Remembering the first year of MICROSOFT XBOX in the UK

Carlos wrote:Having been back and sampled some titles I don’t think there was much on offer with the Xbox. Discount Halo and Dreamcast sequels and there isn’t much left you couldn’t buy on the PS2 which also had a much wider selection of titles. I’m sure others would disagree but I’d call the Xbox the most overrated mainstream console of the modern age.

I don't know whether it's because I also had both the PS2 and Gamecube to fill certain gaps but I thought the Xbox had some decent games overall, and I didn't bother with Halo.

Some of my personal favourites:

Jade Empire
Fable
Otogi
Amped (SSX was better overall but this felt different enough to warrant playing too)
Kung-fu Chaos
PGR2
Morrowind
Outrun2
Topspin
Ninja Gaiden

Ironhide wrote:

Carlos wrote:Having been back and sampled some titles I don’t think there was much on offer with the Xbox. Discount Halo and Dreamcast sequels and there isn’t much left you couldn’t buy on the PS2 which also had a much wider selection of titles. I’m sure others would disagree but I’d call the Xbox the most overrated mainstream console of the modern age.

I don't know whether it's because I also had both the PS2 and Gamecube to fill certain gaps but I thought the Xbox had some decent games overall, and I didn't bother with Halo.

Some of my personal favourites:

Jade Empire
Fable
Otogi
Amped (SSX was better overall but this felt different enough to warrant playing too)
Kung-fu Chaos
PGR2
Morrowind
Outrun2
Topspin
Ninja Gaiden

It had some good games but I don’t think enough great exclusives to warrant a purchase. Outrun 2006 for example made 2 a little redundant despite being an incredible port of my favourite arcade game.

What a time! I had all three consoles at the time (mainly due to this forum in its original version, and all the buzz on Halo) being a total geek and spending all my money on games and things games related. The controller-s was definitely the move to make. I much preferred it over the dual shock, mainly due to the better analogue sticks.

Funnily enough the thing I remember most fondly was the ability to store audio on the hard drive and being able to play Project Gotham racing while listening to my own music.

Drej wrote:What a time! I had all three consoles at the time (mainly due to this forum in its original version, and all the buzz on Halo) being a total geek and spending all my money on games and things games related. The controller-s was definitely the move to make. I much preferred it over the dual shock, mainly due to the better analogue sticks.

Funnily enough the thing I remember most fondly was the ability to store audio on the hard drive and being able to play Project Gotham racing while listening to my own music.

Yep, the USP of it being a console with a hard drive and the ability to rip music from your CD's and then play it on (certain) games was the thing that felt revolutionary back then for me.

Its funny how little time it takes for technological innovations to become "quaint".

kazanova_Frankenstein wrote:

Drej wrote:What a time! I had all three consoles at the time (mainly due to this forum in its original version, and all the buzz on Halo) being a total geek and spending all my money on games and things games related. The controller-s was definitely the move to make. I much preferred it over the dual shock, mainly due to the better analogue sticks.

Funnily enough the thing I remember most fondly was the ability to store audio on the hard drive and being able to play Project Gotham racing while listening to my own music.

Yep, the USP of it being a console with a hard drive and the ability to rip music from your CD's and then play it on (certain) games was the thing that felt revolutionary back then for me.

Its funny how little time it takes for technological innovations to become "quaint".

To be fair I am still waiting to be able to synch my spotify account to games like GTA but I guess there would be a question of intellectual property rights in that scenario.

Not in the UK but having poured over EDGE's Halo CE 10/10 review for months I bit the bullet and got one along with Halo and PGR. An absolute revelation compared to my PS2 and Gamecube, it was far more powerful.

Having a dedicated online port then shot it even further away from any other console as I played Halo 2, Battlefront and PGR3 well into the night. Halo 2 online was incredible at the time, nothing could touch that game on console.

The Duke controller was an abomination but the S was the best around, quite the jump.

