The Xbox, (now more commonly known as the Original Xbox), was Microsoft's first video game console. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America; March 14, 2002 in Europe and Australia; and February 22, 2002 in Japan.
It was Microsoft's first foray in the gaming console market, competing against the Sony Playstation 2 and the Nintendo Gamecube. It was also the first console produced by an American company since the Atari Jaguar was discontinued in 1996.
After the Sega Dreamcast ended production in 2001 many of the DreamCast's games where ported to the Xbox.
Xbox LIVE, a fee-based online gaming service was introduced to the Xbox in November 2002. It enabled its subscribers to download new content and connect with other players through a broadband connection. However on April 17th 2010 Microsoft ended Xbox LIVE for the original Xbox making it unable to play Xbox live games for the console
On June 4, 2006, the Xbox was discontinued in Japan, followed by Europe on March 11, 2007 and North America on March 2, 2009.
On November 22, 2005 a successor to Xbox was released, the Xbox 360.
Appearance
The appearance of the Xbox is a lot like what the name suggests. The console itself is a black 320 × 100 × 260 mm (12.5 × 4 × 10.5 in) box with a X shape going across it with a green circle in the middle with the logo inside of it. On the front of the console there are 4 controller ports in total, 2 being on each side of the power button. In the middle of the controller ports is the On/Off and eject disc button.
Development
The Xbox was first unveiled at the Game Developers Conference in 2000 by Bill Gates and head of the Xbox project Seamus Blackley. The original Xbox prototype was a large silver X with the Xbox logo in the center of the console.
During development Xbox Co-Creator Seamus Blackley drew some prototype controllers that looked similar to the Dreamcast controller. They were then shared to Xbox Fans and the rest of the world. Blackley also stated that Microsoft never decided which controller would be the final decision for the Xbox.
Games
One of the first games released for the Xbox was Halo: Combat Evolved. Halo: Combat Evolved was the first game in the Halo series. Launching in November 2001, Halo: CE went on to become the one of the original Xbox's best selling games and creating many more sequels for future Xbox platforms.
Over the course of the original Xbox's life, there have been 799 game released for it, with the last one being In Xiaolin Showdown in Europe which was released in June 2007 and Madden NFL 09 in North America which was released in August 2008.
A South Park game for the Xbox was Unreleased. The game developer never announced it and it was on a Original Xbox Dev it.
Controllers and other accessories
The Dakota Pad prototype.
The Dakota Pad was the prototype controller, It had the green Xbox logo from top of the Xbox console in the middle of it. But was eventually replaced by The Duke controller. However when the Xbox launched the Xbox with The Duke a lot of people struggled with The Duke. The Duke was eventually replaced by Controller S. The Controller S prototype was the same but, just like the Dakota Pad it had the green Xbox logo in the middle of it.
Microsoft also released the Special Edition Launch Team Xbox. This Xbox was made in 2001. There were roughly 1000 of these special editions made. This Special Edition Xbox was green and instead of the Xbox logo being in the center of the console there is a black circle with writing inside it saying " Great Work! " which was then followed by Bill Gates Signature. The controller for this console was a green Duke which was only available with the Special Edition Launch Team Xbox.
When Gamestop would sell you these Xbox's Gamestop had they're own controllers for the original Xbox!. There was the Controller S version (Which had the Small Gamestop Logo instead of the Original Xbox logo in the middle. It also had 2 small black buttons in between the thumpers and next to the D-Pad. A Back button and Start button. The D-Pad for this controller was really bad looking. Not many of these sold when they 1st came out.
External Links
- The Dakota Pad on Youtube
- Original Xbox Prototype on Youtube
- Dreamcast Xbox controller prototype on Gamespot
- http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6Zc_u1lY_aQ/T3m4yshlEnI/AAAAAAAAAZ0/_JdpzdwajfQ/s1600/LE-001-Launch.jpg
- http://press1for.co.uk/xbox-customer-service-number/
- https://www.consolevariations.com/microsoft/microsoft-xbox/microsoft-xbox-console-variations/