No company wants to take risks anymore. Throughout the 2000's, the business models/mindsets switched from focusing on outdoing the competition by having unique, innovative, and quality designs to always playing it safe and maximizing profits by only making minor changes. That's one of the main reasons I'm often fond of the 90's and early 00's - so many cool and unique products.
The problem is when Xbox took risks in the 00s it was because they didn't know if it would take off yet. They weren't actually going to lose much if it didn't work out. Nowadays it's like impossible. It would be stupid for Xbox to switch their branding back to this early era even if it would be awesome because their core demographic now is basically just people who want a Netflix machine that can also play call of duty.
@@CaH6633 if there is ever a company that brings back that same cool kind of aesthetic of the original xbox & it's games, and made their own console that focused on games with campaign, co-op, and multiplayer, and with a distinct art vibe, I'd buy the shit out of it. (Sorry for the ugly run on sentence)
@@JovaTheHutt The startup screen alone got me hooked and the games were incredible in their variety from Mechassault to Crimson skies to Brute force and so on I only played PS2 for the 3rd party exclusives after that, xbox felt like the future.
I think the original Xbox was very much loved by most people; just overshadowed by the PS2. Even the GameCube is looked upon as having great games. And of course the Dreamcast was fondly remembered too. So Xbox toughed it out in what was probably the most difficult console generation to stand out from the competition.
To give MS some credit, it is amazing that a lot of the weird, old, quirky titles are backwards compatible and sold through the store. There is a retention of that legacy, despite them moving toward being fairly homogeneous.
Used to love messing with people like my parents with that. I purposely set it up in the living room and made both of them trip over it to guilt them into buying me another game each for my trauma. They were so pissed when they found out. Good times.
Three original Xbox was pretty much the Dreamcast 2. Not only because majority of the games on the Dreamcast got ported to the Xbox but also had many sequels to Dreamcast games. Also it was a hackers dream, it was the ultimate media player back then too.
yeah i remembered this kid i used to see when my mom had business meetings with dell, his dad worked for microsoft and knew all the ins and outs lmao, he had an entire thick ass CD case full of just burned games with the names written on them. i was blown away and was my first introduction into piracy. yarrrr matey.
I think the weirdo kids ultimately will get to feast in this back catalog. Even the first Halo game feels way pulpier and quirkier than most contemporary AAA.
The first Halo game had kind of a Starship Troopers vibe to it that the new ones just don't have anymore....it slowly started going away in Halo 2 and 3 and by the time we got to later Halo games it was gone.
I miss Microsoft’s original Xbox and early 360 approach to gaming. So many unique exclusive games that you couldn’t play anywhere else. After 2008 they lost me
Xbox came out the year i graduated HS. It never appeared in dorms etc as much as ps2 but if you had halo and 4 controllers thats all you needed to have a line of people outside your door waiting to play co op. It was also the first console you could really mod to upgrade the hard drive and what the console could do. Expanding it into something else besides just "unlocking" the ability to play burned games. Phantom Dust is FREE on Xbox FREE I tell you! To anyone.
"(Panzer Dragoon Orta) is possibly the greatest on-rails shooter ever produced." Instant like and subscribe just for that alone. Orta is one of THE best Xbox exclusives (and not just for the OG Xbox, I mean the Xbox brand in general) and one of my all-time favorite games! It deserves every bit of praise it gets!
For my money, it's the best Xbox game of all time, followed closely by Ninja Gaiden Black. I even just got an Xbox One just to play it with the updated graphics and it's even more amazing now.
The OG Xbox deserves so much love. It’s honestly my new favorite console of all time with its unique library along with starting one of my favorite series ever with Halo and truly kickstarting modern online multiplayer.
The past two decades I always thought of the GameCube as the financially underperforming system despite having a fantastic library of fun, quirky, beautiful games. But in retrospect, it's really both Xbox and GameCube. (And the Wii U)
To me, the xbox has always been the dreamcast's spiritual successor. I remember really wanting a PS2 but buying the Xbox exclusively for JSRF, and ended up with insanely good and alternative games. A true gem of a console.
When the XBox was first announced, I was skeptical but they proved themselves by doing a lot of things right. And when they came out with the smaller S controller a year later, I bought one (I hated the Duke controller). I mainly bought it because it seemed like a Dreamcast 2 so I was into mostly those types of niche Japanese games, of which it had plenty of (as you mentioned). The 360 was also well done (aside from the Red Ring) and also had a lot of lesser known Japanese gems. But as you say, once Xbox One came out, it just became a normie console or a PC for the living room, and the Japanese were no longer interested in making exclusives for it. Because of that, and because of most games being cross-platform on Steam, the last consoles I bought were the 360 and PS3 until the Switch. The Xbox, GameCube, PS2, and Dreamcast generation was my favorite era of gaming as they all felt unique and special in their own ways. It was a very exciting time for gaming...
I love Halo, but yeah, companies wonder why retro emulation is getting so popular when it's hard to miss for us with how sterile and hyper monetized everything is
@@UNSCPILOT Even the operative systems have become sterile af. While the older styles of XP (my fav! Thank god Curtains, OpenShell and custom themes exists!), Vista and Windows 7 might be a bit behind the times, I still prefer the look of those as it felt like they had a style on top of being far more readable. Turns out the human brain is drawn towards visual details. When I look at Win10/11, I feel like I am staring at the OS equivalent of a isolation chamber, except it's filled with ads and useless junk that gets in your way, making you wish the isolation chamber truly was a isolation chamber.
@@Ozzianman Heh, one of many reasons I've started using Linux (Garuda Linux in my case) instead of Windows, sure it has drawbacks like compatibility troubles, but it's still so much better than Windows for freedom and reviving slow systems that I can't really switch back to Windows for more than absoltely nessisary things, IE I can't run Halo Infinite at all on linux, or use my old WMR VR headset, so I've ended up revisiting the old Halo games on MCC more and started saving for a Valve Index to have even fewer reasons to look back
@@UNSCPILOT I use PopOS as my daily driver, but I am unable to fully leave behind Windows as I am developing a VR game and Unity is a buggy piece of shit on Linux. Instead of running dual boot, I run Windows 10 in a VM using single GPU passthrough. Pain to setup and troubleshoot, but when it works, it just works.
