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[StereoVsn]

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?

Basically it's the vibes. And Xbox emulation isn't great.

Most of the games (but not all) have PC ports that run much better.

At the time though, Xbox OG was amazing and had really cool games you couldn't have without a much more expensive gaming PC if at all.

OG KOTOR also released on Xbox and was amazing. Fable, Halo, Morrowind, PGR, KOTOR, Shenmue 2 (in US) and much more. It was an amazing time, especially if you didn't have a gaming PC.

 

[clarky]

didn't know the lay offs affected you as well. Need an AI prompt to deal with all that anger?


Like Xbox lifesoan?

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.

Current lay offs have nothing to do with who was in charge then.

 

[SoloCamo]

Butcher Bay? All I see are petitions. you got me really excited...

Weird... didn't know it was removed.. I got it on GOG years ago.

 

[DownLikeBCPowder]

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!).

Our family got internet in 1996 I think. But by the late 90s I was using a popular online game trading website that included an active chat room and forum. Loved that place, made hundreds of trades over the internet over the years. It's still around I'm sure, but I don't frequent it anymore for whatever reason. Still have my Tshirts advertising the site though lol.

But point is there was heavy warring going on, especially when the Xbox came, but prior as well. Lots of fan boys for all .

 

[PropellerEar]

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…

750GB drive in 2001-2005?
75GB more likely.

Mine: Heard hype about Halo, decided to check this Xbox out.
Halo. Meh..

Paying for live?

Didn't even scratch that Live voucher that came with it.

My card somehow got double charged for the Xbox, but got my money back in the end.

 

[Drew1440]

Never had one originally, but played a few of the exclusive titles on the 360 (when you could play your older physical games from the disc) of the ones that were compatible. Unreal Championship II, Brute Force, PGR 1/2, Quantum Redshift and the first two Halo games were some of my favorite for the platform. Eventually picked up a used crystal Xbox which I still use to this day, and thanks to Insignia you can still play it online. Looking back it was a very forward thinking console with its built in HDD and ability to rip and play back audio CD's within your games, but was a huge money sink.

 

[DownLikeBCPowder]

Basically it's the vibes. And Xbox emulation isn't great.

Most of the games (but not all) have PC ports that run much better.

At the time though, Xbox OG was amazing and had really cool games you couldn't have without a much more expensive gaming PC if at all.

OG KOTOR also released on Xbox and was amazing. Fable, Halo, Morrowind, PGR, KOTOR, Shenmue 2 (in US) and much more. It was an amazing time, especially if you didn't have a gaming PC.

This was the big one for me - I loved console gaming, but also PC gaming a lot and my PC was quickly becoming out of date as they did ever so fast back then. Xbox gave me an affordable way to play some must haves like Morrowind, even if suboptimal (no mouse and keyboard etc). Plus access to console exclusives. Granted it was the last system I got that gen, I did prioritize Ps2 and GameCube.

 

[simpatico]

Basically it's the vibes. And Xbox emulation isn't great.

Most of the games (but not all) have PC ports that run much better.

At the time though, Xbox OG was amazing and had really cool games you couldn't have without a much more expensive gaming PC if at all.

OG KOTOR also released on Xbox and was amazing. Fable, Halo, Morrowind, PGR, KOTOR, Shenmue 2 (in US) and much more. It was an amazing time, especially if you didn't have a gaming PC.

Yeah, that was my interest in it. I used to read every word of every issue of Game Informer. And those PC reviews made me drool. Being able to play those on a console was my killer app. Which means for what I liked about it, there's not much need to go back to on original hardware. Sure wouldn't mind being stranded on a deserted island with it, but that's the main use-case I can see for having one now.

The vibe I can't go back to is just being young and having no major responsibilities. -_-

 

[clarky]

OG KOTOR also released on Xbox and was amazing. Fable, Halo, Morrowind, PGR, KOTOR, Shenmue 2 (in US) and much more. It was an amazing time, especially if you didn't have a gaming PC.

