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Rumors concerning Microsoft and a
console project began surfacing as early as 1999. Although they have
been involved in PC gaming for years, Microsoft initially became
involved in the console hardware market with their operating system that
ran Sega Dreamcast. There is a strong possibility that this
motivated Microsoft
to enter the console market. Ever since Nintendo released the NES, the console market has been dominated by Japanese developers. Companies such as Atari and 3DO have tried to break the trend, but inevitably failed. Microsoft would see to it that the Xbox would succeed. With over 500 million dollars geared toward the Xbox marketing campaign, they used their deep pockets to not only market the console, but to also garner the software developer support that the console needed to appeal to gamers worldwide. . The Xbox unveiled in full at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January 2001. With all the built in accessories, there would be no doubt that the Xbox can be noted as the largest home console in current history. Games would be in a DVD format which meant the console could also be used to watch DVD movies with the purchase of a separate remote. The remote was sold separately for $30 so that Microsoft could avoid pricey DVD licensing fees. The large bulky controllers seemed to be remodeled versions of their SideWinder PC game pads. Games could be saved either on the consoles 8GB hard drive, or via portable memory cards. The console would also be broadband ready (not 56k dial up) right out of the box.
The console was very developer friendly, and with the ability to port PC games with ease. However early demonstrations of what was shown failed to illustrate that the Xbox was three times more powerful than its competition (as Microsoft had stated in their earlier March press conference). On November 15th 2001, Microsoft officially launched the Xbox console at an event in New York Times Square's Toys "R" Us. Over 18 games were launched with the console, but the main game to drive sales was a game called Halo. Microsoft reported over 1.5 million units sold from time of launch till the end of 2001. They also reported an average of 3 games sold with each unit. With success garnered in the US, Microsoft set their eyes abroad. After numerous delays the console was finally launched in Japan on February 22, 2002. Understanding there would be skeptics among Japanese gamers, they saw to launching the system with 12 titles that catered to a more eastern flavor. Also complaints of the large bulky controller forced Microsoft to redesign it to a smaller scaled down version. To commemorate the launch, Microsoft also released 50,000 special edition Xbox units only for Japan. Unfortunately even with the major buzz Microsoft generated with the launch, the debut was marred by complaints from users that the console was scratching game discs and DVDs causing some stores to halt sales temporarily. The problem was corrected to the satisfaction of retailers, which then continued to sell the Xbox. Throughout the next few months, Microsoft struggled to sell out their initial shipment of Xbox units. Analysts believed that the scratch incident and the lack of interesting software for the Japanese market may have been the problem. A month after the Japan launch, the Xbox made its debut in Europe. Microsoft's hope to achieve the level of success as it had done in the US came close, but not close enough. Six weeks after the Xbox's European launch, they slashed the price of their Xbox console by nearly 40 percent. European gamers who already bought an Xbox got a free "thank-you package" from Microsoft, including two free games and an extra controller. Further worldwide price cuts triggered an early price war that was good for gamers. The Xbox console had a rocky start, but since then has brought aboard many talented 3rd Party software developers including old hardware guru Sega. Microsoft also introduced their online strategy called Xbox Live. No matter how you look at it, the Xbox is truly an amazing machine. A machine that broke the pattern of American made console failures. Impressive to say the least.
After the release of their Xbox 360
game console, Microsoft dropped support for the Xbox. However,
some Xbox games continue to live on thanks to the new consoles
backwards compatibility. |
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The Xbox for all intents and purposes, represents a melding of both innovations of the past and the standards of gaming consoles which are common place today. You have standard equipment like memory cards alongside hard drives in the same system. Regular dual analog sticks, largely unchanged from that of previous systems in many respects, that control (what was at that time) a complex user interface with many new features. One minute your playing good 'ole Ms. Pac-Man via Xbox Live. The next you're manipulating a character through a fully rendered 3D world with realistic physics. Some would call this the ultimate plug 'n' play PC experience. I call it the bridge which spans the gap between simpler, mainly video game oriented machines of the 90's and the complex, multi-function home entertainment, social networking machines we have today. Now your probably thinking that very little of the Xbox in its design, technology or services was truly innovative at the time. Of course you'd be right. What Microsoft did that made it important to gaming as an industry, was merge all of these great ideas and roll it into one machine. They did that by mixing the game console experience with that of PC gaming in a way that was more accessible to the general population. How that differs from its direct competitors, the Sega Dreamcast, the Sony PlayStation 2 and the Nintendo GameCube, is that games from the PC library came to our televisions without a lot of sacrifices in quality and that the online multiplayer aspect was present as well. Counterstrike from the couch? Buy an Xbox. Couldn't keep up with the crazy system specs required to run the latest and greatest PC games like The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind? Then maybe like me you bought an Xbox instead of a new video card. At first glance, this thing is a huge brick of black plastic. Even today jokes are still being told as at the time it was unprecedented in size and weight. After all, it's not like your going to fit a computer inside anything less than a case nearly the size of a desktop PC! Something that's 32.0 centimeters by 10.1 cm by 26.0 cm (12.6 by 4.0 by 10.2 inches) and weighing 4 kilograms (8.8 pounds) wasn't really meant for your standard entertainment center. At least not without occupying the space your stereo receiver should be taking.
