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OG Xbox Appreciation and Lack of Emulation Thread of the big black box of doom

I loved my OG Xbox, I remember buying it from a Blockbuster of all places, pretty much because I got a free month of unlimited game rentals when I did. I picked it up around the time that Morrowind was coming out because not only did Morrowind look absolutely incredible, the Xbox was a hell of a lot cheaper than upgrading my PC to be able to play it.

When I got it, I realized something. It was, for the time, the ultimate in gaming excess.

I mean look at this sexy
beast
monstrosity.

cCpQD2Otgn4RbANa.medium


It... was... glorious...

and the specs
wikipedia said:
Central processing unit

CPU: 32-bit 733 MHz, custom Intel Pentium III Coppermine-based processor in a Micro-PGA2 package (though soldered to the mainboard using BGA). 180 nm process.
SSE floating point SIMD. Four single-precision floating point numbers per clock cycle.
MMX integer SIMD
133 MHz 64-bit GTL+ front-side bus to GPU
64KB L1 cache. 128 KB on-die L2 cache
Memory[edit]

Shared graphics memory sub-system
64 MB DDR SDRAM at 200 MHz; in dual-channel 128-bit configuration giving 6400 MB/s
Supplied by Hynix or Samsung depending on manufacture date and location

Graphics processing unit

GPU and system chipset:
233 MHz "NV2A" ASIC. Co-developed by Microsoft and Nvidia.
Geometry engine: 115 million vertices/second, 125 million particles/second (peak)
4 pixel pipelines with 2 texture units each
932 megapixels/second (233 MHz × 4 pipelines), 1,864 megatexels/second (932 MP × 2 texture units) (peak)
Peak triangle performance (32pixel divided from fillrate): 29,125,000 32-pixel triangles/s raw or with 2 textures and lighting
485,416 triangles per frame at 60 frame/s
970,833 triangles per frame at 30 frame/s
8 textures per pass, texture compression, full scene anti-aliasing (NV Quincunx, supersampling, multisampling)
Bilinear, trilinear, and anisotropic texture filtering
Similar in performance to the GeForce 4 Ti4200 PC GPU

Storage

Storage media
2ז5× (2.6 MB/s–6.6 MB/s) CAV DVD-ROM
8 or 10 GB, 3.5 in, 5,400 RPM hard disk formatted to 8 GB with FATX file system
Optional 32 MB memory card for saved game file transfer
Audio processor: NVIDIA "MCPX" (a.k.a. SoundStorm "NVAPU")
64 3D sound channels (up to 256 stereo voices)
HRTF Sensaura 3D enhancement
MIDI DLS2 Support
Monaural, Stereo, Dolby Surround, Dolby Digital Live 5.1, and DTS Surround (DVD movies only) audio output options

Connectivity

Integrated 10/100BASE-TX wired Ethernet
DVD movie playback (add-on required)
A/V outputs: composite video, S-Video, component video, SCART, Digital Optical TOSLINK, and stereo RCA analog audio
Resolutions: 480i, 480p, 576i, 576p, 720p, 1080i
Controller ports: 4 proprietary USB 1.1 ports
Physical specifications[edit]

Weight: 3.86 kg (8.5 lb)
Dimensions: 320 × 100 × 260 mm (12.5 × 4 × 10.5 in)

Nothing could touch it at the time, and the price was insane for that level of power. The specs and the price meant that to me, especially since I was still bitter at Sony at the time for killing my beloved Sega, it was the best choice that generation. I mean, that system just says it gives no fucks about anything other than being a power gaming behemoth. Ok, yeah I keep saying it was big, Because it was.

But beyond that, it also actually took what MS learned when it worked with Sega on the Dreamcast and evolved it to the next level. High speed internet only, no modems allowed. Voice chat as the primary means of communication online. A console that was essentially a PC, hard-drive and all. It was powerful, easy to program for, and had great games.