This and so much more. OG was awesome, a continuation of the Dreamcast.

 

[StereoVsn]

The vibe I can't go back to is just being young and having no major responsibilities. -_-

Yeah, that's the feeling that we can't get. But that's what nostalgia hits hard! I rebuilt my XP PC and will do same for 95/98/ME (will figure out which one works best) and kind of want a hacked Xbox OG now.

I already have Saturn, Dreamcast, PS2 and some other consoles. Sometimes vibes do hit the right way after couple of beers!

 

[M.W.]

Still my fave Xbox game

 

[RCX]

I remember being glad I ordered an S controller to go with my Halo bundle.

When it arrived the Duke was even more insanely gargantuan than I'd imagined. How that thing ever got through focus testing is still a mystery to me!

But Halo was just sublime. Xbox only ever hit that kind of high with me one more time when Halo 3 came out.

 

[Syphon Filter]

xbox lowkey had one of the best launches of a console.

Those are the main ones and im not even mentioning 3rd party games like tony hawks 2x,etc

 

[Corporal.Hicks]

I still can't decide which console I liked more: the PS2 or the OG Xbox. The PS2 had more games, but the Xbox still had plenty, and they often looked like the next generation compared to the PS2.

Halo 1-2, Riddick, SW Knights Of The Old Republic 1-2, Panzer Dragon Orta, PGR2, Enclave, Quantum Redshift, Splinter Cell 1-3, Voodoo Vince, DOA3, Ralli Sport 2, Far Cry Instincts, MechAssault 2, Oddword Strangers Wrath, Otogi Myth Of Demons, Ghost Reacon 2, Brothers in Arms, Crimson Skies, Fable, Jet Set Radio Future, Forza Motorsport, Brute Force, Ninja Gaiden.

Multiplatform games also looked and run noticeably better on xbox (higher framere, resolution, higher details, new graphics effects): GTA 3, GTA Vice City, Max Payne 1-2, Colin Mcrae 4, NFS Underground, NFS Most Wanted, Time Spliters 3.

 

[clarky]

xbox lowkey had one of the best launches of a console.

Those are the main ones and im not even mentioning 3rd party games like tony hawks 2x,etc

This is when xbox had passion. A Console vision of what the PC was at the time. So good.

I'll say it now the OG Xbox line up was what the Dreamcast should have been in full flow.

 

[DirtyBast8rd]

The OG was fantastic. A pure gaming machine with fantastic games. Bought one walking past a Dixons in 2002and grabbed Halo and PGR3. Never heard of Halo as I was out of gaming for a while and didn't really follow the industry. Was blown away obviously.

To bad Microsoft are such incompetent greedy losers these days. Xbox could have been great and loved still.

 

[hououinkyouma00]

I fucking love the OG Xbox.

I remember my mom and stepdad went to a nearby casino one time and ended up winning a bunch of money and was able to give me a bigger Christmas then usual (grew up pretty low income so even this was huge for me) and got me whatever the holiday bundle of that year was (2002 I think because I remember the Jet Set/Sega GT combo pack) as well as Project Gotham Racing, and Halo.

I remember playing the hell out of all of those games and many more: PGR2, Forza Motorsport, Halo 2, Ghost Recon 2, Crimson Skies, Mech Assault.

I also remember renting Shenmue 2 and being blown away by it despite not playing the original.

 

[m14]

I remember being glad I ordered an S controller to go with my Halo bundle.

When it arrived the Duke was even more insanely gargantuan than I'd imagined. How that thing ever got through focus testing is still a mystery to me!

But Halo was just sublime. Xbox only ever hit that kind of high with me one more time when Halo 3 came out.

It's even stranger because MS had actually made gaming controllers before.

 

[El Muerto]

So many great pc games on there like Doom and Half Life 2. Countless hours playing Halo multiplayer. And being a major fan of the Dreamcast it truly felt like a Dreamcast 2. Also, XBMC was great, i used that watch everything. I even installed a usb port so i could watch movies from a flash drive. I remember me and my friend went to the mall to pick one up. The guy at gamestop said to hold the bottom of the bag because the console was so damn heavy the bags gave out.

