• Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!

Why wasn’t the original Xbox a bigger success

Main reason it wasn’t a huge success?

  • Total voters
    151
Nintendo and Sony were already well established into the console race, and there weren't a room for one more. It was already too late for Microsoft back then.

I had some dude I used to play counter Strike with getting an Xbox, he was crazy over it.

Coming from PC, having to pay to play online was kinda retarded since we did it for free. And I prefer fps games and they are just easier on keyboard and mouse.
 
Last edited:
Because they had Halo, and only Halo, to differentiate it from the pack. It's not a bad game, but it's horribly overrated.
 
Microsoft wasn't 'cool'. Probably because of this moment:

Good Times Reaction GIF
windows dancing GIF
 
Last edited:
Late release, controller size, pricing, DVD restrictions, and missing out on some key exclusives.

A really good console though, back then you basically had to own all three consoles to get all the great games.
 
I remember BF1942 on pc in 2002. I was playing on dial up initially iirc. I don't think I had broadband in my area yet for another ~ year. I was in a suburb of a top 20 city. Not in the boondocks.

Broadband in console ahead of its time in 2001.
 
Last edited:
it was the new kid in town, competing against Nintendo and the PS2.

they beat Nintendo in their first try, that was a pretty big accomplishment right there.
and noone really had a chance against the PS2, let's be honest.
 
diffusionx said:
Look at the PS2 game lineup in 2001, compared to the Xbox lineup.

Also, sort of the inverse of the Sega situation, people liked PlayStation and trusted Sony and were more likely to buy a PS2 because of that. I also think that there was resistance outside the US to throw and support Microsoft, who was not a well loved company at the time.
Click to expand...
Pretty much this.
 
Personally, JRPGs and Action JRPGs kept me busy. Also, second party games like from Konami, Square Enix, Tecmo, Capcom weren't exactly second party games from my pov.
 
Last edited:
As a White Crow aka OG Xbox user in Eastern Europe, I can explain

1. Lack of truly console-centered games and franchises, a lot of OG Xbox big hits were PC carry-overs or snubbed Mac games, like Halo
2. Price, PS was affordable and always on some kind of clerance
3. Size and deign in general, purely subjective, but OG Xbox always felt like a weird PC, not a console
4. Distribution and publishing was US-centric and not truly global
5. Despite being maybe the most powerful console of the cycle, few games actually used it good anough to market the system. Hell, PS2 was the weakest and still shown miracles like MGS2 and GT4

There could be an entire thread what went wrong, but the foundations of great X360 launch were there. OG Xbox was a great curveball console and it was a joy to own.
 
Don't forget with the PS2 you have compatibility with PS1 titles at launch, which would have enticed gamers to switch over and keep their existing library.
 
Mostly because of the dominance of the ps2 and "problems" with a few but important third parties (Square, EA, Take Two(mostly GTA)).
The launch line up (Halo, DoA 3, PGR) was so awesome like their support of the whole generaton.
We speak about PGR 2, RalliSport Challenge 1+2, Halo 2, ports like Doom 3 and Half-Life 2, Amped 1+2, Crimson Skies, Conker, Forza etc. in four years.
The price wasn't much higher than the PS2 launch price and they reduced it a few weeks after launch.
The DVD playback kit wasn't really expensive.
The Dolby Digital 5.1 support and the LAN support were maybe too early, but nice to have for a few gamers.
And i loed the duke.
 
Basically they didn't do anything wrong (aside from the Duke) but the Playstation just had giant momentum and had become the default system. When the original Playstation launched it seemed leagues ahead with the FMV cutscenes, etc. But crucially it was easily to chip and copied games were everywhere. I genuinely think that was part of the PS1's huge success.

Then when the PS2 came along it had that momentum, enough to kill the Dreamcast - People wouldn't buy a Dreamcast because they were waiting for the Playstation. To seal the deal, Sony included a DVD drive - a big deal at the time. The PS2 price basically made it a DVD player with a free console. It would end up being the worst console, in terms of tech, on the market at the time but the momentum, the DVD drive, and being first to market of the PS2/GC/XB meant that it was the default for players and developers alike.

