Original Xbox - Share your memories
- Thread starter simpatico
- Start date
Team Andromeda
Member
This thread is just another pathetic excuse to try and hide behind wanting discourse, but really is just an excuse for saying how good Xbox was and how terrible they are now.
To make out that platform warriors weren't around until the internet age is just as silly and wrong as making out they weren't bullying until social media. Both went on in the school long before the internet age or even the console age; I remember ZX Spectrum fans in my Junior school making fun of the one kid who had a C64 and calling him Billy No Mates
To make out that platform warriors weren't around until the internet age is just as silly and wrong as making out they weren't bullying until social media. Both went on in the school long before the internet age or even the console age; I remember ZX Spectrum fans in my Junior school making fun of the one kid who had a C64 and calling him Billy No Mates
Last edited:
SkylineRKR
Member
I tried not that long ago. I beat Otogi 2, and despite the 4:3 and camera, I really liked it.
![L*][*N*K](/data/avatars/m/842/842515.jpg?1750247637){kind=avatar}
L*][*N*K
Member
I would love it if From Software did a remastered collection
I tried not that long ago. I beat Otogi 2, and despite the 4:3 and camera, I really liked it.
The_Mike
I cry about SonyGaf from my chair in Redmond, WA
The problem is because Xbox wasn't as popular as PS2/PS3, progress towards Xbox emulation isn't as fast.
However, I've played plenty of Xbox games through emulator just fine.
Only problem for me, is file space. A PS3 game that is 1.2 GB will be like 7 GB on Xbox because for some reason Xbox games fill the entire size on a DVD.
At least that is what I understand. I tried with army of two, and while rpcs3 is good, the Xbox 360 just runs flawlessly compared because of the compiling shader annoyance with rpcs3. graphics also seems to be better, but that just don't justify the bigger file size.
Its expensive being an emulator guy.
Last edited:
simpatico
Member
Yes. Xbox was great then. Basically designed without the confines of profit and infinite growth. Gave us a taste of "just making cool things because we can" rather than what we have now, where everything has to be an infinite profit gambling box that carefully skirts the edge of law and ethics.
As to your second point about console war driving discourse, maybe it just didn't exist in my bubble. We had a long standing daily after school Tony Hawk Dreamcast + gravity bong session at my house for pretty much my entire senior year. I don't recall anyone ever saying they wished we had the PSX version instead or how it was someway better. If anything there was a delicate balance between enjoying the games and not letting yourself appear too invested in it, lest you be considered a nerd.
Hudo
Member
When I was a wee lad, I was regularly going to Xbox Link parties, taking my Xbox with me. On one such a party, we were playing Halo like usual and I killed a specific guy quite a lot that evening. Not deliberately, it just happened. At a certain point, that guy freaks the fuck out and walks over to me trying to start shit. I saw him coming and just used my Duke controller to defend myself. And so we ended up fighting for a bit. Dude walked away with a bloody nose and I walked away unharmed. Plugged the Duke in and just kept playing.
Good times.
Good times.
Romulus
Member
I think they're all terrible now. Playstation is my console of choice but it's basically just a multiplatform machine. Lol, even the ps4 blew it away in terms of what the sentiment in here is all about--exclusives, and ps4 was a step down from the others.
In a way, if we're just looking at that, xbox at least has more ways to play and platforms. Playstation has been reduced to "we promise games are coming" whereas by this time in the OG Xbox life, it absolutely decimated ps5/XSX with exclusives.
Nintendo is the only real platform keeping that going, and even they've faltered or, if you're like me, you just don't prefer their games.
Boo Who?
Member
OG Xbox was fantastic.
Panzer Dragoon Orta
Jet Set Radio Future
Rallisport Challenge 2
Return to Castle Wolfenstein
Butcher Bay
Halo
Halo 2
Forza
Fable
KOTOR
Dark Alliance
Brothers in Arms
NFL2K series
Morrowwind
Full Spectrum Warrior
Burnout 3
Burnout Takedown
Those are just off the top of my head. Its a shame what has happened to them. OG Xbox and the 360 were beasts with amazing libraries.
Panzer Dragoon Orta
Jet Set Radio Future
Rallisport Challenge 2
Return to Castle Wolfenstein
Butcher Bay
Halo
Halo 2
Forza
Fable
KOTOR
Dark Alliance
Brothers in Arms
NFL2K series
Morrowwind
Full Spectrum Warrior
Burnout 3
Burnout Takedown
Those are just off the top of my head. Its a shame what has happened to them. OG Xbox and the 360 were beasts with amazing libraries.
cinnamonandgravy
Member
played it for the first time at a gamestop and thought the shaders and overall graphics were impressive (some racing game with super aggressive DoF and some combat boat game with waves)
console size and controller were funny--felt half-baked/unrefined
had pc and other consoles, and didnt care about halo that much, so didnt bother with the og xbox.
console size and controller were funny--felt half-baked/unrefined
had pc and other consoles, and didnt care about halo that much, so didnt bother with the og xbox.