 

[Lupin3]

It was amazing. I remember selling my PS2 to get the money for it. I found a guy selling his Xbox somewhat close at the time. He got into a fight and told people to fuck off in the forum post when trying to sell it. It should have been enough for me to stay away, but I still wanted it. Met up with the guy and he was really friendly, and the Xbox was in pristine condition. His dad drove him to the meeting spot, and the old fart said something to me that I couldn't understand. Said "what" and he repeated the same sentence. Still didn't understand a word he was saying so I just smiled, paid the seller and went back to my place to plug it in.

Got Halo with it, and I was completely amazed by it. Driving those warthogs around was so much fun, and the music was magical.

I kept it for a good while before returning to PS2 again. But the OG Xbox alongside the 360 gave me some of the best gaming experiences I've ever had. Outside of Amiga and PS1, of course.

 

[Lucifers Beard]

Ah neat thread! Good to see so many with great memories for what was easily my favourite console generation. Some of my favourite memories are from that time too.

I was a lucky kid growing up in the sense that my dad was into videogames. A friend from school brought over his Xbox with Halo and my dad and I were blown away by it. It just ticked all the right boxes in that it had great gameplay, graphics and the multiplayer was just incredible.

The next day my dad picked up an Xbox with Halo and a second controller, then before long we had 4 controllers and were playing Halo on Saturday evenings with friends. Then came the LAN parties in the front room, which was a sight to behold!

Just when we thought it couldn't get better, Xbox Live came along and we jumped at the chance to beta test it. I put a fucking ton of hours into Mechassault, Crimson Skies, Rainbow Six 3 (and Black Arrow), SC: Pandora Tomorrow and Chaos Theory multiplayer. My dad and I put in a bunch of time on Counter Strike together too and had a Friday evening server we joined with a regular group. Xbox Live was (for us at least) an incredible community, which I attribute to being a boxed product with a headset for everyone and I got to speak to people from all over the world which was amazing to me at the time.

In fact, I met a really awesome Canadian back then through playing Counter Strike (we were only young teenagers) and we would spend some evenings just chatting through the Xbox Dashboard. It was funny trying to sync up with me living in the UK due to the time difference, but it was fun. Eventually many years later, we got chatting again and in the end married (and still are).

Of course Halo 2 came around and changed the whole landscape, great game and matchmaking really shook things up for better and worse in some cases.

Apologies for the long post! Xbox holds a lot of great memories for me and for various reasons. Great games, an awesome multiplayer platform and a genuinely incredible community (pre Halo 2).

 

[Heimdall_Xtreme]

I really liked playing Jet Set Radio and its OST, customizing the Graffiti and having the voices in English... It was a big jump, I was leaving the N64 and Majora Mask was one of my last games on the system.


Having these graphics and their OST, including the games and DVD, was the new generation of consoles.




I said goodbye to Xbox with Conker's live and reloaded and The Game of Riddick.






Thanks to Xbox I discovered Fatal Frame and I loved Ninja Gaiden, with its return from the NES.

 

[Dr.Morris79]

Another game I had an unhealthy obsession with, was this cracker

 

[SkylineRKR]

Awesome console, this. I had one at around 2002 ish, got it with my phone plan.

Many, many awesome games and a lot of obscure ones too. This was MS at its best. They embraced Sega for example, which continued their Dreamcast projects here.

Halo was something. When I first played it, using the extra buttons for flashlight etc.. it was the first FPS I found to be actually fun to play on console. I did try out Goldeneye on N64 but I still had issues with that controller. Halo just felt right. And its scale was awesome. Halo brought many things to the FPS genre, though some were also eventually hated such as a weapon limit.

Graphically Xbox felt like half a step into a next generation. Splinter Cell, DoA3, RalliSport and Halo looked ridiculous. To the point Ubi had to completely wreck a game like Splinter Cell to get it to run on the other systems.