I don't think it's a coincidence that more obscure Playstation 2 and Gamecube games have remained relevant while Xbox ones haven't. Until recently, there was not an accessible emulator to play Xbox games, while PCSX2 and Dolphin have both been around for well over a decade now.
OK sooooooooooo somebody would get their jollies, off of playing the watered down versions of high end consoles ??????????? I can't even imagine playing a emulator of Sega Saturn or DreamCast.
@@cobrakainevereverdies6940 Emulation isn't just for playing the games, it's also great for game preservation, since physical media can degrade overtime (especially cartridges, which doesn't apply here, but still relevant to my point). Yes, video game emulators may have had rough patches in their early days, but they have improved in the last decade.
A fantastic written, edited and created video. I too, feel that the OG Xbox was severely underrated regarding what it rebelliously offered to the console player and how it later heavily influenced even Sony.
sega GT, jet set radio, project gotham, NFS underground, shenmue, oh yeah and that one game that was like halo or something? halo i think? i always saw the OG xbox as a dreamcast except they added 4 buttons to their controller. (microsoft helped create some of the features in dreamcast) a black and white button, select, and the most important piece of them all a second joystick. it also helped that instead of giving up and quitting sega was like" nah were just done with the console side of things but we will continue to create games and release them on all platforms" true chad move right there.
I honestly prefer this "uneven-ness" and variety to when Microsoft started playing it more safe with shooters later on, plus I just loved that era in the early 2000s where game companies just threw everything to the wall to see what stuck. I do feel like we're getting back towards Microsoft's original variety with their MANY acquisitions and backing of different types of games like Cuphead, Ori, Sunset Overdrive, Sea of Thieves and others.
Also Psychonauts 2, Grounded, Skorn, and the upcoming game from the creator of Rick and Morty, momentarily forgotten it's name. They are definitely going back to the brand's roots and the Series X is an amazing console, I love mine
Booting up the original XBOX is like turning on a nuclear reactor. I love the XBOX and it was the system I wanted the most that generation, but it was too expensive and everyone else had a PS2, so that is what I got. I got the XBOX later though, and it is one of the most underappreciated consoles ever. Also, X in Japan symbolizes death, so it was not exactly going to thrive over there. Keep an eye out for Insignia, which are aiming for getting the OG XBOX back online. Also, Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay is a cool console exclusive for the system as well.
Great video man. The OG Xbox always fascinated me as a kid. I remember seeing DOA Volleyball at Blockbuster and dashing away from my mom to steal a look at the cover art lmao
I remember thinking that I would never be an Xbox fan, since most of the games I like are those quirky Japanese games like Azure Striker Gunvolt and Puyo Puyo. "The Xbox is just Halo, Gears of War, and other shooter games". Then I found Jet Set Radio Future and I really wanted to play it. Then I found Lost Odyssey. The Fable Series, Shin Megami Tensei Nine (JP exclusive), Tenerezza (also JP exclusive). I was missing on a whole treasure trove of games up my ally, all because I don't like CoD.
Great video! Most videos don't dive into the esoteric games on the system, glad to see them represented! Have a pretty decent Original Xbox collection myself, need to record some games some time.
The only console that would let me rip my own cds into it and even have it played on some games... First console I ever modded. Lots of good memories with this one
Jet Set Radio Future, Panzer Dragoon Orta, the best versions of multiplatform releases and best of all, no need to buy memory cards the og Xbox was a great console to own and play
I still kinda remember how I got my xbox, it was a day where the original plan was to get a dreamcast because I saw Cybernet promoting Parappa the Rapper and I kinda like rhythm games. So when we went to get ont, the guy in charge of the consoles probably knew that the console was to become obsolete and wanted to suggest a newer one (or the xbox gave him more sales than selling a dreamcast idk, i'd like to think it was the former) and convinced not only my mother but me from acquiring an xbox. And I don't really regret getting the console, it came with the JSRF/Sega GT 2002 bundle and while I sucked at the car game, i'd totally loved JSRF. Cue time later when I got the DDR Ultramix 1 and 2, Fatal Frame 2, Halo 2, Enter the Matrix, etc, that I ended up realizing that it was a pretty good deal and I was thankful to the guy who suggested the console. A shame I lost it in a pawn shop after trying to help my parents to pay some bills.
That og Xbox boot up was not pre rendered like that of the PS2 and GameCube. The console devs created an actual engine to run the dashboard and boot sequence that kicks into gear upon power up, and everything you see on the Xbox is in real time, and shows off just how graphically capable this console is. It's a little hard to describe and that's my best shot at it.
Having all 3 consoles as a kid I mostly played Xbox because of the wacky fun I could have with games that had me feeling like I was in a fever dream. Blinx 2 had an amazing amount of customization at a time when you really had no say in what the main character looked like. Conker: Live and Reloaded had an addicting multiplayer, that as a single child, I could play with computer bots that had me playing for hours. I would play everyday after school switching to different classes and trying new weapons. Very akin to what you would find in COD Zombies or Halo’s Firefight mode. Psychonauts was a game that on a surface level was extremely hard to describe to my friends at school. I remember every boss battle and traversing the open world. As a 6 year old the game was very unsettling too and some parts of the over world would keep me up at night. One part of woods you could find a telepathic grizzly bear that was 3 times the size of your character and would kill you very easily. Stuff like that I remember going on 20 years now and I find that compelling. A true testament as to the staying power of a very weird console. Still have my original childhood console and the Duke controller, still way too big even for my adult hands lol !