Badlucktroll
Member
I wonder what it would have been like if Microsoft entered the console race around '95-96 instead of 2000. The controller would have looked like this
Team Andromeda
Member
I'm enjoying gaming more now on the Series X than at any time since the 32-bit age, that said, I've enjoyed all the generations of gaming.
What kills me and hurts me the most in modern gaming is the death of lightgun games and Arcades
I love Arcade gaming so much
Curiously they choose not to judge the PS5's library against the PS2's.
Team Andromeda
Member
Danny Dudekisser
I paid good money for this Dynex!
The original Xbox is a fantastic console that I actually gain more appreciation for over time. It is the only great Xbox console as far as I'm concerned, because it was the only one with 1) a shitload of excellent exclusives and 2) hardware that was up to the task of running games properly.
If you weren't there at the time, it's hard to really understand just how far ahead of the curve the Xbox's hardware was. Seeing Dead or Alive 3 for the first time was mind-blowing, and it ran at a completely consistent 60fps. It was perfection. And that was kind of the norm for Xbox - games looked stupid good and ran exactly how you wanted them to. Sure, PCs were able to put out similar visuals at high resolutions, but it's kind of moot because you weren't seeing Japanese games like DOA3, Jet Set Radio Future, etc. with art styles that really popped on the PC back then. And these days, plugging in the Xbox via component to a Retrotink 4K makes it look crazy good. I genuinely wouldn't have cared if graphics never advanced beyond this.
The games were phenomenal and it was the first time you were seeing good western game development happening on consoles. It was hardware that PC developers could actually use properly. Sega was going balls to the wall with the obvious stuff like Jet Set Radio and Panzer Dragoon, but also putting out absolute bangers like Gunvalkyrie. But there were a ton of great games that really didn't get a lot of attention that I'm still picking up and playing for the first time, most of which were exclusive. The system had a really unique identity - it felt like you were getting an experience that you could only get on the Xbox, and - like the other systems of the time - games had a bit of a unique look thanks to the hardware. And ports were almost invariably much better on the Xbox than on the other consoles. It was nice having a hierarchy back then where you just knew that if you wanted the best thing, it was on here. Even now, I'm going back and checking out new games that I never had the chance to play back in the day, and I still have a great time with them. It's aged remarkably well.
I wouldn't say I got super into online gaming on there - though I did play a lot of DOA 2 Ultimate - but I got a hell of a lot of playtime out of the local multiplayer stuff. It was the perfect continuation of what the N64 wanted to do with multiplayer, except with games that I actually wanted to play with people.
Really, it's one of my personal favorite consoles to this day. It was partially there at the right time and place to give Sega a new home, it was partially just a super overpowered system that we're fortunate Microsoft was willing to take a bath on, and it was also just a damn good era for video games. The 360 never recaptured the magic for me, as it was underpowered and caused games to look blurry and run like shit, it became a dumping ground for substandard PC ports, and Japanese developers had completely lost the plot by that point. Some bright spots, to be sure, but the brand was never anywhere close to as good as it was during that initial system. I highly recommend that people who never played the OG Xbox check it out someday.
If you weren't there at the time, it's hard to really understand just how far ahead of the curve the Xbox's hardware was. Seeing Dead or Alive 3 for the first time was mind-blowing, and it ran at a completely consistent 60fps. It was perfection. And that was kind of the norm for Xbox - games looked stupid good and ran exactly how you wanted them to. Sure, PCs were able to put out similar visuals at high resolutions, but it's kind of moot because you weren't seeing Japanese games like DOA3, Jet Set Radio Future, etc. with art styles that really popped on the PC back then. And these days, plugging in the Xbox via component to a Retrotink 4K makes it look crazy good. I genuinely wouldn't have cared if graphics never advanced beyond this.
