Jubenhimer
Member
Typically, when you find success with your first hit product, you build on it and make it better. That's exactly what the Microsoft Corporation did with the Xbox's sequel, the Xbox 360. While the original Xbox didn't touch the PlayStation 2's 150+ million units sold, it still did quite well for Microsoft's first platform, sitting at a solid 24 million units sold, carried largely by the success of Halo: Combat Evolved and its sequel. With the next generation on the horizon, Microsoft aimed to get a head-start by launching first in 2005. The Xbox 360 was first shown to the world on MTV in 2005, followed by a more detailed reveal at E3 that year. HD was a rising new technology at the time, and Microsoft aimed to use Video Games as a vehicle to drive adoption. Thus, the 360 was designed with High-Definition displays in mind. Packing in powerful technology for its time, the Xbox 360 was positioned as the flagship console for HD gaming. Of course all that power means nothing if you can't use it, and much like its predecessor, Microsoft made the 360 as easy as possible for developers to make games for it.
What made the Xbox 360 such a great console at first, was the fact that Microsoft built on the foundations of the original Xbox, and simply made it better. Getting the system out early allowed Microsoft to gain a head-start in securing big 3rd party support. As with the original Xbox, Dead or Alive was a headline launch title with Dead or Alive 4, serving as a graphical showpiece for what the HD era will bring. The early days of the 360 were filled with top-notch exclusives, and superior versions of third party titles such as Gears of War, Dead Rising, Fable II, Mass Effect, the Aforementioned DoA 4, Ninja Gaiden II, Assassin's Creed, Halo 3, The Last Remnant, Final Fantasy XI, Skate, Blue Dragon, and many more. Aside from games, Microsoft also led the way in services. Xbox Live, the online gaming network that revolutionized online multiplayer, was further developed on the Xbox 360. With new additions like achievements, cross-game chat, and the Xbox Live Marketplace allowing for downloadable game content and The Xbox Live Arcade, a service that at the time, was a leading distributor in games from independent developers.
Getting the console out early however, came at a hefty price. The unconventional design of the Xbox 360 created the Red Ring of Death. A system error that plagued nearly 30% of all original models. It got so bad that Microsoft began offering extended warranties, and spent large amounts of money trying to fix the problem.
But aside from that, for its time, the Xbox 360 was THE platform to get if you wanted a main console. Sony's PlayStation 3 stumbled in its early days with its overly-complex architecture, terrible messaging, and high price, and Nintendo decided to ditch the main console race altogether, and instead targeted an undeserved non-gamer audience with the motion controlled Wii, which ended up outselling both Sony and Microsoft's consoles in the end. But the 360 was the best console of its generation as a major gaming platform. That is, until new Xbox management at Microsoft proceeded to sabotage it with a decline in compelling exclusives, and attempt to mimic Nintendo's strategy with Xbox Live Avatars, and the Kinect peripheral, which while successful at first, ultimately ended up as a short-lived fad, all while Sony was catching up rapidly both in sales and mind-share. This culminated into the disastrous pre-launch of the Xbox One, which seeked to demand tighter control on how users can play games, as well as a shady mandatory Kinect requirement with potential spying worries.
Sure the RRoD was unfortunate, and the console's reputation deteriorated later in its life, but it still amazes me how much Microsoft got right with the Xbox 360. It took the philosophy that powered the Xbox, and simply did it better, and with great games, exclusives, services, and an iconic controller, Microsoft helped lead the way in modern gaming.
What made the Xbox 360 such a great console at first, was the fact that Microsoft built on the foundations of the original Xbox, and simply made it better. Getting the system out early allowed Microsoft to gain a head-start in securing big 3rd party support. As with the original Xbox, Dead or Alive was a headline launch title with Dead or Alive 4, serving as a graphical showpiece for what the HD era will bring. The early days of the 360 were filled with top-notch exclusives, and superior versions of third party titles such as Gears of War, Dead Rising, Fable II, Mass Effect, the Aforementioned DoA 4, Ninja Gaiden II, Assassin's Creed, Halo 3, The Last Remnant, Final Fantasy XI, Skate, Blue Dragon, and many more. Aside from games, Microsoft also led the way in services. Xbox Live, the online gaming network that revolutionized online multiplayer, was further developed on the Xbox 360. With new additions like achievements, cross-game chat, and the Xbox Live Marketplace allowing for downloadable game content and The Xbox Live Arcade, a service that at the time, was a leading distributor in games from independent developers.
Getting the console out early however, came at a hefty price. The unconventional design of the Xbox 360 created the Red Ring of Death. A system error that plagued nearly 30% of all original models. It got so bad that Microsoft began offering extended warranties, and spent large amounts of money trying to fix the problem.
But aside from that, for its time, the Xbox 360 was THE platform to get if you wanted a main console. Sony's PlayStation 3 stumbled in its early days with its overly-complex architecture, terrible messaging, and high price, and Nintendo decided to ditch the main console race altogether, and instead targeted an undeserved non-gamer audience with the motion controlled Wii, which ended up outselling both Sony and Microsoft's consoles in the end. But the 360 was the best console of its generation as a major gaming platform. That is, until new Xbox management at Microsoft proceeded to sabotage it with a decline in compelling exclusives, and attempt to mimic Nintendo's strategy with Xbox Live Avatars, and the Kinect peripheral, which while successful at first, ultimately ended up as a short-lived fad, all while Sony was catching up rapidly both in sales and mind-share. This culminated into the disastrous pre-launch of the Xbox One, which seeked to demand tighter control on how users can play games, as well as a shady mandatory Kinect requirement with potential spying worries.
Sure the RRoD was unfortunate, and the console's reputation deteriorated later in its life, but it still amazes me how much Microsoft got right with the Xbox 360. It took the philosophy that powered the Xbox, and simply did it better, and with great games, exclusives, services, and an iconic controller, Microsoft helped lead the way in modern gaming.
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