I really appreciate this video! I've always been a Sega/Nintendo/Playstation fan, interchangeably. But never had any love for the Xbox. To be fair, the OG Xbox flew under the radar for me, and with the 360 onward i figured there's no point of owning one when Playstation exists. I have more recently heard good things about the Original from time to time, and this video really cemented it for me. It looks like it could be a similar vibe to what i got when exploring the Saturn's hidden gems. I may actually have to pick one up now. Great video, hope to see more like it!
The OG xbox was a really good dvd player, the best one I ever had, way better than the 360's. Not everyone might of used it because you needed the remote. One other weird thing about the remote. If you were playing music there is that one visualizer. The remote let you zoom in on it so it was full screen. Maybe you could do that with the controller too. If you could I didn't know how.
Anyone remember "Psy-ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy"? The psychic mechanic was freaking amazing. I probably spent 50 hours in the practice room, which was the only level available on the demo cd I got with a magazine. Does anyone remember when demo cds were a thing? lol.
When I was in 5th grade my house got broken into and one of the things they took was my PS2. It was a blessing in disguise cause it led to me getting an Xbox. Those were magical times.
This guy pops in, drops this legendary video and bounces! If there was ever a case to be made for the “algorithm”, here we are. Farewell sweet prince. We’ll always have this 19 minutes and 13 seconds.
I loved the weirdness of my OG xbox and I loved a lot of the mainstream stuff too. I think my favourite game I never hear anyone talk about is the oddball customisable mech battler Phantom Crash.
I love the Xbox. Played Halo 1 and 2, Dead or Alive 3 and Ultimate. KOTOR 1 and 2, Morrowind sooo much. My favorite game on there is probably Jade Empire
Every time I see a video about the original XBOX, I feel compeled to click on it. Was my first console and still remember it with lots of nostalgia. Thank you for this video, it captured very well the essence of what that console was for us!
The original Xbox was Microsoft's best and most even work. Start to finish the system had bangers with no dumb ass gimmicks or changing of management. And birth of Xbox Live, the system was so ahead of its time. But truly, the software developers for Xbox did some of the best work of their lives.
I kind of feel like the Xbox’s reputation as the “frat boy and aspiring frat boy console” didn’t really solidify until the 360. Ultimately the Xbox original was a product of its time, but aggressively so, which, while appealing to the lowest common denominator, didn’t have a timeless aesthetic like the PS2 or Gamecube. I think it was easier to justify making weird games for the Xbox when the Xbox was seen as the weird underdog - which definitely was not the case by the time the 360 came around, when its identity as the “shooter bro console” (rightfully) settled.
I think the original Xbox is one of the most underrated systems ever made. It feels like most people see it as a Halo machine but it actually has a very unique but hidden library. I love all my Sega consoles and the og Xbox really feels like a Dreamcast 2. I was a child when the Xbox was new and I remember my father telling me that it actually is the successor to the Dreamcast. We were a Sega household and my father loved Sega. I remember the dark day when the Dreamcast died amd suddenly we had an Xbox at home.
Nice work on this dude! I remember feeling like the original Xbox was trying so hard to market to a different crowd from me and I mostly ignored it. Had to borrow my buddy’s to play JSRF real quick though, haha. This video certainly reminded me that it had a much more robust library than most give it credit for these days.
Thanks Chris, always happy to see a comment from you! And 100% I'm in the same boat, my older brother bought one when I was little and I just remember him playing Halo 2 non-stop, leaving me to play JSRF in the off hours. But I always assumed having a cool game like Jet Set was a fluke. It's only in the last year or so that I looked up the Wikipedia list of exclusives and it actually kind of blew my mind that there were as many good ones as there were. Anyways, thanks for your continued support.
@shinoff2183 I can say the same for people who missed out on the Xbox. I have a PS2 now but there was nothing on the PS2 that I cared to play that didn't play better on the xbox.
Glad to see Deathrow getting some recognition, way ahead of its time, easy to pick up but deceptively deep gameplay, a sports game for people who don't like sports games. One of the gems of the console I reckon.
As a kid, I was lucky to have relatively current consoles, but you pick one. OG Xbox's weirdness and 2000s edge mixed with being close to one of my favorite developers at the time (SEGA) made me really regret my console choice that generation. I ATE UP that whole weirdo mix when I was 12 and honestly I still kinda do lol
Been a PS/Nintendo guy my whole life. Before the 360 era, it was just because that’s what we had around the house. During the 360/PS3 era, it was because the 360 didn’t make the kind of games I liked playing. Which would be those weird Japanese/Western games. I mean, it only had like three exclusive RPGs. The Last Remnant, Lost Odyssey, and Blue Dragon +. I never knew just how completely opposite the original Xbox was. In fact, before even finishing this video, I think this a console I easily could’ve fallen for way back when if it had been in the house instead of a PlayStation. Only reason I’m glad it wasn’t is because its successor leaned fully into a crowd I wasn’t part of. Also, it’s funny I see a video like this now because just a few days ago I was thinking about how the shoe in on the other foot. The newest Xbox has a number of games I find genuinely interesting while PS basically has nothing I actually want to play. Funny how things change…
I'm an original Xbox fan, now. Thank you for the video, it was awesome and I thought of nothing else, I didn't even watch saw3 as it played in the background. Thank you for showing me a different perspective for the original Xbox console, and Xbox as a whole. You definitely reminded me why I love this kind of content before the "gaming is boring and less risky than it used to"-videos started flooding everybody's feed...or just mine... But it's whatever. I'm rambling, now. Great video and... Stuff, so uh... Yeah... Thanks...lol.
When the Xbox was released, I was so blown away by Halo. I had already been playing the PS2 for awhile and really loved it, but at that time, it didn’t feel like a big leap over the Dreamcast. Playing coop Halo was really special, one of the best launch games of all time.