The games were phenomenal and it was the first time you were seeing good western game development happening on consoles. It was hardware that PC developers could actually use properly. Sega was going balls to the wall with the obvious stuff like Jet Set Radio and Panzer Dragoon, but also putting out absolute bangers like Gunvalkyrie. But there were a ton of great games that really didn't get a lot of attention that I'm still picking up and playing for the first time, most of which were exclusive. The system had a really unique identity - it felt like you were getting an experience that you could only get on the Xbox, and - like the other systems of the time - games had a bit of a unique look thanks to the hardware. And ports were almost invariably much better on the Xbox than on the other consoles. It was nice having a hierarchy back then where you just knew that if you wanted the best thing, it was on here. Even now, I'm going back and checking out new games that I never had the chance to play back in the day, and I still have a great time with them. It's aged remarkably well.
I wouldn't say I got super into online gaming on there - though I did play a lot of DOA 2 Ultimate - but I got a hell of a lot of playtime out of the local multiplayer stuff. It was the perfect continuation of what the N64 wanted to do with multiplayer, except with games that I actually wanted to play with people.
Really, it's one of my personal favorite consoles to this day. It was partially there at the right time and place to give Sega a new home, it was partially just a super overpowered system that we're fortunate Microsoft was willing to take a bath on, and it was also just a damn good era for video games. The 360 never recaptured the magic for me, as it was underpowered and caused games to look blurry and run like shit, it became a dumping ground for substandard PC ports, and Japanese developers had completely lost the plot by that point. Some bright spots, to be sure, but the brand was never anywhere close to as good as it was during that initial system. I highly recommend that people who never played the OG Xbox check it out someday.
clarky
Gold Member
Hunter 99
Member
My dad brought one and gave it to me a year later or so.
Halo was an amazing experience and DOA. I thought the graphics were incredible for the time.
But for me the standouts were JSRF and Shenmue 2.wow it was like having a dreamcast 2.
(I also loved you could play your own music while playing)
Good times
Halo was an amazing experience and DOA. I thought the graphics were incredible for the time.
But for me the standouts were JSRF and Shenmue 2.wow it was like having a dreamcast 2.
(I also loved you could play your own music while playing)
Good times
Skifi28
Member
Going from a PS1 to an Xbox felt like moving up two generations. Not just the games, but features too. An internal HDD on a console felt unreal at the time and playing GTA or racing games listening to your own officially ripped CD music didn't get old. Not having to worry about space and buying/managing memory cards was also liberating.
Of course there's the games too. There's too many to list, but stuff like Rallisport Challenge, PGR, Sega GT and Mechassault just kept me endlessly occupied. Then later on Doom 3 and Half life 2 made even my PC-only friends jealous as their rigs couldn't handle them. Halo 2 was a masterpiece and Forza scratched that Gran Turismo itch, perhaps better than GT did back then.
So many fond memories, too bad they had to take a crap on them. Thanks Don and Phil!
Of course there's the games too. There's too many to list, but stuff like Rallisport Challenge, PGR, Sega GT and Mechassault just kept me endlessly occupied. Then later on Doom 3 and Half life 2 made even my PC-only friends jealous as their rigs couldn't handle them. Halo 2 was a masterpiece and Forza scratched that Gran Turismo itch, perhaps better than GT did back then.
So many fond memories, too bad they had to take a crap on them. Thanks Don and Phil!
Team Andromeda
Member
Seems you've still haven't left school or grown up....
Romulus
Member
VR is awesome for lightgun style shooters.
UltimaKilo
Gold Member
What an incredible console it was. Playing Online on it was magical at the time and the graphics were incredible for the time. It was so much more powerful than the PS2 and even GameCube and when games were built for it, you could tell.
Unfortunately, it did not have as big of a library as it should have had, but it did have some amazing titles.
That was probably the best generation of gaming.
Unfortunately, it did not have as big of a library as it should have had, but it did have some amazing titles.
That was probably the best generation of gaming.
Paasei
Member
My fondest memory of this console was the demo stand in some Burger King near the cinema. My good friend and I convinced a younger kid to swim to the ring/halo in the first or demo level of Halo for a secret area.
After we had our burgers and got ready for the the movie (20 - 30 min later), said kid was still swimming. Good times.
After we had our burgers and got ready for the the movie (20 - 30 min later), said kid was still swimming. Good times.
salva
Member
Halo 2 LAN party with some mates. We had to bring over our "small" CRT TVs which were so heavy and took up heaps of room.
Playing Ghost Recon 2 MP over xlink kai as I was too poor for an Xbox Live sub.
Seeing the graphics of Splinter Cell for the first time was amazing.
Later on, renting games and copying them to my modded hard drive
Playing Ghost Recon 2 MP over xlink kai as I was too poor for an Xbox Live sub.
Seeing the graphics of Splinter Cell for the first time was amazing.