So I think Xbox did pretty well, carved out a part of a market dominated by a competitor and would then launch their most successful console off the back of it. In that sense I don't think they did much wrong.
 
Aside for the controller and that could be percieved as a preference issue, it did alright considering it was their first console.

It placed them in a decent spot for the 360 to come in and take the industry by storm.

I really don't think what it could have done better for its time aside from putting out more system selling games.


Seriously, that controller was ass.
 
Last edited:
If you wanted all the cool Japanese games coming out you would need PS2 as they were exclusives. Even if Xbox could run multiplats better it was largely redundant in the grand scheme of things.
 
NeverYouMind said:
If you wanted all the cool Japanese games coming out you would need PS2 as they were exclusives. Even if Xbox could run multiplats better it was largely redundant in the grand scheme of things.
Click to expand...

Ninja Gaiden, Otogi, Dead or Alive 3, Dead or Alive Ultimate, Jet Set Radio Future, Crazy Taxi 3

not all the cool japanese games were PS2 exclusives. some were in fact Xbox exclusives.
 
Because PS1 dominated its generation and Sony was riding on that momentum of industry trust. Microsoft never had done a console before, and people rightfully doubted whether they were serious about it. Sony also had the support of Japanese game devs, which Microsoft had trouble getting (I wouldn't be surprised if Sony basically told devs to not develop for Xbox or so. I mean, they did do deals behind the scenes to get devs to PS1 and away from Sega back when they were entering the market). And Sony's first-party was firing on all cylinders that generation. Sony peaked with PS2.

That being said, while I had a lot of fun on PS2 (especially FF11 Online), playing Halo 1 (and Halo 2) on Xbox at link parties was something PS2 couldn't offer.
 
kevboard said:
Ninja Gaiden, Otogi, Dead or Alive 3, Dead or Alive Ultimate, Jet Set Radio Future, Crazy Taxi 3

not all the cool japanese games were PS2 exclusives. some were in fact Xbox exclusives.
Click to expand...
Ninja Gaiden Black is peak but Otogi is not even worth mentioning. PS2 had Onimusha 3 and Devil May Cry 3 as well as many other high-profile action games that Xbox did not get. Dead or Alive 2 Hardcore and Tekkens were on PS2 and Dead or Alive 3 is not as good. Crazy Taxi 3 was not a major departure from original which was available on PS2. Jet Set Radio Future was niche and PS2 had extreme sports genre well covered.
 
NeverYouMind said:
Ninja Gaiden Black is peak but Otogi is not even worth mentioning. PS2 had Onimusha 3 and Devil May Cry 3 as well as many other high-profile action games that Xbox did not get. Dead or Alive 2 Hardcore and Tekkens were on PS2 and Dead or Alive 3 is not as good. Crazy Taxi 3 was not a major departure from original which was available on PS2. Jet Set Radio Future was niche and PS2 had extreme sports genre well covered.
Click to expand...

DOA Ultimate was the best version of DOA2 tho. and Otogi is absolutely worth mentioning.
 
kevboard said:
DOA Ultimate was the best version of DOA2 tho. and Otogi is absolutely worth mentioning.
Click to expand...
I own it and while it is the best version it is not drastically different from the one available on PS2 as far as features.

Otogi is a floaty mess. There are lower budget action games on the PS2 like Way of the Samurai that play better.
 
Last edited:
For a first console it was a pretty great success if you ask me. It delivered a ton of amazing exclusive games, "console exclusive" PC ports and superior multiplats.
 
Last edited:
Playstation had enormous momentum after PS1.

Why not just stick with Sony?

Xbox's inital launch line-up was laughable. If Halo was not there it might have been a much different story for the Xbox Brand. I guess they had to buy Bungie to actually get the game away from Apple.

