DCEmu Asks - Xbox a History & Whats the greatest Xbox Game Ever ?

[wraggster]

Continuing our network wide feature for just about every console thats emulated and that we own, in time it can be used as a reference point for people to look at what games are the very best on each system

Firstly heres a look at each system and a description to remind you of the history of the console.

http://www.dcemu.co.uk/dcemuxbox.JPG


Microsoft Xbox
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.
In March of 2000, the world's worst kept secret becomes public knowledge. After the opening of the Game Developers Expo, CEO Bill Gates delivered the keynote address and officially announces their new Xbox console to the world. Equipped with an Intel 733MHz Pentium III CPU, an Nvidia NV2a 250MHz graphics processor, 64MB of unified RAM, an 8GB hard drive, and out-of-the-box broadband Internet support, the Xbox was intended to be a major player in the console race. Although it shares numerous similarities, Gates stressed that the Xbox will not be a PC in a console's clothing. Whether it is or not is still debatable. The system uses a Windows 2000 kernel, a pared down system that has been streamlined specifically for games Microsoft discouraged developers from including support for PC peripherals like the keyboard and mouse just to help console users feel at home.

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. 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.

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 is reported to be 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 it?s 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 DVD?s 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 it?s 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.

FACT: The Xbox Special Edition console and controller are wrapped in a plastic black translucent textured skeleton. The jewel portion will be black with silver lettering. Xbox Special Edition was designed specifically for Japanese gamers to commemorate the Xbox Japan launch. In addition to the standard AV Cable, an otherwise optional Xbox Component AV pack was also included in the package. Gamers could enjoy games designed for HDTV and Dolby Digital 5.1 with this Component AV Pack. Lastly, a silver-plated key chain was also included as a special accessory. The key chain featured an engraved number and signature from Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates.



More DCEmu Console History Can Be Found Here (http://console-history.dcemu.co.uk/)

Previous History Topics:

DCEmu Asks - Colecovision a History & Whats the greatest Colecovision Game Ever ? (http://console-history.dcemu.co.uk/dcemu-asks-colecovision-a-history-amp-whats-the-greatest-colecovision-game-ever--87823.html)
DCEmu Asks - Master System a History & Whats the greatest Master System Game Ever ? (http://console-history.dcemu.co.uk/dcemu-asks-master-system-a-history-amp-whats-the-greatest-master-system-game-ever--85454.html)
3DO a History & Whats the greatest 3DO Game Ever ? (http://console-history.dcemu.co.uk/dcemu-asks-3do-a-history-amp-whats-the-greatest-3do-game-ever--83557.html)
PC Engine a History & Whats the greatest PC Engine Game Ever ? (http://console-history.dcemu.co.uk/dcemu-asks-pc-engine-a-history-amp-whats-the-greatest-pc-engine-game-ever--83475.html)
Atari2600 a History & Whats the greatest Atari2600 Game Ever ? (http://console-history.dcemu.co.uk/dcemu-asks-atari2600-a-history-amp-whats-the-greatest-atari2600-game-ever--83210.html)
Playstation2 a History & Whats the greatest PS2 Game Ever ? (http://console-history.dcemu.co.uk/dcemu-asks-playstation2-a-history-amp-whats-the-greatest-ps2-game-ever--83125.html)
Nintendo 64 a History & Whats the greatest Nintendo 64 Game Ever ? (http://console-history.dcemu.co.uk/dcemu-asks-nintendo-64-a-history-amp-whats-the-greatest-nintendo-64-game-ever--83028.html)
Nintendo Gamecube a History & Whats the greatest Gamecube Game Ever ? (http://console-history.dcemu.co.uk/dcemu-asks-nintendo-gamecube-a-history-amp-whats-the-greatest-gamecube-game-ever--82866.html)
Sega Genesis/Megadrive a History & Whats the greatest Game Ever ? (http://console-history.dcemu.co.uk/dcemu-asks-sega-genesis-megadrive-a-history-amp-whats-the-greatest-game-ever--82817.html)
Sony Playstation a History & Whats the greatest PSone Game Ever ? (http://console-history.dcemu.co.uk/dcemu-asks-sony-playstation-a-history-amp-whats-the-greatest-psone-game-ever--82560.html)
Sega Dreamcast a History & Whats the greatest Dreamcast Game Ever ? (http://console-history.dcemu.co.uk/dcemu-asks-sega-dreamcast-a-history-amp-whats-the-greatest-dreamcast-game-ever--81958.html)
Nintendo NES / Famicom a History & Whats the greatest NES Game Ever ? (http://console-history.dcemu.co.uk/dcemu-asks-nintendo-nes-famicom-a-history-amp-whats-the-greatest-nes-game-ever--81428.html)
Snes a History & Whats the greatest Snes Game Ever ? (http://console-history.dcemu.co.uk/dcemu-asks-snes-a-history-amp-whats-the-greatest-snes-game-ever--80855.html)