The Xbox launch must've been one of the best ever. In Europe they launched with Halo, DoA3, PGR, RalliSport, JSRF, GunValkyrie, Tony Hawk 3 and more. They had to, because they were late. But it felt like they were immediately there, it wasn't a waiting game. And soon followed Splinter Cell. Xbox would also be the first, and best way to play Outrun 2 at the time. And the Otogi games were awesome as hell. The console had many obscure games like this.

A lot of my friends actually owned an Xbox. It was a quite popular system though it didn't reflect in its overall sales. Many liked it better than PS2. For games like Halo, KOTOR etc, those experiences weren't on PS2. It was also the system with the best online play support.

 

[TheMule1983]

I have the most nostalgia for this console. I was almost 19 when it released. Got it in the summer of 2002 with halo, hunter the reckoning and an extra S controller.

Xbox live was game changing. Loved playing rainbow six, ghost recon, phantasy star online on it. Splinter cell was a fantastic series. Loved the arcade racers. Just an overall fantastic console that introduced to me to western rpgs as well.

Damn shame what Xbox would later become but between 2002 until about 2008, they were hands down the best in my opinion.

 

[EverydayBeast]

Friend near by had the Xbox, I had the GameCube that sort of thing.

 

[PJX]

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.

That's because the people who were in charge were actual gamers who understood the game industry, not a bunch of fake clowns pretenders.

 

[SoloCamo]

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!

Just took these off my shelf... loved the racing games on the og Xbox.

 

[Romulus]

Another game I had an unhealthy obsession with, was this cracker

Trying to get that S rating.

The battlefields were so damn huge with multiple ways to attack targets. I loved that the mech had more a biological look too

 

[ReBurn]

KOTOR, Jedi Outcast, JSRF...so many good times with that beefy box.

 

[Superkewl]

Still my fave Xbox game

Came to post this. Shame they never made a sequel.

 

[yogaflame]

I was impress with the woman and the robot demo. I almost bought the OG xbox but FF8 made me stop with my plan.

 

[MiguelItUp]

Halo lan parties, Halo 2 lan parties. Hell the Halo 2 midnight release. It's crazy to look back on it and realize the biggest and most monumental moments I remember all revolve around Halo 1 and 2.

But the main reason I bought an Xbox was for Phantom Dust. Loved it.

 

[MicTyson]

Yes, the OG Xbox was PHENOMENAL. So was the the PS2.

The worst gen ever for me was the PS1 and N64 gen. I still played both systems regularly but boy did they suck imo. I always wondered if it was just me but I saw something from maybe Game Informer?, can't remember, but they were saying how bad this gen sucked. It was the first gen of 3D games and technology wasn't there yet. That is a generation that I never go back to as it's aged horribly. PSOne games looked and controlled hideous it was a bunch of jagged polygons and N64 had a few party games like Goldeneye, Mario Golf, Wrestling games etc that we would all play… Ya Mario 64 was awesome and the Zelda games etc but there just wasn't enough good games on in.

I was old enough to have been there for every gen and my most fondest memories are from the Genesis/SNES era and the OGXbox/PS2 era (Never really gave a shit about the GC as the SNES is the last Nintendo gen I cared for. I also preferred my Genesis to my SNES.

I throughly enjoyed the 360 and PS3 generation as well but the end of that gen really started the downfall and to suck other than Sonys 1st party output which was glorious at the end of the PS3 cycle. PS4/Bone was meh and this gen is complete garbage.

 

[simpatico]

Yes, the OG Xbox was PHENOMENAL. So was the the PS2.

The worst gen ever for me was the PS1 and N64 gen. I still played both systems regularly but boy did they suck imo. I always wondered if it was just me but I saw something from maybe Game Informer?, can't remember, but they were saying how bad this gen sucked. It was the first gen of 3D games and technology wasn't there yet. That is a generation that I never go back to as it's aged horribly. PSOne games looked and controlled hideous it was a bunch of jagged polygons and N64 had a few party games like Goldeneye, Mario Golf, Wrestling games etc that we would all play… Ya Mario 64 was awesome and the Zelda games etc but there just wasn't enough good games on in.

