. They were all very distinct with reasons to own each. Now it's all the same games with a different dashboard. Not nearly as diverse of a landscape or hobby. I cover all of the bases now just by owning a PC and having a Switch in my house. That would have been impossible in this era.
 
I still have my OG xbox plugged in to my 27inch CRT.

I play Halo 2 online through Insignia, great people playing.

I do remember a few months before Halo 2 coming out begging my mother to get me the xbox live kit and high speed internet cus my friends we're all getting it.

Felt like I was on the cutting edge of tech
 
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Ugh, we're really doing it, aren't we?
We're mourning the dead. It's really happened, hasn't it?

The original Xbox was one of my favorite consoles of all time, right there next to the Dreamcast. It was just perfectly contemporary, because as you said, it really did feel like the industry was growing up with us. Our tastes were changing, and the Xbox was right there offering exactly the kind of stuff we wanted. The social aspect was amazing, and completely unlike anything which had come before.

I mean, I've said it on here before, but Halo's a big part of what brought my wife and me together. LAN parties hosted by the local library. So of course I'm an Xbox diehard.

I think a return to that era would be good for gaming. A time before budgets were completely and ungodly insane. Before games became bizarre vanity projects for narcissists to see how many Hollywood names they can stick to their fever dreams.

I had never played a game like Morrowind before (and to be honest, I really haven't since). That such an experience - so bizarre, yet weirdly cozy - set in such a massive, alien world, could be played on a console from that era was incredible.

It was a triumph, that's for sure. The whole console, I mean. It was worthy.
 
Felt like PS2 or GameCube 'Pro' in many ways, especially multiplatforms when they pushed it. And it got games they didn't even attempt on the other consoles despite the tiny install base.

Doom 3, Half Life 2, Riddick etc the devs said they wanted to port to the other consoles but there were too many technical limitations.

Beast of a machine. Some ports were lazy quick grabs like devs on Beyond3d have mentioned but probably one of the most powerful consoles ever at launch.
 
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Halo 1 with my best friend at that time. I was blown away by how fun it could be to play an FPS on console. Goldeney 64 was good but the gameplay of Halo CE is something else. Legendary difficulty mode was no joke and the AI was (and still is) awesome. A blast to play in coop. Then Burnout Point of Impact. Just a masterpiece in every level, that intro music was simple yet SO GOOD.

SSX too. Another masterpiece that is really missing in today's landscape. We could use some fun games like SSX and Burnout. Fable is yet another IP close ti my heart, but Fable II is the far better game.

Loved that gen.
 
the first Ghost Recon! ton of hours into that

i still have a PAL version, yeah a lot of cool stuff
Voodoo Vince was another lovely exclusive, and some tracks into Forza Motorsport still seems better than real
 
In light of what's happening recently with Microsoft, it's wild to look back and see how much better they were at just getting software out the door on the original Xbox.

I traded in a bunch of retro stuff to Game Crazy to get my Xbox with the Sega GT 2002/Jet Set Radio Future pack-in and Shenmue 2. Crimson Skies and OutRun 2 were maybe my favorite games on the console.
 
Walliwallipaloo said:
Ugh, we're really doing it, aren't we?
We're mourning the dead. It's really happened, hasn't it?

The original Xbox was one of my favorite consoles of all time, right there next to the Dreamcast. It was just perfectly contemporary, because as you said, it really did feel like the industry was growing up with us. Our tastes were changing, and the Xbox was right there offering exactly the kind of stuff we wanted. The social aspect was amazing, and completely unlike anything which had come before.

I mean, I've said it on here before, but Halo's a big part of what brought my wife and me together. LAN parties hosted by the local library. So of course I'm an Xbox diehard.

I think a return to that era would be good for gaming. A time before budgets were completely and ungodly insane. Before games became bizarre vanity projects for narcissists to see how many Hollywood names they can stick to their fever dreams.

I had never played a game like Morrowind before (and to be honest, I really haven't since). That such an experience - so bizarre, yet weirdly cozy - set in such a massive, alien world, could be played on a console from that era was incredible.