[wraggster]

I got to say i loved the Conflict Series on the Xbox, those 4 games made me hungry for more full on FPS gaming action.

Pity Microsoft shit on the console as soon as the 360 came out

[Eviltaco64]

I agree with Wraggster on how MS completely dropped support for it as soon as 360 came out, it sucked (same for the Gamecube).
At least the homebrew community made it an above-excellent machine.

I'd say the Halo series or maybe Starwars Battlefront Zwei.
The best homebrew is probably ZSnesbox/NeoGenesis/Kawa-X

[royvedas]

Oh My God! The greatest system on earth. It had excellent games, though these were limited to a few genres, but here's a list:

Star Wars Kotor
Star Wars Kotor 2
Jade Empire
Halo
Halo 2
Halflife 2
Chronicles of Riddick
Rallisport Challenge 2
Splinter Cell (all of them, the last two being the best)
Burnout series (Burnout 2 stands out as the best by far)

I know some of these are multi - but better graphics, harddisk saves, better gamepads etc etc.

I am definately forgetting a lot - ain't got the time - it's almost 4 in the morning and I've painted several rooms in my house for 8 hours straight. Goodnight

[CoderX]

I think i wasted a good year of my life on Halo 1 & 2

[oooooomonkeys]

Shenmue 2 no doubt about it!

[Kamon]

Fable
Halo 1 & 2
Forza
PGR2
Burnout 3
Splinter Cell Chaos theory

[gronne]

Best console ever, hands down! I've tried heaps of consoles, but a modded xbox(should be noted it's nothing more than a gaming machine unmodded) is like a dream come true. I use it absolutely every day, XBMC stands for 95% of my usage, yet all the emu's are superb. I could really make this very long but I hardly know where to start so I finish here. But I truly recommend anyone to grab an xbox if they can find one, they're dirt-cheap second hand. I'd buy one any day over a 360 even if they were priced the same.

[DarthPaul]

Star Wars: KotOR and Fable.

[jamotto]

Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy
Beyond Good & Evil
Mercenaries
Mech Assault 2
Quantum Redshift
Castlevania: Curse of Darkness

[Dull Blade]

I most enjoyed fable and ninja gaiden

[Gene]

I'd say Final Fantasy 7 on Xbox was bad ass.:D

[watupgroupie]

I loved fable halo 1 and 2, splinter cell and million other games. This console is great and really great. I still play it. I modded it and installed a 500gb harddrive and i still play it all the time. The emulators are great. Sometimes a play a little driver for ps1 on it and other times i'll watch a movie or play a little star wars. It's a great machine. Too bad Ms took a dump on it. When they did that it actually turned my friends off of 360 because there scared there going to dump it in 2010 or whenever the next xbox comes out. This console was great and sometimes way under rated.

[BrooksyX]

Halo 2 was king on the Xbox.

But what really made the Xbox 1 so great was Xbox Media Center and the homebrew scene behind it. The xbox really is the greatest homebrew console right now, even better than the dreamcast if you ask me. There werent as many good homebrew games but the emulators are great and it is really great that you can back up your games to your hdd.

[mike_jmg]

Burnout Revenge
and patched DOA extreme beach volleyball (that one kicks ass, litteraly:p)

[dark heart]

Oh My God! The greatest system on earth
...perhaps in xbox land....

bfd is good

[Bestwick]

Ninja Gaiden Black

[kojiro7]

Dead or Alive Ultimate,Ninja Gaiden Black,Otogi 1,2
Xbox didnt have many unique games,most of its games were available also for ps2 and pc

[ojdon]

I didn't really play on the Xbox, but there were a few games that I liked, Halo 2 has got to be the best Halo out of the 3, I remember playing it for hours with my mate. I think the Star Wars game that was pretty decent was Knights of the Old Republic or something, that was actually quite good because it didn't bore you to death at the start of the game like most games do. Even though Shenmue II and Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance were on other consoles,
I brought them just for the Xbox over the other consoles that I had.