I feel like the Kinect wasn't just "normy Chad", and while it had its own issues, it was at least an example of Microsoft willing to take a chance on experimenting with new, innovative technologies. The fact that it ended up as such a failure unfortunately means Microsoft is less willing to go that route in the future, and instead play it safe and corporate.
I remember when I saw the new conker on target, wanting an Xbox that day but already had a gamecube and a ps2 lol, luckily one friend of mine in school had it and both halo 1 and halo 2 so I got the chance to play them at his house. Nice video buddy!!
I got one for Christmas in 2002 and I remember wanting a PS2 but my dad was instead sold on the Xbox because he didn't have to buy memory cards for it. My initial disappointment didn't last long. He got us Halo:CE and later we got 007 Agent Under Fire, Spiderman, Star Wars Clone Wars, Secret Weapons over Normandy and CoD Finest Hour. I had a blast with it and I still play it to this day.
The OG Xbox is why I got into PC gaming. It had so many games that normally wouldn't have been on a console that it opened my eyes to what I was missing. Today most games can be played on everything, but that wasn't the case at the time.
My uncle got me and me an original Xbox for Christmas when I was around 6 years old I will never forget that day and the time playing it. The first 2 games I got were Blinx, Sega GT/Jet Set. I had that thing up until a couple years ago when my puppy pissed on it and ruined it. It STILL worked so well and the component cables gave it the BEST graphics, it looked better than PC games back then unless you had a beast of a machine. Other than GameCube that is by far the best console and most fun I had as a kid. Will never get rid of my games and controllers when I get the itch I'll have to get another one.
very well articulated look into the still quite forgotten history of the Xbox. I honestly feel old having gotten this from my dad in 2004. feels like it was yesterday I started playing Halo :CE for the first time. I even understand that history is honestly quite doomed to be forgotten. Maybe not now, and maybe not even 100,000 years from now... but at some point, everything up until today and in the past will have been forgotten. Not by way of losing the information. I don't think that'll happen. What can happen though, is people just forget it on purpose. I mean, 100,000 years from now, whatever happened in the year 77,000 will feel like a blip to those people, if there still are people.
I wish videogame companies took as much risk as they used to
No company wants to take risks anymore. Throughout the 2000's, the business models/mindsets switched from focusing on outdoing the competition by having unique, innovative, and quality designs to always playing it safe and maximizing profits by only making minor changes. That's one of the main reasons I'm often fond of the 90's and early 00's - so many cool and unique products.
@@Bristecom yep, things started going down hill in the early 2010s. 90s-2000s were peak
It because making games cost more now. You need way more people and you need more time.
The problem is when Xbox took risks in the 00s it was because they didn't know if it would take off yet. They weren't actually going to lose much if it didn't work out. Nowadays it's like impossible. It would be stupid for Xbox to switch their branding back to this early era even if it would be awesome because their core demographic now is basically just people who want a Netflix machine that can also play call of duty.
@@CaH6633 if there is ever a company that brings back that same cool kind of aesthetic of the original xbox & it's games, and made their own console that focused on games with campaign, co-op, and multiplayer, and with a distinct art vibe, I'd buy the shit out of it.
(Sorry for the ugly run on sentence)
The green is very ‘hackery.’ It reminds me of an old green monochrome terminal. It has kind of a matrix vibe to me.
same bro
*intentional*
That’s something that I love about it, the aesthetic is impeccable
@@JovaTheHutt The startup screen alone got me hooked and the games were incredible in their variety from Mechassault to Crimson skies to Brute force and so on I only played PS2 for the 3rd party exclusives after that, xbox felt like the future.
It was very much the matrix era
It’s awesome to see the OG Xbox getting the love it deserves
The only good one too
OG Xbox was legit. The frame rate and graphics were miles better than the PS2. Closest console equivalent to a PC in that sense at the time
@@Yankeefan2807 You don’t think the 360 was good? I’d say that was the golden age of Xbox, and gaming as a whole
I think the original Xbox was very much loved by most people; just overshadowed by the PS2. Even the GameCube is looked upon as having great games. And of course the Dreamcast was fondly remembered too. So Xbox toughed it out in what was probably the most difficult console generation to stand out from the competition.
The Dreamcast 2 (OG Xbox) will always be Microsoft's best. 🔥
To give MS some credit, it is amazing that a lot of the weird, old, quirky titles are backwards compatible and sold through the store. There is a retention of that legacy, despite them moving toward being fairly homogeneous.
Ye. The gaming section of Xbox seemingly has a modicum of respect for their legacy
It's the entire reason I bought a Series X. It plays a large chunk of my existing Xbox library.
@@honkhonkler7732i still use my og Xbox for games that haven’t been updated yet but anything 360 or one I play on the Series X
I loved the "breakaway" controller connections
That saves so many consoles/controllers
Agree!
Used to love messing with people like my parents with that. I purposely set it up in the living room and made both of them trip over it to guilt them into buying me another game each for my trauma. They were so pissed when they found out. Good times.
@@nemesislygr8960you are a wicked, dirty, and very clever man,
I wish i thought of that lol
Never understood why the OG Xbox doesn't get more love. So many bangers with graphics that still hold up today.
Sony fanboys ruled at the time.
Cause normie fans that just played it for sports titles and Halo
@@magicjohnson3121 What you expect halo was a system seller without halo xbox wouldn't even have gotten another console
@@magicjohnson3121lmao, what's wrong with sports games
Because it's not a Nintendo console therefore it's worthless according to some fools.
Three original Xbox was pretty much the Dreamcast 2. Not only because majority of the games on the Dreamcast got ported to the Xbox but also had many sequels to Dreamcast games. Also it was a hackers dream, it was the ultimate media player back then too.
yeah i remembered this kid i used to see when my mom had business meetings with dell, his dad worked for microsoft and knew all the ins and outs lmao,
he had an entire thick ass CD case full of just burned games with the names written on them.
i was blown away and was my first introduction into piracy.
yarrrr matey.
and both consoles were horribly underestimated when they were out
Don't forget, Sega based their Chihiro arcade hardware off the Original Xbox.
