BPX029: When M/$ Were Kings

[Neon Ignition]

Only just realised we're in the eighth year of these threads now, looking back at what has gone before it felt like enough time had passed now to visit a system in a more rose tinted light.

Time to look back at the legacy and era of the Xbox 360.

Launched thirteen years ago, the X360 arrived with the faint whiff of scepticism thanks to Microsoft's still green credentials in the gaming arena and the slightly bloodied waters with the new fanbase who had just been burnt by the companies quick abandonment of the previous console. Microsoft wanted a sharp and quick push against the dominating Sony and the X360 was their way in, building on the foundation and feedback from the first console.

Xbox Live took centre stage with a revised controller design, sleek in breathed design casing and the fondly remembered blades menu screens. Launching with a full mix of genre titles, the system would go on to be the companies biggest console success and whilst it would close the generation as the lowest selling of the big three, it cut through Sony's userbase so much in the US and UK that by the end its final sales figure was close to neck and neck with the PS3.

The system was an incredibly bold and popular step forward for Microsoft within the market regardless of the Red Ring of Death issues that plagued it. By the end of a long lifetime on shelves Microsoft found themselves well positioned to try and widen their audience with their next generation console successor. What could possibly go wrong?

Discuss your memories of the Xbox 360, your view of the machine in hindsight and its place within both its generation and the history of console gaming in general

[Neon Ignition]

BTW - It's hilarious the filter on MS's nickname is still active

[J0e Musashi]

I got one on launch merely by walking into Woolies and picking it off of the shelf amongst all manner of furore about not being able to get one.

I used the 360 as an excuse to buy a HDTV and get a home internet connection.

Need for Speed: Most Wanted is the only game that I have got every achievement for.

I got Ridge Racer 6 incredibly early from a person on eBay.

Street Fighter II Turbo' Hyper Fighting was my highlight of the machine.

[Dogg Thang]

I mostly remember the red ring of death. It is my defining memory of that system.

Second memory is being blown away by Dead Rising and the amount of zombies on screen.

[Atticus]

I wasn't fussed when it first landed. I'd lost interest in the first system after the brilliant launch/Halo factor had died down. But I picked up a 360 once they became readily available because, well, because it's a new console. I got one with Call of Duty 2 and I was amazed by how silky smooth it was, even on my aging CRT it looked fab

Biggest highlight for me was the Cave factor. The release of each game was so exciting.

[QualityChimp]

BTW - It's hilarious the filter on MS's nickname is still active

It was a little silly adding the dollar like they're the only rich boys in gaming.
I'm pretty sure Sony are doing alright for themselves and Nintendo have so much money they could run a deficit for 38 years.
Probably longer, post-Switch, but you don't see people going around calling them Nint¥endo!

[Lebowski]

Had some great times on the 360 as there where some fantastic games on it across its life, i used to love that every Wednesday was a xbox live arcade day and you could try them out for free. I must of spent a fortune on xbox live arcade games back then. I remember shadow complex, Castle Crashers, Limbo and Braid really sticking with me. I do think Microsoft did a lot for indie dev's but their Xbox Live Indie Games program was probably a step to far as it was a garbage fire and i think Microsoft would have killed it a lot quicker if it wasn't for the vocal and quite toxic community.

Indie stuff aside it brought multiplayer games voice chat and big budget releases to console gaming and i didn't even mind paying for gold back then, game like call of duty modern warfare and Left for dead where fantastic multiplayer games, and Early games like Dead rising, Oblivion, Gears of War, and Lost Planet blew me away with with how amazing their graphics where. Things like the giant insect bosses of lost planet or the weight and heft of guns and combat in gears of war, or the crazy amount of zombies in Dead rising felt really new and groundbreaking.

[Neon Ignition]

Probably longer, post-Switch, but you don't see people going around calling them Nint¥endo!

You don't, but you totally should

[Digfox]

Probably one of my favourite consoles ever, and I didn't get one until January 2007. It was my main machine between then and early 2012 (although starting WoW in late 2007/08 took me away for a bit). I loved it and had over 100 physical games and one point and purchased a number of Live games.

I did follow the launch and early impressions quite closely but for various reasons didn't buy one. Once all the stock shortages hit it prevented me from buying one. I think it was then a case of holding off for long enough that I wanted to hang-on for a revision but in the end caved in early January of '07. My first proper go on one wa early on a Monday or Tuesday(?) morning at the the Game On exhibition at the Science Museum in London. PGR3.

I owned three machines over the years. A white 20GB Premium (RROD on that cruddy Too Human demo...GRrrr!!!1), a 120GB Elite and then a Halo Reach Special Edition. I only sold the Halo Reach SE earlier this year after picking up the XBX and realising that it played most of the back catalog I wanted to revisit.

Some of my favourite games were: Crackdown, Gears 1-3, Halo 3/ODST & Reach, Rainbow Six Vegas 1&2, PGR3, Forza 2 & 3 & Horizon, Test Drive Unlimited, Mass Effect (second half and the sequel), Read Dead Redemption, EDF 2017, Bioshock & Bioshock Infinite, Mirror's Edge, COD:MW and BLOPS, Rockband, Borderlands, Battlefield 1943, UNO, that silly Poker game. Probably loads more I've forgotten. Obviously a number of exclusives but some multiplats that were best on 360.

All my games and most accessories have since been sold. Only the other day I've come across a HDD transfer kit that MS sent me free, a VGA cable, and a audio out adaptor for the proprietary display output that I still had.

I loved the innovation of the early dash, integrated online, achievements, first HD output, mandatory HDD and downloadable games on console. I'd still argue to this day that the ergonomics of the 360 controller are pretty much spot on. In some ways the XBO's controller ergonomically is a step back.