We had three S controllers and an original Duke with my Xbox at uni, the Duke was used as the handicap - whoever was the best player had to use that beast!

Jenuall wrote:That GT 2002 + JSRF bundle was the one I got back in the day, think it was Christmas 2002, very happy memories of getting that along with Halo CE.

Pretty sure that's what I got, too.

I remember being blown away by Halo at first, until gradually realising every level was the same routine of going into a new room, dying, loading up again and working almost on a trial and error basis to get through it so that you could get to the next room and do the same again. Yawn.

Fairly sure I enjoyed GT 2002, but it was JSRF that I can look back on as being a genuinely great experience. I think that's the extent of any positive memories I have of the Xbox.

The gamepad and the power breeze block that came with the console were both insane .

Oh! I'd forgotten about the music-to-hard-drive option! That was great; in GTA III/Vice City (the amazing double pack that released in late 2003) you could create your own music channel and I remember playing Brownstone's If You Love Me on it .

In relation to that Sega JSRF/GT 2002 release of the console... my brother won it from McDonalds! He did that thing where you texted a code off and it bounced back straight away to say he'd won. He got the Xbox console, a controller and the Sega dual disc! He used the Xbox for years as a DVD player and I got all this kit off him two or three years ago when he was chucking it out.

Oblomov Boblomov wrote:...The gamepad and the power breeze block that came with the console were both insane .

I may be wrong, Ob, but I'm sure the power supply has always been built into the OG Xbox; it's a factor in the large size of the system. The Duke controller sure was a beast, though - I'm glad that the S controller replaced it!

Yeah, think it was the original 360 that had a massive power brick.

jawa_ wrote:

Oblomov Boblomov wrote:...The gamepad and the power breeze block that came with the console were both insane .

I may be wrong, Ob, but I'm sure the power supply has always been built into the OG Xbox; it's a factor in the large size of the system. The Duke controller sure was a beast, though - I'm glad that the S controller replaced it!

Oh really?! That's something that is fixed quite firmly in my memory how strange. I wonder what other false memories are stuck in there, Xbox-related or otherwise...

360 was the one with the massive power brick I believe

What may be playing tricks with your memory is that there was something wrong with the power cable on machines that came out in 2002 and 2003 that resulted in them being deemed a fire hazard, and Microsoft therefore sent out new power cables to everyone. These cables had a substantially sized block in the middle (may have been an additional surge protector) accompanied by red and green (reset) buttons and a light.

Never knew that.

It's great that MS learned from that OG Xbox defect and had a faultless record with the 360.

KK wrote:What may be playing tricks with your memory is that there was something wrong with the power cable on machines that came out in 2002 and 2003 that resulted in them being deemed a fire hazard, and Microsoft therefore sent out new power cables to everyone. These cables had a substantially sized block in the middle (may have been an additional surge protector) accompanied by red and green (reset) buttons and a light.

My replacement cable was very similar - the same, unless you look closely - as the original cable. Deffo no buttons/lights! This is intriguing! I wonder if different versions were used?

Google to the rescue:

If your Xbox was manufactured before October 23, 2003, or January 13 2004 in Continental Europe, your console requires a replacement cord. A specific fault in the PSU has been discovered where the solder joints on the plug port can melt and dislodge, resulting in potential fire. Microsoft have advised to immediately throw out the included cables and order a free replacement on their website.

We now know that the clock battery will also corrode with time and kill your Xbox (as it did mine) unless it's removed.

I think it's fair to say that Microsoft's build quality wasn't exactly up to Nintendo standards in the 2000s...

KK wrote:We now know that the clock battery will also corrode with time and kill your Xbox (as it did mine) unless it's removed...

This is my big fear. I can't do any electronics soldering stuff... and I've heard that some capacitors need replacement, too. My Xbox's are gonna be trashed, aren't they? .

As for that cable replacement, it's odd as my one isn't like the one in the photo - it's very similar (the same unless you closely compare) to the original cable!

Mine has been dead for years. Makes an excellent door stop though.