Later on, renting games and copying them to my modded hard drive
tylrdiablos
Member
First thing that comes to mind (other than the size and weight) is the DVD Playback kit.
It always seemed like a scam. Was it possible spoof the dongle? Some way to trick the console into believing the dongle was present via clever soldering?
Did Microsoft have to pay 1 DVD license per console or something and this was their way or recovering the cost?
I was (and still am) unreasonably annoyed that such a thing existed. Fight me.
It always seemed like a scam. Was it possible spoof the dongle? Some way to trick the console into believing the dongle was present via clever soldering?
Did Microsoft have to pay 1 DVD license per console or something and this was their way or recovering the cost?
I was (and still am) unreasonably annoyed that such a thing existed. Fight me.
Ceadeus
Member
Renting the console as a teenager, playing Halo felt like gaming was never going to get any better. Thinking back, I believe that generation—specifically the Xbox era—is where some of my favorite gaming memories lie.
Then, a little while later in 2004, Ninja Gaiden was released. Call Itagaki a one-hit wonder if you want—maybe he is—but to me, he made the best game in the world.
Then, a little while later in 2004, Ninja Gaiden was released. Call Itagaki a one-hit wonder if you want—maybe he is—but to me, he made the best game in the world.
Black_Stride
do not tempt fate do not contrain Wonder Woman's thighs do not do not
Odd one.
PAL MGS Xbox disks were textured........made them feel premium, I cant remember if it was for every disk or only MGS, but i bought so many MGS games, it might as well have been all of them.
PAL MGS Xbox disks were textured........made them feel premium, I cant remember if it was for every disk or only MGS, but i bought so many MGS games, it might as well have been all of them.
Connxtion
Member
The dongle contains an xbe file that's loaded when the dvd player is loaded. So there is no dvd playback without it. Like you said it was all so they didn't need to pay licensing fees on every console unless you specifically bought the dongle then you paid along with some profit for MS.
Now, my favourite memory was when xbmp was released (Xbmc/kodi as know today) and comparing Xbox games to ps2 games at the time, fun times
splinter cell was a drastic difference in lighting etc… (I owned a fat ps2 also)Then modding, to this day I still do stuff on the Xbox, I don't play games I code for the system. Xbox softmodding tool, xbmc4gamers & xbmc-emustation are 3 of my projects I update/maintain. Make themes for said applications etc…
Dreamcast > OG Xbox are my two favourite consoles of all time.
Romulus
Member
Having a PS2, I never will forget basically ignoring all the Xbox hype and walking in and seeing my roommate playing Halo CE. The disparity in visuals look like a generation apart with the massive world and clarity. The bump mapping alone just looked amazing. We were just looking at textures for like 20 minutes. I was trying to talk myself out of it. Played through the campaign coop and bought my own soon thereafter.
RickMasters
Gold Member
Same here. It was really something when it first hit the scene. PGR and DOA3 was tasty aswell though. Playing doom 3and half life 2 on it made me feel like they were really bring those big PC games to the living room. the pad was shit though. Ive never liked PS pads but the OG xbox pads were shit. didint stop me from enjoying those games.
I hate posts like this. reminds me of all the things I loved about xbox. all good things come too an end though. As a former sega owner I already been on this rodeo already.....Not sure why I always ick the underdog when it comes to consoles...there was something special about sega...and once upon a time there was something special about xbox. What ever it was is gone and im over it. never imagined Id end up transitioning to a full time PC gamer though, but even then theres gonna be some lingering aspect of xbox about it.
They really had something special..especially with all the original guys..semus blackley, J. allard etc...people who just wanted to build a kick ass platform, and understood what makes a console great. and in the X360s early days we really got THAT. shame how far xbox has fallen. I guess im always gonna be an xbox gamer (my baclkog is kind of insane, in a good way. tonnes of bangers over generations of xbox) but I guess my future as a gamer is PC/hytbrid console shenanigans that MS got lined up for next gen.
nush
Member
And a secondary cost saving was that they did not have to build an IR receiver into every Xbox.The dongle contains an xbe file that's loaded when the dvd player is loaded. So there is no dvd playback without it. Like you said it was all so they didn't need to pay licensing fees on every console unless you specifically bought the dongle then you paid along with some profit for MS.
Now, my favourite memory was when xbmp was released (Xbmc/kodi as know today) and comparing Xbox games to ps2 games at the time, fun times
Then modding, to this day I still do stuff on the Xbox, I don't play games I code for the system. Xbox softmodding tool, xbmc4gamers & xbmc-emustation are 3 of my projects I update/maintai