Unlike many gamers, I actually preferred the larger controller that was sold at launch. The "Duke" as it has been called, just feels more solid and the larger frame with wider button placement screams comfort for those of us with larger hands. With games like Project Gotham Racing, I soon came to appreciate the analog triggers as opposed to the clicky shoulders buttons on controllers I had used in the past. Caught somewhere between a Sega Dreamcast design and that of the PlayStation it wasn't hard to get used to. The D-pad however is absolutely atrocious. You can tell it's not there to serve any primary function and 2D games, few as they were, suffered for it. Looking back on the Xbox through hindsight and eight years of experience with it I realize how it has impacted both my own playing and the industry at large. The fine line between PC and console is a whole lot thinner and in some ways PC gaming has suffered because many developers and publishers are looking at it now as a secondary market. What the Xbox did was show how many games that were traditionally on the PC, could be marketed on a console with equal or better sales. A developer could port a PC game to the Xbox or the other way around and double their sales or better. While the same could be said of its competitors at the time, the Xbox had a distinct advantage with its PC-based heritage. In most cases (like Morrowind for example), the Xbox already beat the minimum hardware requirements for running the games on a PC but without the operating system bottlenecks. These PC ports started a tide of games that could now make the console jump and let Microsoft introduce new gamers to a wide-ranging variety of genres and franchises without the decades of established console history its competitors enjoyed.
When I turned twenty-six years old in 2004 my wife bought me
Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II. My PC at the time
couldn't match the recommended specs without upgrading it and
the Xbox release came out a couple of months before the PC
version did. So the holiday season that year found me sitting on
a couch, comfy controller in hand, playing a game on a 27" TV
with Cerwin Vega speakers pounding out 5.1 that just a few years
earlier would have been on a 19" screen with PC speakers and a
keyboard. Yes that cake was good indeed! |
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On a funny note, Microsoft had to
also file for an injunction on a lawsuit filed by Florida based company
Xbox Technologies for rights to use the Xbox brand name. |
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Various picture\video media for this console. |
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G4 - History of Xbox Part 1/3 Video courtesy of ck44. |
G4 - History of Xbox Part 2/3 Video courtesy of ck44. |
G4 - History of Xbox Part 3/3 Video courtesy of ck44. |
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Banned Xbox Commercial - "Life is Short" Video courtesy of Murdererer. |
Australian Xbox Live Commercial Video courtesy of nbaballer95. |
Japanese Xbox Commercial Video courtesy of JackBunji. |
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For the hardware enthusiasts out there - all the detail you\we love. |
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Games screen shots and\videos released for this system. |
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Project Gotham Racing Release Date: 2001 Developer: Bizzare Creations Video courtesy of bizarrecreations. |
Halo 2 E3 Multiplayer Demo (2004) Release Date: 2004 Developer: Bungie Studios Video courtesy of lmull3. |
Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge Release Date: 2003 Developer: FASA Interactive Video courtesy of TheSirRip. |
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Blinx: The Time Sweeper Release Date: 2002 Developer: Artoon Video courtesy of Kimmorz. |
Star Wars: Obi-Wan Release Date: 2001 Developer: LucasArts Video courtesy of FamilyGuyStarWars. |
Mechassault Release Date: 2002 Developer: Day 1 Studios Video courtesy of XboxGamesVideos. |
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Additional authorized releases for this console. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The last two digits of the serial number represent what country the system was built in. Mexico is 02, Hungary is 03, China is 05 and Taiwan is 06. With that in mind, here is an approximate timeframe for each revision and what country it was manufactured in: o 1.0 - Built in Hungary between October 2001 and
May 2002, Mexico between Keep in mind that there were many exceptions due to the availability of the hardware components at hand and the relocation of many of the production lines to other countries. Here is a list of the most common changes and standard components used for each revision throughout the manufacturing history:
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Non-licensed releases (clones). |
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Highly recommended additional sites\resources for this system. |
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Copyright 2008-2009 The Video Game Console Library. This
website and the information contained within it is protected by
copyright. Reproduction of part or all of the |
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HANDS ON REVIEW by 
DW FACTS by 
DW FACTS
All
of this in turn created a system with an appeal for older
gamers. Not that the Xbox didn't try to market titles for
family gaming or younger audiences but the majority of its games
hit their stride to a 20-something male demographic. I was among
that demographic and being a PC gamer at the time I saw the
Xbox as a way to have my cake and eat it too. While I didn't
get a Baldur's Gate III on the PC I got two Baldur's
Gate: Dark Alliance games instead. When I was disappointed
in the lack of progress in the Mechwarrior franchise, I
got
Mechassault. The more I moved away from expensive upgrades
to keep up with the latest and greatest PC games the more I was
glad that I had an Xbox.
The
various Xbox models, with the exception of the Special and Limited
Edition releases, were identical in appearance. Revisions to the
hardware had been made, mostly to discourage hacking of the Windows 2000
kernel as well as take advantage of advances in technology that made
manufacturing both cheaper and produced improved components.