Don't forget the original Shrek game debuted on the OG Xbox. A masterpiece still to this day.
I think the weirdo kids ultimately will get to feast in this back catalog. Even the first Halo game feels way pulpier and quirkier than most contemporary AAA.
The first Halo game had kind of a Starship Troopers vibe to it that the new ones just don't have anymore....it slowly started going away in Halo 2 and 3 and by the time we got to later Halo games it was gone.
BRO was not expecting to see a fellow SSBM player here! MELEE MELEE MELEE
I miss Microsoft’s original Xbox and early 360 approach to gaming. So many unique exclusive games that you couldn’t play anywhere else. After 2008 they lost me
Right??
Xbox came out the year i graduated HS. It never appeared in dorms etc as much as ps2 but if you had halo and 4 controllers thats all you needed to have a line of people outside your door waiting to play co op. It was also the first console you could really mod to upgrade the hard drive and what the console could do. Expanding it into something else besides just "unlocking" the ability to play burned games.
Phantom Dust is FREE on Xbox FREE I tell you! To anyone.
"(Panzer Dragoon Orta) is possibly the greatest on-rails shooter ever produced."
Instant like and subscribe just for that alone. Orta is one of THE best Xbox exclusives (and not just for the OG Xbox, I mean the Xbox brand in general) and one of my all-time favorite games! It deserves every bit of praise it gets!
@@twerktospec what the fuck kind of stupid comment is this? why are you even on this video?
For my money, it's the best Xbox game of all time, followed closely by Ninja Gaiden Black. I even just got an Xbox One just to play it with the updated graphics and it's even more amazing now.
I LOVE that game as well!
@@twerktospec go away troll, shoo
I agree I love that game the soundtrack was amazing too
The OG Xbox deserves so much love. It’s honestly my new favorite console of all time with its unique library along with starting one of my favorite series ever with Halo and truly kickstarting modern online multiplayer.
The past two decades I always thought of the GameCube as the financially underperforming system despite having a fantastic library of fun, quirky, beautiful games. But in retrospect, it's really both Xbox and GameCube. (And the Wii U)
To me, the xbox has always been the dreamcast's spiritual successor. I remember really wanting a PS2 but buying the Xbox exclusively for JSRF, and ended up with insanely good and alternative games. A true gem of a console.
they got dreamcast exclusive games like shenmu ... its like a hidden secret .... microsoft probably reached to sega for advice or something
@@darkmistico well the Dreamcasf had Microsoft Windows on it.
When the XBox was first announced, I was skeptical but they proved themselves by doing a lot of things right. And when they came out with the smaller S controller a year later, I bought one (I hated the Duke controller). I mainly bought it because it seemed like a Dreamcast 2 so I was into mostly those types of niche Japanese games, of which it had plenty of (as you mentioned). The 360 was also well done (aside from the Red Ring) and also had a lot of lesser known Japanese gems. But as you say, once Xbox One came out, it just became a normie console or a PC for the living room, and the Japanese were no longer interested in making exclusives for it. Because of that, and because of most games being cross-platform on Steam, the last consoles I bought were the 360 and PS3 until the Switch. The Xbox, GameCube, PS2, and Dreamcast generation was my favorite era of gaming as they all felt unique and special in their own ways. It was a very exciting time for gaming...
My summary of the original Xbox is a fever dream you can enjoy
Some cracking games, with colour, imagination and life. I miss games with this much inspiration, whilst still having console-sellers like Halo
I love Halo, but yeah, companies wonder why retro emulation is getting so popular when it's hard to miss for us with how sterile and hyper monetized everything is
@@UNSCPILOT Even the operative systems have become sterile af. While the older styles of XP (my fav! Thank god Curtains, OpenShell and custom themes exists!), Vista and Windows 7 might be a bit behind the times, I still prefer the look of those as it felt like they had a style on top of being far more readable. Turns out the human brain is drawn towards visual details. When I look at Win10/11, I feel like I am staring at the OS equivalent of a isolation chamber, except it's filled with ads and useless junk that gets in your way, making you wish the isolation chamber truly was a isolation chamber.
@@Ozzianman Heh, one of many reasons I've started using Linux (Garuda Linux in my case) instead of Windows, sure it has drawbacks like compatibility troubles, but it's still so much better than Windows for freedom and reviving slow systems that I can't really switch back to Windows for more than absoltely nessisary things, IE I can't run Halo Infinite at all on linux, or use my old WMR VR headset, so I've ended up revisiting the old Halo games on MCC more and started saving for a Valve Index to have even fewer reasons to look back
@@UNSCPILOT I use PopOS as my daily driver, but I am unable to fully leave behind Windows as I am developing a VR game and Unity is a buggy piece of shit on Linux. Instead of running dual boot, I run Windows 10 in a VM using single GPU passthrough. Pain to setup and troubleshoot, but when it works, it just works.
I would rent Morrowind over and over again as a kid - XBOX felt so different from everything else at the time. It definitely left a huge impression.
I'm so happy that Voodoo Vince got a Remaster and even on PC. Still a good platformer.
Yes it is.
My little cousin .
Is 9 years old today.
And play voodoo Vince like crazy .
I don't think it's a coincidence that more obscure Playstation 2 and Gamecube games have remained relevant while Xbox ones haven't. Until recently, there was not an accessible emulator to play Xbox games, while PCSX2 and Dolphin have both been around for well over a decade now.
OK sooooooooooo somebody would get their jollies, off of playing the watered down versions of high end consoles ??????????? I can't even imagine playing a emulator of Sega Saturn or DreamCast.
@@cobrakainevereverdies6940 Most emulators nowadays play like the real deal, no wattering down to speak of.