[Mew]

- Halo 1 / Halo 2
- Conker: Live and Reloaded

[newb_fo_life]

Ninja gadien FTW it was a brilliant game!

[goity]

Fable, and er... umm... that's it.

[newb_fo_life]

I most enjoyed fable and ninja gaiden

im with ya there

[digitalhijinx]

yeah, probably Halo 2, Fable, and Ninja Gaiden, though I have to say Munches Oddysee for its time was pretty badass

[The_Ultimate_Eggman]

Tooo many to list MGS2 sunbstance Halo 1 & 2 Splinter Cells Shenmue 2 DOA Ultimate Timesplitters 2 Thief 3..And like many before me have said I own a chiped one with xbmc and it blows any other media player out of the water for the money..At the moment it gets more use than my 360 as some games emulated on the 360 suck..

[onetwentyeight]

the several similarities it shared with the dreamcast (internet connection out of the box, controller configuration, windows kernel, sega support, massive homebrew scene) truly made it the spiritual successor to dreamcast for me more than just a new entry to the scene from microsoft. halo proved to me that consoles could do fps, but kotor was probably the game that meant the most to me.

the whole "it's just a gaming computer in console's clothing" was beaten into us time and time again as almost every major hit received a pc release or vice-versa. this philosophy encouraged me to buy an xbox360 last xmas rather than upgrade my graphics card, and i've never regretted it. arcade became a fantastic avenue for lower budget titles and resurrections of classic titles. the video marketplace is cheaper and more convenient than renting from hollybuster. and, access to demos keeps that oxm wrag that used to scratch demo discs out of my house (seriously, how many issues were dedicated to why the "other" consoles sucked?).

[booradley1212]

Best game?

Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic, hands down. An unforgettable experience and a must play for anyone stupid enough to put it off.

Honorable mentions:
Crimson Skies
Stubbs the Zombie
King Kong (don't laugh, yeah the movie SUCKED but this fps rocked!)
Burnout Revenge
Psychonauts
Half Life 2
Halo 2
Aliens vs Predator Extinction
Mortal Kombat Armageddon

There's many more but those are the ones off the top of my head. Best homebrew? Surreal xxx!!!

[JKKDARK]

Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II

[NOCHUCK]

Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind - one of the best games I've ever played

Star Wars Kotor - I Don't really even like Star Wars but this game kicked ass.

Shenmue 2 - Great Sequal to the best dreamcast game.

NFL 2k5 - Was so good it scarred EA(Madden) into buying out the NFL licence(first time such a thing has ever happened I belive)

[ExcruciationX]

Probably Halo 2, and the Killtrocity Map pack.

[bah]

XBMC or other homebrew developed with the leaked official sdk.
The homebrew apps may be technically illegal to distribute in binary, but I cannot bring myself to see any moral objection upon which laws are supposed to exist. If I choose to buy hardware that has restrictions on what it can run, then I either accept them, work to break them/hope someone else does (and be thankful for whatever gets released) or don't buy the thing. I cant complain if no one breaks their protections, but if they do I should be able to run whatever the hell I want on the hardware I purchased.
Same goes for the PSP and people being so expectant of having a new custom FW for each official release.

It was a PC in terms of hardware, but it wasn't in that it was crippled/restricted (quite rightfully) as they wanted to make a profit or at least not a complete loss from their first console. In doing that they made it not a PC as far as accessibility (the hardware specs being fairly open to manufacture and create code for), which is what made the x86 format what is is in computing still today.

The ability to create unofficial apps like XBMC has kept the console alive beyond the point where MS felt it was no longer in their financial interests to keep it so.

The value of hardware should depend on its ability to do what the owner wants it to do, not what the producer feels is best for them.
New consoles are great so long as there aren't too many for the market to sustain and they don't come too often, but the original xbox is still worth owning well beyond 'official' uses.

/rant :)

Multi player: Mashed: Fully loaded (can't stand FPSs without a mouse or superior replacement).
Single player: GTA games, Destroy all humans (and to a lesser extent the sequel) and Conker.