Games like:

Halo
Halobox.jpg


Halo defined the shooter on consoles. Bungie was PC royalty, and them being bought out by MS in order to launch the Xbox changed the face of gaming. Yeah, Goldeneye was popular, but Halo controlled with a level of fluidity that earlier FPSes could only dream of. That and, repetition and all, its Single-player campaign was pure magic, mix that in with couch coop, up to 16 player lan style multiplayer, and mind blowing graphics for the time, and console gaming would never be the same.

Crimson Skies: The High Road to Revenge
Crimson_Skies_High_Road_to_Revenge_Boxart.jpg


I love this game. I love this game in ways that aren't healthy. This game was so damned different than pretty much any flight game on consoles before or since. It mixed flying with adventure, and it's online muliplayer was just amazing. And come one, it had SKY PIRATES! Take that, Ace Combat. Back then you didn't need to be an FPS to have a great time in multi, and I can't say enough about this title.

MechAssault:
MechAssault_Coverart.png


MechWarrior never worked on consoles. It wasn't a matter of power, but even the best control pad simply couldn't pull off the complex controls that would be required for a hardcore mech sim. So, FASA decided to make a more action based mech shooter. And it was one of the best games on the system. Add in Online via the nascent Xbox-live (it was a pack in), and you were in for a lot of Loki killing. You can never get enough of that.

Jet Set Radio Future
JetSetRadioFuturebox.jpg


Game of the gen. Take Jet Grind Radio, take out the horrible time limit, make the controls a wee bit more forgiving, and expand the world, and you get pure perfection. Not only was this game drop dead gorgeous, it was a hell of a lot of fun to play. The different districts were art, pure and simple, and exploring them while grinding, tricking, and tagging is some of the most fun you will ever have. Add on to that a huge cast of characters to unlock, and an unforgettable soundtrack, and you reach gaming nirvana.

Shenmue II

220px-ShenmueIIxboxcover.jpg


Game of the forever. Yeah, it came out on dreamcast, and yeah, that one was subtitled. But if you were in the US, this was what you needed to play. It was Shenmue one, with a lot more scope, and a little less detail. This was the game that turned the Shenmue Defense Force into the rabid lunatics that we continue to be today. Shenmue was the appetizer, this was when we realized the sheer depths of insanity that Yu Suzuki was willing to dive into to give us his magnum opus. No other game would touch the ambition of this title again.

Panzer Dragoon Orta
256px-Panzercover.jpg


This game came out nearly 11 years ago. It still looks fantastic. How they pulled these graphics off two gens ago I will never know. Smilebit was at the top of its game during the Xbox, and it showed. Take Zwei, crank it up to 11, and you get this. One of the best rail shooters of all time. It should have sold better. People suck.

The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
1228654991-00.jpg


Yeah, it came out on PC too, but in many ways this game defined what made the Xbox different than the other systems at the time. No other system could come close to giving console players a game of this scope. Morrowind was massive. And unlike Daggerfall the world was interesting to explore, the music was amazing. Jeremy Soule's main theme is still used to this day, but many consider his first rendition, Nerevar Rising to be the best of the bunch. Listen to it and don't get goosebumps, I dare you. With Morrowind the CRPG came crashing on to consoles, and it forced people to take notice. Other Elder Scrolls games might have been more polished, but none were as interesting.

Knights of the Old Republic I and II
xbox-kotor-101010-01.jpg


Bioware was making an RPG for consoles. A Star Wars RPG for consoles. It was simply unbelievable. A lot of people view the first game as the beginning of Biowares descent into mediocrity. They are wrong. KoTOR was a great game. True it started a lot of the Bioware formula, but that didn't make it any less revolutionary at the time. It was a Bioware game, fully voiced, mixed with Star Wars that didn't suck, which in 2003 was rather important as Episode 2 was still fresh in everyone's minds. KOTOR2 was in many ways a better game, and in many ways a worse one, but it is my favorite of the two. Kreia alone is the most interesting thing ever done in Star Wars, and being able to affect your party, and the amazing story being told far outweigh the fact that the release date actually got PUSHED UP and the game was rushed out the door unfinished.