It was a triumph, that's for sure. The whole console, I mean. It was worthy.
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The XBox we fell in love with died more than a decade ago. Hell, I'd say Kinect drove the nails into the coffin. Everything after that was just a bad-faith Microsoft venture. I didn't see any traces of this DNA in the Xbone pre-launch presentations. Grats on getting a wife out of the deal though! That's called making the most of it.
 
I walked into my local games shop and they had an Xbox demo-ing Transworld Surf. I was blown away by the graphics, and it was pretty fun to play. I had zero interest in Xbox up to that point, but I went home with one. Soon after that I got Halo to see what all the fuss was about. Great, great times. Then DOA3, Morrowind, Otogi, Gunvalkyrie, Panzer Dragoon Orta, GTA VC+SA, Outrun 2, SH2...
I actually really liked the duke controller, except for the rounded top buttons and their placement. I stayed with Xbox ever since because I could never get used to PS controllers.
 
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Hearing Halo CE in GAME and having to buy one.



Ripping my CDs then using the music in Project Gotham Racing 2.

The weird little bits that sounded like garbled speech on the dashboard.

Flashing it with a modchip and putting a 750 gig hard drive in it…
 
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Whats with all the positive Xbox threads, mostly about the OG one or 360?

Is this some paid psy-ops to lessen the hate caused by the next round of lay offs?

You green rats weren't so nostalgic until uncle Phil started throwing everyone out
 
BennyBlanco said:
I remember Halo Lan parties. And then fooling Xbox into online play with XBConnect. Ripping CDs and using them as custom soundtracks. OG Xbox ruled.
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The successor to Goldeneye MP for us. We used to stick a curtain up in the front room and play 2v2 lan Blood Gultch every Sunday, best day of the week.
 
Doczu said:
Whats with all the positive Xbox threads, mostly about the OG one or 360?

Is this some paid psy-ops to lessen the hate caused by the next round of lay offs?

You green rats weren't so nostalgic until uncle Phil started throwing everyone out
Click to expand...
This thread is about an era where console warriors did not exist. Everyone was just excited for any gaming hardware they could get their hands on.
 
I bought the Ninja Gaiden bundle in the summer of that year I think. All I remember is that it was bloody hot in my bedroom but I kept playing lol. Didn't like Halo as much so I skipped 2 and never tried online. I bought a lot of Japanese games for it tho. But NG and Riddick were my favorite titles for sure.
 
Best Arcade racer of all time, especially with XB live
51gr4OwpKKL._UF894,1000_QL80_.jpg


simpatico said:
This thread is about an era where console warriors did not exist. Everyone was just excited for any gaming hardware they could get their hands on.
Click to expand...

Had them all (GC, PS2, XB) but XB hit's me best in the nostalgia.
 
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We played Halo CE over Xbox Lan for 24 hours straight. Time flew by, we had no idea what time it was. It's also the first time I played ToeJam and Earl because it was always rented as a kid of Genesis, so I bought 3 as an adult.
 
My first home console (I'm a PC gamer since 4yo).

My dad bought it (modded with better HDD and DVD drive) because OG Xbox had all the PC games I loved, Crimson Skies, Midtown Madness and of course Halo that my PC could barely run back then. Despite some issues with XBL (I live in a house without a solid connection) it was a very memorable console that actually showed me how fun consoles truly are. And yeah, Fat Duke was so stange yet so comfortable.

That's why I kinda hate what current leadership done with the brand. OG days along with first half of 360 were truly iconic.
 
SoloCamo said:
Best Arcade racer of all time, especially with XB live
51gr4OwpKKL._UF894,1000_QL80_.jpg
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I could never get my head around the handling. No idea why. I still contend that the problem was with me and not the game. Played more Sega GT, OG Forza, NFS Underground. My king racing game on Xbox was actually RalliSport.! Actually made me fall in love with rally as a racing medium. I still watch WRC to this day and will tell anyone who will listen that RalliSport Challenge brought me there.