A great machine in an outstanding generation of consoles.

PS. The Poll options aren't enough for me, it needs a: 'It's one of the greatest consoles ever'. Probably not the greatest.

[Cassius_Smoke]

I bought one close to launch if I remember correctly. What I remember is loading up Oblivion and being absolutely blown away by the graphics.
Over all, it was the feeling that I was playing 'the future'. It felt like the most complete game/entertainment console than anything that came before it.
I consider the PS2 and 360 as my favourite consoles, and they came back to back!
I loved my 360. Ended up owning 3 due to red rings of doom.

[QualityChimp]

Big 360 fan over here.
Yeah, yeah, RRoD. At least they didn't catch fire like BMWs.

I was playing on my 360 today. Technically, I was up late from last night, but my point is I'm still using it every so often because the One's backwards compatibility function doesn't cover most the games I want to play like Transformers: Devastation, Import Tuner Challenge, Lost Planet 1 & 2, Metal Gear Solid HD Collection, Under Defeat HD, One Finger Death Punch, Crysis 1, 2 or 3, Metro: Last Light, Thief, Batman: Arkham City, Bulletstorm, Dishonoured, Dead Island, Sleeping Dogs, Max Payne 3. Undead Nightmare, L.A. Noire and a bunch of others.

We touched on this a little in this thread, but the 360 is the only console I've bought at launch.
It was a brilliant combination of factors that made it so great including a nice wireless pad and headphones, smooth internet connection and an easy-to-navigate blades menu system.

Irks included hiding some stuff behind a paywall that were free on PS3 and PS+ being a lot better value with the free games, but Microsoft bettered them with Games with Gold that lets you keep those games, but on PS+, you only rent them as long as you're a subscriber.

Having mates who had the same console helped and we still reminisce about great times online together playing co-op games like Red Dead Redemption, GRAW, Left4Dead 1 & 2, R6 Vegas, GTAIV, Guitar Hero and Crackdown.
Plus, I got to play some stuff with forum guys like Lost Planet 2, Insect Armageddon and EDF 2025, Gears of War, Dead Rising 2: Off The Record and R6:V2.

I still remember being amazed at playing Capture the Flag mode in Perfect Dark and coordinating our attacks with a kid in America. AMERICA! You used to dream about that kind of instant response when writing to your pen pal as a schoolkid.

I think the 360's placement in gaming history has become even more important after the One.
As your title implies, the console race was never a one-horse one and the competition was great.
The endless mess-ups of the One's launch makes the perfect storm of ideas for the 360 and Microsoft's desire to make a state-of-the-art console, but accessible to as many as possible with the two versions (with or without hard drive) was amazing.

I still don't get why they thought the original plans for the One would be lapped up by fans.
Why didn't anybody say "This is going to suck. We're killing our lead, our brand and any respect we had."
Even if the One was more powerful and/or cheaper than the PS4, of which it was neither, they pitched it all wrong.
If, at launch, it was backwards compatible and didn't have all the nonsense they had to u-turn on (Needed Kinect to work, always had to be online, had to check in to remain working, Teevee hub first, games console last, no loaning of games and so on), I definitely would have stuck with the brand.

As it is, the PS4 has more exclusives, more market share, more of my friends are have one (only one has a One), the Pro came out earlier than the One X and is cheaper.

[Brad]

I was never a fan of Xbox 360. However, Crackdown sold me the system and then along came Bayonetta (PS3 port was unplayable by comparison) and Trials. Wasn't a fan of Gears and not fussed about the Halos past CE&2. Ignoring the anomaly that is Wii the 360 did win the console war for that generation though (at least during the period that it mattered - PS3 eventually just about outsold it). I did feel like I was in a minority going with PS3 at the time for sure. Almost all (maybe absolutely all?) multi-platforms looked and ran better on 360 and a lot of my friends stuck with Xbox during that time. The PS3 exclusives were more my cup of tea though.

IMO Don Matrick is entirely responsible for the false start they had this generation though and he's now gone. Listening to Phil Spencer recently I think MS are well on track to take the next generation by the horns whereas Sony are coasting a little bit and look like they might be lacking direction. If so it's the second time they'll be making that mistake (arrogance cos they're winning).

[Mayhem]

Didn't get the 360 until the Elite launched with the newer reduced heat CPU, so I never experienced the RRoD thankfully. Quite frankly, one of the best consoles and sets of games I've experienced in my long playing career to date, both retail and digital download. Also helped by one of the best controllers I've used. I can't quite recall what sold me on the machine, finally... might have been Mirror's Edge, or Bioshock, or Gears... well, I'd heard of all of them prior to the purchase, and I got all of them soon after the purchase.

I actually bought the machine while my brother and his (now) fiancee were away on holiday in Costa Rica, so he came back to me merrily jumping over art nouveau buildings and chainsawing people. Eventually he got one for himself next birthday iirc. That was fun times, co-op playing on Gears (1,2,3), Borderlands (1,2) and more down the line...

[Colin]

Got one at launch and was really wowed by it. At least until it died and I had to send it away for a replacement. From then I played some really great titles on it. Then it died, and I had to send it away for a replacement. I bought my nephew one for the first christmas after it came out and he loved it. Then it died, and I had to send it away for a replacement. That's not a lie, in total three replacement machines each, which by that point I didn't care any more and was happier to switch to PS3 in almost every way.

Not to take away from the games that I DID love on it though. Can still remember being in awe at Gears of war and loving some of the download titles like Shadow Complex. Lots of disappointments too though, it was the beginning of my now hatred of Halo for example other than the original.

[DeathAdder]

My second 360 is still with me - first died. I enjoyed Fable 2, various Forza games, Test Drive Unlimited and a couple of others, but I preferred the PS3 for being region-free.