Steel Battalion
76817-noscale-23214-steelbattalioncontroller.jpg


You know what I said about Mech sims and consoles. Disregard it. God I need to finally get this game. The controller is just too cool for words. Capcom you were so great back then.

Dead or Alive 3

250px-Dead_Or_Alive_3.jpg


This game looked amazing, and was an early reason to get an Xbox. Yeah Virtua Fighter is a better series, but DoA always did have it beat in pick up and play fun. I love this series, and DoA3 is what cemented that love. Plus, she kicks high.

Ninja Gaiden Black
ninjagaidenblack_xboxbox.jpg


This game. Oh lord this game. Character action at its finest. Tons of weapons, amazing gameplay, and graphics that STILL looked great years into the next generation. Ninja Gaiden is the best game of its type ever made. Tight gameplay, bloody fun combat, hard as hell difficulty. It has yet to be topped. Itagaki may be MIA, but he will always be remembered for this beauty. This is the best version of the game too. if you haven't played Ninja Gaiden Black, you haven't played the true version of this game.


and these games really are just scratching the surface. The Xbox was a breath of fresh air in the console space, and it really did so much to really bring more and more top western devs into the scene. This system had a great library.

The best way to play this bad boy is to hunt one down for yourself. Yeah the Xbox 360 has "backwards compatibility" but it generally sucks. Even games that are compatible often suffer from painfully bad slowdown (JSRF is unplayable in some areas.) and even more of them simply don't run at all.

And despite the fact that after it was hacked the Xbox had a metric crapton of emulators created for it, we still don't have an emulator for this thing. That blows my mind. Yeah yeah, I know emulation is hard, but come on, we have a pretty amazing Wii and PS2 emulation scene, yet the Xbox sits unloved in a corner. It's shameful.

So yeah, this thread is about loving all things Xbox, so share your memories, lost gems that you remember, and memories about hacking the thing. Anything at all really. Let's bask in the memories of a time when MS really cared about gaming.
 

Borman

Member
I love the Xbox, it is my primary platform for researching unreleased titles (and collecting for that matter). I think Im up to 16 Xboxes, although 12 of them or so are development versions of some kind :) Actually was just playing one of mine tonight, recorded video of a prototype version of Stranger's Wrath, called Stranger: Wrath of the Wild, which you can see here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlwKk7D2Bfs

Im at 165 or so unique Xbox titles in the collection, haven't bought any in a while though so I am due. Doesn't count prototypes or unique demos.

When emulation does finally hit, it is going to be amazing. Imagine DOA3 in 4k?
 

Soulflarz

Banned
Ik the original 360s can do it (some games), but does my slim (NOT E) support backwards compatibility? I wana get JSRF
 

Borman

Member
Ik the original 360s can do it (some games), but does my slim (NOT E) support backwards compatibility? I wana get JSRF

I think all of them do, so long as you have the proper partition setup (which hacked drives are lacking most of the time)
 

Timu

Member
Ah, the Xbox, such a great system, and those games listed are why I loved it, definitely Panzer Dragoon Orta and Crimson Skies.=3
 

bender

What time is it?
PGR2 is my favorite racing game of all time. Makeshift games of Cat & Mouse with Mini Coopers on Nürburgring were some of the best times I've had playing online with friends. KGB Corner is a fantastic track as well. So many good memories. It along with Otogi 1 & 2 are the only Xbox games in my collection.

Morrowind on Xbox had some terrible bugs revolving around NPC drift that could break the game. I still dumped 100 plus hours into this version after playing 150 hours on the PC version. It's the only TES game I've enjoyed, probably because it was my first.
 
