Microsoft Xbox: A Retrospective Review

Here we go. Below is some footage of my Xbox for you to watch!
Also please note I included some video of my collection at the start so definitely watch that!



The Xbox. Where do I start?! Microsoft's first attempt at trying to rule the console gaming world. Did they annihilate everyone? Not exactly. But they gave it an awesome shot and left a lasting impression. They have continued in the console business with the Xbox 360.

The Xbox arrived on our shores in March of 2002, a year and a bit after the PlayStation 2. The Xbox had some pretty cool launch titles, one in particular being Halo, which has sold well over 8 million freaking copies! If you're a gamer and you haven't played Halo, there is something seriously wrong with you.

It's funny because I never actually bought an Xbox. I won a PS2 in a competition so I was happy to have that for my gaming fix. (I've never bought a PS2 either, the one that I have at the moment, I got for free.) So it wasn't until last year that I actually managed to get one of a mate for a decent price. I had another mate perform the modifying for the Xbox, and I can tell you, it was an epic idea. Watch the video above for more details.

Anyways back on track. The Xbox debuted with a monstrous controller named the Duke. This thing was a BEAST! I have fairly big hands, and even I have trouble holding it. So bundled with the Xbox, you got all your leads, a controller and I assume a demo disc as well. And one interested thing that the Xbox came built-in with was not only a HDD, but a 100Mb Ethernet input. Sure, the Dreamcast had a Dial-up modem, but I'm pretty sure this was the first console to offer full broadband gaming and system-link options. Innovations such as these help to shape the console gaming world.

In terms of hardware, think of the Xbox as a pretty shitty PC, but fully optimized for some kick ass gaming. It included a 733Mhz processor, 64MB DDR Ram and a 233Mhz GPU made by our good friends at Nvidia. The Xbox managed to produced some incredible graphics, and sure, I was a PS2 fanboy at the time, but I was very impressed with Halo. I didn't tell anyone I thought that though.

So what happened to the Xbox? Well all good consoles have to come to an end, so the 6th generation ended and the Xbox 360 took its place. It came 2nd to the PS2 (which has sold so many units it makes my head asplode). However news wasn't good at the Microsoft HQ, as they had lost over 4 billion dollars due to the Xbox...But you know what? It was worth it :D

I'd like to finish with reminiscing of some of my favorite Xbox titles, such as; Halo, Deathrow, Psychonauts, Amped, Ninja Gaiden Black, Project Gotham, Outrun 2, Dead or Alive 3, Jet Set Radio Future, Flatout, Rallisport Challenge, Panzer Dragoon, Blinx, Burnout 3, Crimson Skies, Fable, Forza Motorsport and many more quality titles.

Thanks for reading!