I was old enough to have been there for every gen and my most fondest memories are from the Genesis/SNES era and the OGXbox/PS2 era (Never really gave a shit about the GC as the SNES is the last Nintendo gen I cared for. I also preferred my Genesis to my SNES.

I throughly enjoyed the 360 and PS3 generation as well but the end of that gen really started the downfall and to suck other than Sonys 1st party output which was glorious at the end of the PS3 cycle. PS4/Bone was meh and this gen is complete garbage.

I'd agree about that gen. Mario 64 at launch was awesome, but after that we had a sea of mediocrity. I stepped partially away from gaming to bang out the high school years and my GF senior year bought me a Dreamcast for Christmas, which got me back into gaming. Sports 2K titles and racing games mostly, but Japanese stuff and arcade style games got me back into the hardcore side. After that I didn't skip console at all until leaving them altogether mid PS360 gen.

 

[MicTyson]

I'd agree about that gen. Mario 64 at launch was awesome, but after that we had a sea of mediocrity. I stepped partially away from gaming to bang out the high school years and my GF senior year bought me a Dreamcast for Christmas, which got me back into gaming. Sports 2K titles and racing games mostly, but Japanese stuff and arcade style games got me back into the hardcore side. After that I didn't skip console at all until leaving them altogether mid PS360 gen.

Dreamcast got me back into gaming too. We are around the same age also but for me, I was one year out of HS when DC arrived,

 

[powder]

Booting up Wreckless: The Yakuza Missions and thinking "holy shit" at the graphics of that Delorean-looking car. Had some pretty crazy bloom effects I hadn't seen before that.

 

[Krathoon]

I still need to see how to take out the clock capacitor on my Xbox.

 

[drganon]

Halo 1 and 2, tony hawk 2x, and and unreal championship were among my favorites for the system. The hard drive essentially eliminating the need for a memory card and also allowing you to upload your cds for custom soundtracks was pretty awesome too. The duke controller was terrible, but the s replacement was a pretty decent controller. I've got fond memories of that system, it's a shame that it would eventually all go to waste.

 

[DEAD ORIGINAL]

Halo 1,2 playing Halo 2 with mates such fun especially playing lan, Rollercoaster Tycoon Shenmue 2 and Conflict Desert Storm 1,2 and Global Storm 4 players was elite

 

[amigastar]

I remember me and my friends were always joking that Bill Gates was this good samaritan because he was making a loss on every XBox back then but he gave it to us anyways. I don't know if thats true, lol. But that was the joke back then.

 

[simpatico]

I remember going to a midnight launch for Halo 2 and picking up the Steelbook. That was just for offline hype. I didn't get online until PS3. Overall was pretty disappointed in the campaign, and by that time the couch crew went their separate ways. Halo CE got pretty crazy though. We saw actual fights over screen watching accusations. The gentleman's contract of split screen FPS play was some serious shit. You had to keep your eyeballs on your own part of the screen.

 

[jasondefaoite]

Crystal Xbox free with my cable TV subscription
Modded. 20GB HDD.
XBMP

Crimson Skies was great.

 

[Trilobit]

My memories are sparse as I barely knew anyone who had one and I was a PS2 fanboy at the time. But I do remember it as a graphical powerhouse and the controller being absolutely massive, couldn't believe my eyes and hands when I tried it out at the store, made me think of Americans as being almost giants. A classmate showed Amped on it and it looked beautiful(but not as fun as SSX3 of course). I have much more memories with the X360 though and I'm a bit saddened if we never get an Xbox console again.

 

[Dr.D00p]

I imported a US launch day Xbox.

All in, with the advanced AV cables, step down power converter, 2 Duke controllers, Halo, DOA3, PGR it came to just over £1200 (£2300 in todays money!)