@@cobrakainevereverdies6940 Emulation isn't just for playing the games, it's also great for game preservation, since physical media can degrade overtime (especially cartridges, which doesn't apply here, but still relevant to my point). Yes, video game emulators may have had rough patches in their early days, but they have improved in the last decade.
@@cobrakainevereverdies6940 Ah yes, the watered down version of Skate 3 at 165 fps and 1440p.
@@lpnp9477 - *WHY not 2160* ???????
As a person that grew up playing Playstation, this is like some strange otherworldly version of my childhood.
The og Xbox was so cool , It had everything right in the feel and look department and had the most hp in the generation.
The modding scene for the xbox is fucking amazing.
A fantastic written, edited and created video. I too, feel that the OG Xbox was severely underrated regarding what it rebelliously offered to the console player and how it later heavily influenced even Sony.
Thanks dude, glad you enjoyed it!
I miss the old days of gaming . Ps1,n64,gameboy,Xbox,ps2,gamecube ect ect
Loved how you could download songs and hear theme while playing games
Yeah I always thought it was cool how San Andreas let you add 2 custom songs to it on the XB version
It was so good having my own custom soundtracks for Tony Hawk's Pro-Skater 4 and Underground.
sega GT, jet set radio, project gotham, NFS underground, shenmue, oh yeah and that one game that was like halo or something? halo i think?
i always saw the OG xbox as a dreamcast except they added 4 buttons to their controller. (microsoft helped create some of the features in dreamcast)
a black and white button, select, and the most important piece of them all a second joystick.
it also helped that instead of giving up and quitting sega was like" nah were just done with the console side of things but we will continue to create games and release them on all platforms"
true chad move right there.
the canadians in the audience caught that you referenced ytv. and you were completely right to do so
I didn’t like the Xbox at first, but after Ninja Gaiden, Fable, Voodoo Vince, KOTOR, Jade Empire, Morrowind, etc I could no longer deny it.
such a great take. its not just a bro console, it has it's uniqueness. one note - i think the green/explosion vibe was a nuclear power reference thing
My favorite Xbox. And the closing comments are straight on point.
The more OG Xbox content, the better. 🔥🔥
The OG Xbox might just be my favorite console, and I didnt even grow up with the thing. I grew up with PS2 and Gamecube.
I honestly prefer this "uneven-ness" and variety to when Microsoft started playing it more safe with shooters later on, plus I just loved that era in the early 2000s where game companies just threw everything to the wall to see what stuck. I do feel like we're getting back towards Microsoft's original variety with their MANY acquisitions and backing of different types of games like Cuphead, Ori, Sunset Overdrive, Sea of Thieves and others.
Also Psychonauts 2, Grounded, Skorn, and the upcoming game from the creator of Rick and Morty, momentarily forgotten it's name. They are definitely going back to the brand's roots and the Series X is an amazing console, I love mine
Booting up the original XBOX is like turning on a nuclear reactor. I love the XBOX and it was the system I wanted the most that generation, but it was too expensive and everyone else had a PS2, so that is what I got. I got the XBOX later though, and it is one of the most underappreciated consoles ever.
Also, X in Japan symbolizes death, so it was not exactly going to thrive over there.
Keep an eye out for Insignia, which are aiming for getting the OG XBOX back online.
Also, Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay is a cool console exclusive for the system as well.
5:20 that nostalgia hits hard
Great video man. The OG Xbox always fascinated me as a kid. I remember seeing DOA Volleyball at Blockbuster and dashing away from my mom to steal a look at the cover art lmao
Remember the time when I found out you could play your personal music in games, good times 😁
I feel like the only kid to grow up with toejam and earl 3
I loved my original Xbox, og Halo split screen with the boys. Good times
the only xbox with a soul
i freaking loved the first xbox. I miss that era so much.
Dreamcast and og Xbox are a match made in heaven. my Xbox was my Dreamcast 2 and i loved systems that didnt care about playing movies and only games.
I didnt even really notice that transition but you're 100% right. Super insightful!
I remember thinking that I would never be an Xbox fan, since most of the games I like are those quirky Japanese games like Azure Striker Gunvolt and Puyo Puyo. "The Xbox is just Halo, Gears of War, and other shooter games". Then I found Jet Set Radio Future and I really wanted to play it. Then I found Lost Odyssey. The Fable Series, Shin Megami Tensei Nine (JP exclusive), Tenerezza (also JP exclusive).
I was missing on a whole treasure trove of games up my ally, all because I don't like CoD.
Great video! Most videos don't dive into the esoteric games on the system, glad to see them represented! Have a pretty decent Original Xbox collection myself, need to record some games some time.
Jet Set Radio Future is one of my favourite Xbox games of all time!
I hope we can play it again on series S/X!
The only console that would let me rip my own cds into it and even have it played on some games... First console I ever modded. Lots of good memories with this one
The modding scene has kept this console relevant to this day. Hands down, best console ever
The way the Xbox is described in this video seems very accurate and true to me and I remember having fun with so many old games.
As one of the few gamers that has played since the literal first nes game, that was a weird dig at Ninja Gaiden.
Jet Set Radio Future, Panzer Dragoon Orta, the best versions of multiplatform releases and best of all, no need to buy memory cards the og Xbox was a great console to own and play
I really want a shirt that says, “My console runs on alien goop.”
I still kinda remember how I got my xbox, it was a day where the original plan was to get a dreamcast because I saw Cybernet promoting Parappa the Rapper and I kinda like rhythm games. So when we went to get ont, the guy in charge of the consoles probably knew that the console was to become obsolete and wanted to suggest a newer one (or the xbox gave him more sales than selling a dreamcast idk, i'd like to think it was the former) and convinced not only my mother but me from acquiring an xbox.
And I don't really regret getting the console, it came with the JSRF/Sega GT 2002 bundle and while I sucked at the car game, i'd totally loved JSRF. Cue time later when I got the DDR Ultramix 1 and 2, Fatal Frame 2, Halo 2, Enter the Matrix, etc, that I ended up realizing that it was a pretty good deal and I was thankful to the guy who suggested the console. A shame I lost it in a pawn shop after trying to help my parents to pay some bills.