Ik the original 360s can do it (some games), but does my slim (NOT E) support backwards compatibility? I wana get JSRF

JSRF plays like absolute ASS on a 360. Some areas are ok. Others are borderline unplayable because of the slowdown. KOTOR also has massive slowdown, and IIRC even really popular games like Halo 2 have a horrible shadowing effect that never got fixed. Your best bet would be getting an OG, I just got a replacement one today, really great condition. I got it for $50 with a few games and that 3rd party LCD screen. The first one I bought had a borked DVD drive though, thankfully the guy had a few spares I could test to swap it with.

I love the Xbox, it is my primary platform for researching unreleased titles (and collecting for that matter). I think Im up to 16 Xboxes, although 12 of them or so are development versions of some kind :) Actually was just playing one of mine tonight, recorded video of a prototype version of Stranger's Wrath, called Stranger: Wrath of the Wild, which you can see here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlwKk7D2Bfs

Im at 165 or so unique Xbox titles in the collection, haven't bought any in a while though so I am due. Doesn't count prototypes or unique demos.

When emulation does finally hit, it is going to be amazing. Imagine DOA3 in 4k?

My man! That's actually pretty awesome! Any cool games that never saw the light of day?

Eighth doctors for life!
 

EBE

Member
i liked Blinx and Grabbed by the Ghoulies.. yeah i said it.

still have a small collection of games im working through at the moment, having never played them back in the day.

wanna give a special shout out to Amped 2. so good. widescreen 720p if youve got component cables handy. lots of fun.
 
Man I'd kill for a new Phantom Dust or Otogi.

On my list of games to pick up. I was going to grab them when my first Xbox died. I was so bummed I lost all my saves. The HD killed it. I lost a lot of my urge to grab them when I realized they would never be BC.

Ah, the Xbox, such a great system, and those games listed are why I loved it, definitely Panzer Dragoon Orta and Crimson Skies.=3

If only Crimson Dragon had been a perfect melding of those two games. God we need sequels to those so very badly.

Morrowind on Xbox had some terrible bugs revolving around NPC drift that could break the game. I still dumped 100 plus hours into this version after playing 150 hours on the PC version. It's the only TES game I've enjoyed, probably because it was my first.

The RPGs on the Xbox got so much play in my apartment. I had a friend who would literally fall asleep playing KOTOR, we'd find him in the morning cluthing a controller S to his chest passed out on the floor. Another buddy of mine actually printed out the like 300 page Morrowind FAQ and used it to play the game at night after I was done. He also probably went through Halo Legendary coop with my roomate around 50 times.

Plenty :p I run http://ptoponline.com . Some of the games have "found" their way online since, like Kameo. Others Ive shown like the cancelled Stargate game.

Physician, heal thyself.

Wait, Rent-a-Hero was almost complete in English? I am going to cry.
 

unwritt3n

Banned
Still got mine. Love it. Fire it up to play Ghost Recon 2 and Halo 2. Its running xbmc atm. Wish I still had the original massive controller. Loved that thing while so many hated
 

Borman

Member
You know what this thread needs, screenshots. Ill get back to working on my all-encompassing Xbox site at some point hah.

Outrun 2
snap036.jpg


Crimson Skies
snap006.jpg


Doom 3
snap013.jpg


Beyond Good and Evil
snap018.jpg


Amped 2
snap004.jpg


Soul Calibur 2
snap005.jpg


Crash Nitro Kart
snap002.jpg
 

Ryudo

My opinion? USED.
Rallisport Challenge was the best looking racing game of that generation and even looked as good as high end pc racers. Rallisport Challenge 2 was even better again. They curb stomped everything in terms of graphics and they were fun as hell to play.
 
Great OP. Missing PGR though.

I remember buying Morrowind and staring at the water for a good hour. Blew my mind that they could make it look so real.

Halo 2 on Live changed the console business forever. While CE on LAN was great, but sweet smooth online gaming was insane.
 