[Eviltaco64]

Burnout Revenge
and patched DOA extreme beach volleyball (that one kicks ass, litteraly:p)

Oh, yes, Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball with new "textures" :rofl:

[Eviltaco64]

XBMC or homebrew developed with the leaked official sdk.
The homebrew apps may be technically illegal to distribute in binary, but I cannot bring myself to see any moral objection upon which laws are supposed to exist. If I choose to buy hardware that has restrictions on what it can run, then I either accept them, work to break them/hope someone else does (and be thankful for whatever gets released) or don't buy the thing. I cant complain if no one breaks their protections, but if they do I should be able to run whatever the hell I want on the hardware I purchased.
Same goes for the PSP and people being so expectant of having a new custom FW for each official release.

It was a PC in terms of hardware, but it wasn't in that it was crippled/restricted (quite rightfully) as they wanted to make a profit or at least not a complete loss from their first console. In doing that they made it not a PC as far as accessibility (the hardware specs being fairly open to manufacture and create code for), which is what made the x86 format what is is in computing still today.

The ability to create unofficial apps like XBMC has kept the console alive beyond the point where MS felt it was no longer in their financial interests to keep it so.

The value of hardware should depend on its ability to do what the owner wants it to do, not what the producer feels is best for them.
New consoles are great so long as there aren't too many for the market to sustain and they don't come too often, but the original xbox is still worth owning well beyond 'official' uses.

/rant :)

Multi player: Mashed: Fully loaded (can't stand FPSs without a mouse or superior replacement).
Single player: GTA games, Destroy all humans (and to a lesser extent the sequel) and Conker.

You are so right. All Dreamcast fanboys (cough* JKK) use the excuse that Dreamcast's homebrew is better because it has "legal" homebrew. Although a lot of Xbox Homebrew is developed with official SDK which might be illegal, it really does make the console so much better than what it was meant for.
And now that the console has been completely discontinued and unsupported for 2 years, I dont think MS would care as much as they would've in the past.

[Segata Sanshiro]

Ninja Gaiden, Panzer Dragoon, Outrun 2

[mike_jmg]

Oh, yes, Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball with new "textures" :rofl:

I'll tell you a funny story
A friend of mine lend me a moded Xbox in exchange for my moded PS2
First thing I did, go to buy DOAXBV, cause I had the patch and wanted to try it out :p, so i bought a cheap copy, cause the thing wasn't mine and wouldn't be around very long.

Imagine my surprise when I found out it was already patched:rofl:

Is there any Xbox emu for the PC wich can load this, cause I don't have the console anymore :p :rofl:

[Eviltaco64]

I'll tell you a funny story
A friend of mine lend me a moded Xbox in exchange for my moded PS2
First thing I did, go to buy DOAXBV, cause I had the patch and wanted to try it out :p, so i bought a cheap copy, cause the thing wasn't mine and wouldn't be around very long.

Imagine my surprise when I found out it was already patched:rofl:

Is there any Xbox emu for the PC wich can load this, cause I don't have the console anymore :p :rofl:

Lol, you bought a copy from a store and it was patched?

There's only one publically released Xbox emulator, Xeon, and that only runs Halo 1 very slowly at that.

[SpooForBrains]

Lol, you bought a copy from a store and it was patched?


The patch would have been on his mate's Xbox.

The killer Xbox apps for me would be XBMC and StepmaniaX (fine, judge me all you like, but that shit's addictive). Those are the apps that have kept my xbox plugged in and turned on for the past however-many years.

ETA: in fact, I've just bought one for a friend as a belated Christmas present, which we will be softmodding later this evening.

[MicroNut]

Fav. Xbox Game:
Mech Assault

Fav. Xbox App.
XBMC. (I own 3 of them just for this reason)

#1 Emulation station to date.
Made the word "homebrew" a second hand phrase.

[Baboon]

Xbox rules all without question regarding emulators and homebrew. I love my DC but its a long way off compared to the xbox. CPS3, amiga, mame, n64, ps1 etc etc all run fantastic on my modded machine. :) ...and the media centre is second to none!

Games for me that rocked on xobx are: The GTA's, Star Wars Battle Front 2, Halo 2, Forza, Black (this fps game still looks amazing and has better gfx then some new titles on the market now!), KOTOR etc.