Controller people mocked. But they did not do that for Japanese players. Had to bring the S over here in a hurry to correct.
Having to get an an adapter to play Dvd's probably killed what made people perceive as a value in PS2.
Although to counter at least you did not need memory cards for Xbox. (They sold them anyway).

I don't know if this was public information before the launch, but Gates hated the idea. I believe 60 minutes did an interview with Gates about the Xbox afterward and he picked "Fusion Frenzy" as his go to game. Not sure if it was a damage control piece.
 
Last edited:
Probably due to the fact that they were a new player in the business and people had already bought into Sony's machine and brand.

PS2 had some great games on it and some of my favourites of all time, but for me Xbox Live was where it was at and felt pretty revolutionary at the time for a console with almost everyone using headsets and it being a proper community, PSN paled in comparison. It's a shame Microsoft couldn't keep up the momentum they had with the first few years of 360.
 
Sony was coming off the PS1 arguably the greatest console of all time. Really hard to buy an Xbox as your primary console when the PS2 was there.

Essentially Xbox was reserved for the second or third console for most people.
 
The PS2 had such a fucking deathgrip on the industry back then that there was no way a new entrant to the market was going to have an easy go of it. The original Xbox did well, but it needed time to establish itself and for things like Xbox Live to start to really start catching on. While it would've been nice to see more JRPGs and other stuff that was popular at the time on there, I don't think the software lineup had an adverse impact - there were a lot of good games and having the Western PC developers supporting the system with exclusives was novel and pretty exciting back then.
 
Xbox was awesome and had a decent amount of exclusives, and games that were a gen ahead of PS2 like Splinter Cell.

But the console itself was bulky, the initial controller was hated. And it was Microsoft. It had some things going against it as well.

Still, the likes of Otogi, Ninja Gaiden, PDO, Halo, KOTOR and Splinter Cell were amazing experiences you wouldn't really find on PS2.

Back then all 3 consoles offered a different experience, and tons of different software.
 
The Duke was too small.

I don't even remember seeing or hearing much of anything about the Xbox or the 360. I don't know if I was just deep in a bubble or what. I didn't even know about the party chat stuff. No one I hung out with had either console.
 
I kinda distinctly remember folks not wanting to but it because it was made by Microsoft. Also the purchase of Rare was HUGE. Many were royally pissed.
 
Later release
No prior established game system brand
Size and cost

Even with all working against it, the Xbox was a solid system and almost 100% of the time had the best version of whatever multiplat game came out.

Also, if you were in college at the time, Halo lan parties in the dorms were life. There was no alternative.
Not only could you get full 16 player games, each system could be in their own room with their own tv.
16 player, 16 systems, 16 tvs
 
i spent a lot of great time with that bulky thing :)
and when there were no more games, i jumped into 360

i enjoyed that generation with 3 machines : Dreamcast, Xbox and Gamecube
 
Judge Magister said:
Fixed. That's not accurate. Silent Hill 2 port for example has worse fog, FMVs and audio.
Click to expand...

There were a surprising number of exceptions to the rule. I guess because PS2's fill rate was so bonkers for the time. But yeah, Silent Hill 2 lost fog effects and some other things, MGS2 had slowdown in the opening sequence with the rain and pared back other effects, GTA lost the distinctive lighting - a fair number of games faltered when they made the transition over.

But at the same time, you had shit like Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 on the Xbox which ran in goddamn 720p in 2002. That's still kind crazy to me. The hardware did some amazing things when devs used it right.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Original Xbox - Share your memories
2 3
134
3K
nush replied
A look back at the Original Xbox tech demo - Raven Two To Tango
45
1K
Griffon replied
Limited Run’s Josh Fairhurst: “Success on Xbox is heavily weighted towards Game Pass”. Several of their games have sold under 1,000 copies on Xbox.
News 
41
470
kiphalfton replied
What’s the most creative and original game you can think of, and why?
2
82
2K
calistan replied
Original Xbox - Nintendo 64 spiritual successor?
Opinion Retro Platform  2
77
4K
Drew1440 replied
Top Bottom