Asparagus

Member
I bought an OG Xbox just so I could play Sega games, there are literally just one or two games from other companies that I'm interested in. I'm currently gathering the parts needed to soft mod my system so I can finally play Rent-A-Hero in English.

Is there still any remote hope that emulation will actually develop for OG Xbox on PC??
Maybe in the distant future.
 
OG Xbox was such a beast. They just went hard on the hardware specs and capabilities of the machine, that horsepower; just loved it. Complimented my PS2 nicely.

The first game I bought for it was Knights of the Old Republic, just simply a wonderful game.
 

Danny Dudekisser

I paid good money for this Dynex!
It really was a cool system. Honestly, I felt like the 360 was a huge step back in terms of offering really unique, interesting games... though that's more a result of budgets going out of control in the HD era. But the Xbox 1 had Sega pumping out some incredible games, and a lot of incredible action titles from other Japanese developers. You wouldn't have expected that from an American console.
 
panzerx_screen004.jpg


HD version of this would still blow minds.

Speaking of HD is there a list of which games supported 720p/1080i? Still impressive that the Xbox had support for those formats. I mean the Wii never had HD support at all.

I'm also still reeling from the Rent-a-Hero Revelation

BTW was Metal Wolf Chaos region free?
 

Borman

Member
It really was a cool system. Honestly, I felt like the 360 was a huge step back in terms of offering really unique, interesting games... though that's more a result of budgets going out of control in the HD era. But the Xbox 1 had Sega pumping out some incredible games, and a lot of incredible action titles from other Japanese developers. You wouldn't have expected that from an American console.

The 360 started out really promising. Then everyone left.

I'm also still reeling from the Rent-a-Hero Revelation

BTW was Metal Wolf Chaos region free?

I dont think it was region free, but regions dont matter too much on the Xbox. And I just realized that the Rent a Hero videos were never replaced after the original Youtube account was killed, thanks Star Wars Battlefront 3 -_-
 
Such an amazing console. I'll contribute more in the future, but I had many good times with that machine. Still have mine hooked up via component.
 

Kimppis

Member
My first gaming console actually and I'm from the EU, lol. And no, I'm not THAT young, I just didn't play "proper" video games until I was 10 or something...

That thing was massive. And the games I bought with the system: NHL 2003 and RalliSport Challenge... Yeah, I know. Well, NHL was great, but I don't know what was I thinking. I just didn't know anything about video games back then. What Halo?

I bought one extra controller with the system. The thing is, that I don't remember was "the duke" bundled with it, or was that the one I got separately. I don't want to know, tbh. In any case, it wasn't even that bad of a controller. :D I'm not saying it was good, but it didn't make games unplayable.

Great memories... Splinter Cell, Halo... Just played Shenmue II on my PAL Dreamcast last year and it was phenomenal. The thing was a beast for its time. Too bad I never had an Xbox Live on the OG Xbox, because it required a credit card.

It sucks that the system malfunctioned on me pretty soon after I got it. In late 2003 or something like that and then I bought a PS2 a year later. Some games just randomly froze, the system making a VERY loud noise at the same time. Some of the games worked fine, though. You guys have any idea what could have the cause?
 
Ninja gaiden black is rad as shit, its all I needed back in the day. Now I wish I still had one to play Panzer Dragoon Orta, JSRF, and Shenmue.
 
I'm baffled whenever people ask for a second Dreamcast. That's exactly what the Xbox was - Dreamcast 2.

I was thinking that earlier today. It really was the end of the Sega line in many ways. Sega had great games on the thing, they just sold like absolute shit. They were creative as hell too.

gun_valkyrie_3679.jpg

gunv_screen003.jpg


Gun Valkyrie was amazing once you realized how to play. Problem was it SUCKED until then. Such a great game with such a weird control scheme. Perfect for what it wanted to do, but damned if it TOLD you what it wanted to do.


The 360 started out really promising. Then everyone left.