Bah and Eviltaco64 comments seem spot on to me! :thumbup:


XBMC or other homebrew developed with the leaked official sdk.
The homebrew apps may be technically illegal to distribute in binary, but I cannot bring myself to see any moral objection upon which laws are supposed to exist. If I choose to buy hardware that has restrictions on what it can run, then I either accept them, work to break them/hope someone else does (and be thankful for whatever gets released) or don't buy the thing. I cant complain if no one breaks their protections, but if they do I should be able to run whatever the hell I want on the hardware I purchased.
Same goes for the PSP and people being so expectant of having a new custom FW for each official release.

It was a PC in terms of hardware, but it wasn't in that it was crippled/restricted (quite rightfully) as they wanted to make a profit or at least not a complete loss from their first console. In doing that they made it not a PC as far as accessibility (the hardware specs being fairly open to manufacture and create code for), which is what made the x86 format what is is in computing still today.

The ability to create unofficial apps like XBMC has kept the console alive beyond the point where MS felt it was no longer in their financial interests to keep it so.

The value of hardware should depend on its ability to do what the owner wants it to do, not what the producer feels is best for them.
New consoles are great so long as there aren't too many for the market to sustain and they don't come too often, but the original xbox is still worth owning well beyond 'official' uses.

/rant :)

Multi player: Mashed: Fully loaded (can't stand FPSs without a mouse or superior replacement).
Single player: GTA games, Destroy all humans (and to a lesser extent the sequel) and Conker.


You are so right. All Dreamcast fanboys (cough* JKK) use the excuse that Dreamcast's homebrew is better because it has "legal" homebrew. Although a lot of Xbox Homebrew is developed with official SDK which might be illegal, it really does make the console so much better than what it was meant for.



How true. :rofl:

[Kyros]

Xbox - The greatest gaming console in history...next to it's big brother Xbox 360 which now holds that title, as far as games go some of the best and even better you can play them on the Xbox 360 so that's great...back to games, I mean come on Halo, Halo 2 FPS perfected and I thought Goldeneye 007 and Perfect Dark for N64 were the greatest but those games and now Halo 3 proved me wrong. Now to the RPG's (My favorite genre, FPS is my second) the Xbox did not have many RPG's because the bastards at Sony had them all (Which hopefully the Xbox 360 promises to fix) but Xbox did have one true RPG masterpiece and that was The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind no matter how many those Sony bastards had all of there RPG's combined could not f@ck with the master Morrowind. Oh and by the way f@ck Fable that was a complete disappointment (Supposedly the Morrowind killer never that)and the same goes to the upcoming Fable 2 no matter how much they try they still can't f@ck with THE GREATEST RPG OF ALL TIME!! The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion...Peace, Kyros

[bah]

You can make a great console FPS (like black), but without a mouse, keyboard and a standard seating arrangement to make using them comfortable then the PC will continue to be the real home of the genre.

Anything else is just unnecessary simplifying/partial automation of aiming to compensate for the lack of true control. Even a light gun (wii remote) cant compare when you want to move the POV along with the crosshair.
The only thing I can think of that may top it would be hand tracking (wii-mote style) plus head tracking (for POV) and some great video-glasses that fill your full range of view and don't give you a headache to make it all work.

Mouse controls work great and exist in current mainstream tech now (and have for some time), so to me console FPSs are pointless.
I will never understand why halo was so popular. I mean goldeneye rocked when it came out and you couldn't have a LAN to play quake etc, and was fun singleplayer (where aiming assistance crap doesn't really bother anyone if its fun), but it was never a first choice.

[Eviltaco64]

A couple people I know got so much entertainment out of playing 2600 games/Little Nemo: The Dream Master on my Xbox through the use of Emulators.
Not only can the Xbox appeal to gamers with all of its shooters, but also to people who played games in the 70s/80s/90s as kids.

[alanparker05]

at the time halo was the most fun i had on xbox,there's not much that could match the multiplayer experience of it, the sequel was better but was just more of the same and could'nt match the feeling of first playing the original

[Dafttaco]

Although it isn't exclusively on Xbox, I think I enjoyed The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind more than any other. What a large expanse to search. So many quests/items. The combat seemed a bit wonky, but it was fun nonetheless. :thumbup:That's my pick.