My favorite console of all time. Midtown Madness 3 was my favorite original Xbox game
I picked up an original Xbox solely to play JSRF with no extra hiccups. Still love it!!!
JSRF hit me in the childhood, such a underrated creative masterpiece... it’s criminal SEGA has yet to remaster such a gem
Blinx is one my favorite games from the Xbox era including Jet Set Radio future ,Vexx and Ty 3
I got crazy flashbacks when you started playing music from Grabbed by the Ghoulies, that game was awesome.
That og Xbox boot up was not pre rendered like that of the PS2 and GameCube. The console devs created an actual engine to run the dashboard and boot sequence that kicks into gear upon power up, and everything you see on the Xbox is in real time, and shows off just how graphically capable this console is. It's a little hard to describe and that's my best shot at it.
Having all 3 consoles as a kid I mostly played Xbox because of the wacky fun I could have with games that had me feeling like I was in a fever dream. Blinx 2 had an amazing amount of customization at a time when you really had no say in what the main character looked like. Conker: Live and Reloaded had an addicting multiplayer, that as a single child, I could play with computer bots that had me playing for hours. I would play everyday after school switching to different classes and trying new weapons. Very akin to what you would find in COD Zombies or Halo’s Firefight mode. Psychonauts was a game that on a surface level was extremely hard to describe to my friends at school. I remember every boss battle and traversing the open world. As a 6 year old the game was very unsettling too and some parts of the over world would keep me up at night. One part of woods you could find a telepathic grizzly bear that was 3 times the size of your character and would kill you very easily. Stuff like that I remember going on 20 years now and I find that compelling. A true testament as to the staying power of a very weird console. Still have my original childhood console and the Duke controller, still way too big even for my adult hands lol !
Really enjoyed your video man. Was really pleased to hear you mentioning gems like blinx, shenmue, kung fu chaos and crimson skies. Great work! 🙂
I was about to ask if anyone remembers that little robot voice and as I was about to type it you mentioned it.
I really appreciate this video! I've always been a Sega/Nintendo/Playstation fan, interchangeably. But never had any love for the Xbox. To be fair, the OG Xbox flew under the radar for me, and with the 360 onward i figured there's no point of owning one when Playstation exists. I have more recently heard good things about the Original from time to time, and this video really cemented it for me. It looks like it could be a similar vibe to what i got when exploring the Saturn's hidden gems. I may actually have to pick one up now. Great video, hope to see more like it!
The OG xbox was a really good dvd player, the best one I ever had, way better than the 360's. Not everyone might of used it because you needed the remote. One other weird thing about the remote. If you were playing music there is that one visualizer. The remote let you zoom in on it so it was full screen. Maybe you could do that with the controller too. If you could I didn't know how.
"the sequel to one of my favorite games..." you just earned yourself a subscriber
Anyone remember "Psy-ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy"? The psychic mechanic was freaking amazing. I probably spent 50 hours in the practice room, which was the only level available on the demo cd I got with a magazine.
Does anyone remember when demo cds were a thing? lol.
The best game channel on TH-cam! Thanks for another great video that I can watch while eating dinner!
Thank _you_, glad you enjoyed it. Hope your dinner was good as well.
When I was in 5th grade my house got broken into and one of the things they took was my PS2.
It was a blessing in disguise cause it led to me getting an Xbox. Those were magical times.
The second console my family got after the PS1, loved that console
This guy pops in, drops this legendary video and bounces! If there was ever a case to be made for the “algorithm”, here we are. Farewell sweet prince. We’ll always have this 19 minutes and 13 seconds.
I loved the weirdness of my OG xbox and I loved a lot of the mainstream stuff too. I think my favourite game I never hear anyone talk about is the oddball customisable mech battler Phantom Crash.
Play at least a few hundred hours of that game. It wasn't great overall but there was just something that kept bringing me back.
@@TheRoswellien Yeah same. I really wish they made a sequel that expanded on some of the cool ideas and cleaned up the many flaws.
I love the Xbox. Played Halo 1 and 2, Dead or Alive 3 and Ultimate. KOTOR 1 and 2, Morrowind sooo much. My favorite game on there is probably Jade Empire
Every time I see a video about the original XBOX, I feel compeled to click on it. Was my first console and still remember it with lots of nostalgia. Thank you for this video, it captured very well the essence of what that console was for us!
The original Xbox was Microsoft's best and most even work. Start to finish the system had bangers with no dumb ass gimmicks or changing of management. And birth of Xbox Live, the system was so ahead of its time. But truly, the software developers for Xbox did some of the best work of their lives.
X Box when it first came out was incredible. All the games where pushing the margins before Halo 2 came out and live became it's bread and butter.
If you SoftModded and had XBMC you basically had a mid range computer in 2003
I kind of feel like the Xbox’s reputation as the “frat boy and aspiring frat boy console” didn’t really solidify until the 360. Ultimately the Xbox original was a product of its time, but aggressively so, which, while appealing to the lowest common denominator, didn’t have a timeless aesthetic like the PS2 or Gamecube. I think it was easier to justify making weird games for the Xbox when the Xbox was seen as the weird underdog - which definitely was not the case by the time the 360 came around, when its identity as the “shooter bro console” (rightfully) settled.
I think the original Xbox is one of the most underrated systems ever made. It feels like most people see it as a Halo machine but it actually has a very unique but hidden library. I love all my Sega consoles and the og Xbox really feels like a Dreamcast 2. I was a child when the Xbox was new and I remember my father telling me that it actually is the successor to the Dreamcast. We were a Sega household and my father loved Sega. I remember the dark day when the Dreamcast died amd suddenly we had an Xbox at home.