I dont think it was region free, but regions dont matter too much on the Xbox. And I just realized that the Rent a Hero videos were never replaced after the original Youtube account was killed, thanks Star Wars Battlefront 3 -_-

Well, if you get em back up, let us know. I don't suppose there was a half finished translation of Shin Megami Tensei NIne lying around was there?
 

Jay-T

Member
The first console i bought with my own money, AMAZING console that felt way beyond anything else at the time, my mind was blown when i first got the component cables!

Racers are the main reason i got the console, PGR2, FORZA, OUTRUN, Burnout, NFS all played well thanks to the specs and the controllers S.

KOTOR is still probably my favorite XBOX game.
 

GhaleonEB

Member
panzerx_screen004.jpg


HD version of this would still blow minds.

Speaking of HD is there a list of which games supported 720p/1080i? Still impressive that the Xbox had support for those formats. I mean the Wii never had HD support at all.

I'm also still reeling from the Rent-a-Hero Revelation

BTW was Metal Wolf Chaos region free?

Panzer Dragoon Orta was the reason I bought the Xbox. I got Halo with it as part of a bundle and didn't even play it for days. It's still a gorgeous game, partly for the art but also for how smartly it stays right within its technical limits. Such a brilliantly realized universe.
 

Jawmuncher

Member
I sure do miss the OF Xbox. Absolutely loved the monster factor it had in size with both the system itself and it's controller's either iteration. Damn sham we still don't have an emulator for it. Really makes me wonder how future generations are going to preserve those titles aside from actually finding an old system. Though that'll get harder and harder to do since any system with a disc drive just doesn't stand the test of time like a cartridge based system.
 
I went to Xbox launch in Timesquare Toy R Us, The Rock was there but I just bought my Xbox and left had work the next day, remember getting home and playing for 3 hours of DoA3 and Halo i went to work a fucking zombie lol good times, my launch Xbox still works and i have my launch copies of Halo and DoA3 still...
 

Borman

Member
Well, if you get em back up, let us know. I don't suppose there was a half finished translation of Shin Megami Tensei NIne lying around was there?

Ill just record a new one or two in the morning if I remember hah. I havent heard of any translations of that unfortunately. I think Rent a Hero came from a magazine, since some were doing reviews of it.
 
og xbox is one of my favorite consoles. halo, rallisport challenge 2, breakdown, panzer dragon orta, riddick, morrowind, kotor, splinter cell, etc. the machine got even better when it got modded. xbmc was a beast.
 

Tain

Member
I am going to flip when an emulator releases.

flip.

I was just thinking about how it's a tragedy that I can't play Ninja Gaiden Black on my PC. The system has a very underrated collection of good to great Japanese exclusives.

The 360 emulation was never good enough, even for supported games.
 

Lambtron

Unconfirmed Member
I need to buy the Otogi games and maybe Metal Wolf Chaos one of these days. I really wish I'd never sold my copy of Steel Battalion. Other than that, though, I think I bought almost everything I wanted for the Xbox in basically one fell swoop. I've been meaning to get it up hooked up to play some Metal Slug 3 on my PVM. Love that game.
 

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
Is Shenmue 2 playable on the 360?

Since it seems Sega won't do an HD release, I might decide to snag a copy from ebay again.

Yes, that's where I played it. There's some issue with the resolution that the game doesn't scale properly to widescreen, but performance wise the game runs flawlessly, that's how I got introduced to the Shenmue franchise myself (Shenmue 2 via 360).

It's good that the 360 is able to play a good majority of the note worthy Xbox games, but it's a shame that there's no 100% emulation solution so far :(
 
Such a great console. A lot of great times in Halo multiplayer with my friends, and Kotor was the RPG to grab my attention. Grabbed by the Ghoulies is another underlooked title.
 

Darmik

Member
Deathrow is an absolute fantastic hidden gem. Its this futuristic, violent sports game. Loved it.

I remember the graphics of Blinx blowing my mind at the time. It was quite a hard game too. No idea if it plays well these days.
 
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