...and oh yes, did i mention the Panasonic 32in Wide-screen CRT TV with Dolby Pro Logic speakers I bought specially for it, just another £1500.

Wild, crazy days. When money was plentiful and grey hairs were very few.


So when i hear Gaffers whining about spending $600-$700 on a PS5 Pro, i think to myself...Pfft, bunch of fucking lightweights.

 

[Alan Wake]

I have plenty of fond memories of the Xbox. I remember taking it home on launch day on my bicycle, which was easier said than done because of the size of the package. Xbox is still the only console I have picked up on launch day. In my country it was really expensive, but despite being a student I had decided to get it with Halo, PGR and the DVD remote. That was about 115 USD in today's money.

I remember the jawdropping graphics in games like Halo, Dead or Alive 3 and Riddick. I remember experiencing Halo for the first time and being so amazed by it that I walked around looking at the individual straws of grass on the ground. I remember racing around Stockholm in PGR2 listening to a radio channel with a Swedish host and having my own music played from the harddrive. I had never seen the capital of my country being depicted in a racing game before. I remember friends having their jaws hit the ground when I showed them Dead or Alive 3. I also had tons of fun with Midtown Madness 3, which I played like crazy. And RalliSport Challenge 2, which was superior to the dull first RalliSport. Xbox was a great console for racing games, which felt good coming from a similar experience on Dreamcast.

For me, being upset with the demise of the beloved Dreamcast, Xbox felt like not a sequel but as some part of continuation at least. And, not least, Xbox really felt like nextgen. It even looked the part. A big black and green monster. It was also my first DVD player, and I used it every day. At the time I had limited funds so my library of games was less than stellar. It was not until many years later I came to realize how diverse the library actually was, and I have discovered many good (and not so good) games on my OG Xbox since then. Last summer I played Cold Fear. I'd say it's a 6/10 game, but it had some cool mechanics and if you can find it cheap I can recommend it.

Is Xbox Microsoft's best console? It's hard to beat the 360, but looking at the quality of exclusives, the power and reliability of the system it's not far behind.

 

[Windle Poons]

750GB drive in 2001-2005?
75GB more likely.

Mine: Heard hype about Halo, decided to check this Xbox out.
Halo. Meh..

Paying for live?

Didn't even scratch that Live voucher that came with it.

My card somehow got double charged for the Xbox, but got my money back in the end.

Erm. Sorry. I didn't mean day one I installed a mod chip. The same xbox though is still working today is what I meant. Didn't realise I had to clarify.

 

[PlayStaytion]

A child feelings are no big deal. Halo 2 worth more than what I sleep on cause it's more expensive.

 

[Roberts]

I still connect mine once in a while and it still works.

 

[SkylineRKR]

This also shows whats wrong with gaming and in particular with MS nowadays. They released Halo, Fable, Crimson Skies, KOTOR, PGR, NG, DoA, Jade Empire and failed to lock any of those studios, or they failed to steer those IP into the right direction.

Tecmo okay, I think the board didn't really want exclusives but Itagaki pushed it. He was forced out and they went Playstation. But Fable, they ordered some sort of shitty Kinect game, then shuttered Lionhead. Bungie they let go because Bungie didn't want to be a Halo studio (Bungie now is a Destiny studio anyway). They didn't pick up BioWare. They let Bizarre go. They let Zipper become a Sony affiliate.

Right there MS should've built a software empire, instead they let everyone go each time which means most those IP are dead too. All they had left were Halo, Gears and Forza. The former 2 essentially being developed by lesser studios, the latter obviously being mismanaged with an overkill of the same product (idk if you need 3 Forza games per gen).

This is why the 360 was initially such a success. They simply continued their Xbox output on the successor. They launched with DoA and PGR among others, they pushed Fable and NG and ofcourse Halo. Those sequels were made by the same studios and were still good. Rare still made single player family games, (with middling succes I might add but I loved Kameo). It gave Xbox identity. I bought a launch 360 because I wanted to have these IP.