Nice work on this dude! I remember feeling like the original Xbox was trying so hard to market to a different crowd from me and I mostly ignored it. Had to borrow my buddy’s to play JSRF real quick though, haha. This video certainly reminded me that it had a much more robust library than most give it credit for these days.
Thanks Chris, always happy to see a comment from you! And 100% I'm in the same boat, my older brother bought one when I was little and I just remember him playing Halo 2 non-stop, leaving me to play JSRF in the off hours. But I always assumed having a cool game like Jet Set was a fluke. It's only in the last year or so that I looked up the Wikipedia list of exclusives and it actually kind of blew my mind that there were as many good ones as there were.
Anyways, thanks for your continued support.
I had an og xbox and had no reason to want a PS2. It's still my favorite console and is MS's best effort.
@shinoff2183 I can say the same for people who missed out on the Xbox. I have a PS2 now but there was nothing on the PS2 that I cared to play that didn't play better on the xbox.
@shinoff2183 Yeah, I wasn't a big fan of jrpgs. And I agree that XB was at its best during the og xbox and most of the 360 era.
Glad to see Deathrow getting some recognition, way ahead of its time, easy to pick up but deceptively deep gameplay, a sports game for people who don't like sports games.
One of the gems of the console I reckon.
As a kid, I was lucky to have relatively current consoles, but you pick one. OG Xbox's weirdness and 2000s edge mixed with being close to one of my favorite developers at the time (SEGA) made me really regret my console choice that generation. I ATE UP that whole weirdo mix when I was 12 and honestly I still kinda do lol
Been a PS/Nintendo guy my whole life. Before the 360 era, it was just because that’s what we had around the house. During the 360/PS3 era, it was because the 360 didn’t make the kind of games I liked playing. Which would be those weird Japanese/Western games. I mean, it only had like three exclusive RPGs. The Last Remnant, Lost Odyssey, and Blue Dragon +.
I never knew just how completely opposite the original Xbox was. In fact, before even finishing this video, I think this a console I easily could’ve fallen for way back when if it had been in the house instead of a PlayStation. Only reason I’m glad it wasn’t is because its successor leaned fully into a crowd I wasn’t part of.
Also, it’s funny I see a video like this now because just a few days ago I was thinking about how the shoe in on the other foot. The newest Xbox has a number of games I find genuinely interesting while PS basically has nothing I actually want to play. Funny how things change…
Infinite Undiscovery, a JRPG by Square Enix is another 360 exclusive gem you gotta try if you like JRPGs
I'm an original Xbox fan, now. Thank you for the video, it was awesome and I thought of nothing else, I didn't even watch saw3 as it played in the background. Thank you for showing me a different perspective for the original Xbox console, and Xbox as a whole. You definitely reminded me why I love this kind of content before the "gaming is boring and less risky than it used to"-videos started flooding everybody's feed...or just mine... But it's whatever. I'm rambling, now. Great video and... Stuff, so uh... Yeah... Thanks...lol.
When the Xbox was released, I was so blown away by Halo. I had already been playing the PS2 for awhile and really loved it, but at that time, it didn’t feel like a big leap over the Dreamcast. Playing coop Halo was really special, one of the best launch games of all time.
even tho i never played with the first xbox i think it encapsulate the weirdness of the first 2000's
It was definitely in its own lane visually. My cousins had the original Xbox, I never seen one up until that point around that time.
Otogi was amazing
I feel like the Kinect wasn't just "normy Chad", and while it had its own issues, it was at least an example of Microsoft willing to take a chance on experimenting with new, innovative technologies. The fact that it ended up as such a failure unfortunately means Microsoft is less willing to go that route in the future, and instead play it safe and corporate.
I remember when I saw the new conker on target, wanting an Xbox that day but already had a gamecube and a ps2 lol, luckily one friend of mine in school had it and both halo 1 and halo 2 so I got the chance to play them at his house. Nice video buddy!!
One word: Morrowind. That game is the sole reason I got an original Xbox, and it was totally worth it, despite the save-killing dirty disc error bug 😆
I got one for Christmas in 2002 and I remember wanting a PS2 but my dad was instead sold on the Xbox because he didn't have to buy memory cards for it. My initial disappointment didn't last long. He got us Halo:CE and later we got 007 Agent Under Fire, Spiderman, Star Wars Clone Wars, Secret Weapons over Normandy and CoD Finest Hour. I had a blast with it and I still play it to this day.
The OG Xbox is why I got into PC gaming. It had so many games that normally wouldn't have been on a console that it opened my eyes to what I was missing. Today most games can be played on everything, but that wasn't the case at the time.
This is a great look at Xbox as a whole. Loved the video!
My uncle got me and me an original Xbox for Christmas when I was around 6 years old I will never forget that day and the time playing it. The first 2 games I got were Blinx, Sega GT/Jet Set. I had that thing up until a couple years ago when my puppy pissed on it and ruined it. It STILL worked so well and the component cables gave it the BEST graphics, it looked better than PC games back then unless you had a beast of a machine. Other than GameCube that is by far the best console and most fun I had as a kid. Will never get rid of my games and controllers when I get the itch I'll have to get another one.
Me and my cousin used to play Jet Set Radio, Blinx and jurassic park!
Homebrew scene was also brilliant
Very insightful topic on the xbox.thank you for a well thought out video.let's hope we get new jet set radio and panzer dragoon orta game(some day).
very well articulated look into the still quite forgotten history of the Xbox. I honestly feel old having gotten this from my dad in 2004. feels like it was yesterday I started playing Halo :CE for the first time.
I even understand that history is honestly quite doomed to be forgotten. Maybe not now, and maybe not even 100,000 years from now... but at some point, everything up until today and in the past will have been forgotten. Not by way of losing the information. I don't think that'll happen. What can happen though, is people just forget it on purpose.
I mean, 100,000 years from now, whatever happened in the year 77,000 will feel like a blip to those people, if there still are people.