Been looking for a spiritual successor ever since, and I actually picked something up this weekend that scratches the itch a bit. If anyone knows of something better for the task on PC, I'd love to know about it!
 
Tried some jedi game at Carrefour. It was cool, but damn that gamepad felt BIG in my tiny little kid hands.


That was the first and last time I would see that console in person.
 
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Playing Halo CE at home for the first time felt unreal. Was coming from the N64, so the visuals difference and controls were a massive leap. In the first week, i played so much of it, that going to bed, even with my eyes closed, i could only see Halo. Talk about being brainwashed by the game😁
 
DownLikeBCPowder said:
Console warriors definitely existed at that time.
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I wasn't online until midway through the 360 gen. Very late comer to that space. Did not create a personal (non school) email address until 2008ish. Let alone check out of even know what a forum was (but I did hit the ground running and became a highly decorated console and HD media warrior in the PS360 era. Team Sony no less!).
 
Is there a reason to both with Xbox emulators? I have a nice 16 bit retro set up. CRT TV included. But when I think back to Xbox, most the games I want to replay are on PC. Hell at the time they were PC ports. I think the only stuff that I can't get my hands on that I'd really like to is Riddick and RalliSport. Am I missing anything?
 
simpatico said:
Is there a reason to both with Xbox emulators? I have a nice 16 bit retro set up. CRT TV included. But when I think back to Xbox, most the games I want to replay are on PC. Hell at the time they were PC ports. I think the only stuff that I can't get my hands on that I'd really like to is Riddick and RalliSport. Am I missing anything?
Click to expand...

Riddick is available on PC (and much better)
 
clarky said:
You know me mate.

Credit where its due. Xbox used to be excellent. Ninja Gaiden?
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Man, I loved the original Xbox! I always preferred it over the PlayStation 2, if there was an Xbox version of a PS2 game I'd snap it up instead

I kept the library too, all the Baldurs gates, Halos, Max Paynes, mech games, everything.

I still remember when it was discontinued, a mate and me rushed up Argos and we bagged one each for £50. Still got it boxed, which is probably knackered now, heard they had some problem onboard.. :messenger_tears_of_joy:

It really did piss me off they never made Brute Force BC though!

clarky said:
Nothing to do with how shit the current landlords are.
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I can't honestly believe what they've been up to

They only thing I hope is they did infact just get rid of the dead wood and will go back to what they used to be good at

Who knows, this company lost the plot years ago.
 
clarky said:
Fuck off.
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didn't know the lay offs affected you as well. Need an AI prompt to deal with all that anger?

Dr.Morris79 said:
Short
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Like Xbox lifesoan? 😏
simpatico said:
This thread is about an era where console warriors did not exist. Everyone was just excited for any gaming hardware they could get their hands on.
Click to expand...
Meme Lol GIF by ALL SEEING EYES

Dude. No. The "old cod lobbies" meme isn't just a meme.
Console wars were fierce back then.

And so you all don't think i'm just trolling - i miss the og Xbox, still waiting for a proper emulatir to play all 3rd party games with best graphics. Couldn't afford one when it was relevant.
 
Probably the memory that sticks out the most is the Shellshock: Nam. He was playing when I got a 96 hour deploy order to the Al Anbar providence in Iraq to provide security for the elections being held at the beginning of '05.

It sticks out because my oldest asked me if I had shellshock from my prior two deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan and as he was crying my youngest came in and said," don't worry dad, I'll throw my shoes from the helicopter on the bad guys and protect you".

Saved the day, as my oldest was going through a lot already with my other deployments.

Other than that, I remember while on deployments, my wife mentioning returning a couple 360's at some point because of the ring of death thing, but I can't remember when.

Thanks for bringing this up, was a great little memory of how children are.
 
I'll forget sitting outside EB games at the mall and my brother touched the DUKE controller for the first time. He said it was like holding cow balls. Super funny.

I also remember getting it on christmas. It didn't work. Had to return it to costco on a road trip to Utah the next couple days. We had a suburban with a little dvd player tv and was able to play it on the road. Halo and Legacy of Cain Defiance.
 
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