The End of the Original Xbox

Via eToyChest, a sobering look at the not so distant end of the Xbox. The article at 'Dubious Quality' also discusses the current/next-gen boundary for Sony, Nintendo, and the PC. From the article: "While there are already 40 Xbox 360 titles earmarked for release in 2007, the original Xbox has exactly zero titles currently scheduled with the retail chain. What does this mean exactly? Not much on its own, as company's could have things planned that are simply not in the system yet, but it sure does not paint a very rosy picture for the gigantic console that gave us so many fond memories."

Comments

The X-Box is dead, you say?

[Golias]

So... Does Netcraft confirm it?

I know people who still occasionally fire up their Dreamcast systems. Old consoles are dead when they stop running, not before.

Re:The X-Box is dead, you say?

[Per Wigren]

At least in Sweden the NES is still very very popular, even among people who weren't even born when it was released and even (especially?) among non-nerd, non-techie, non-gamer type of people. These people aren't "collectors" or anything like that, they like it because the games are fun and simple but mostly because so many of the games can be played as two-player games.

Boxed mint condition NES consoles and games sell for almost the same prices as the current generation consoles/games...

Well...

[xCROSSFIREx]

the thing is...with the popularity of Halo 2 on xbox live, there are many users that simpy can't afford a 360...the big switch will be if/when microsoft doesn't allow xbox (1's) on xbox live..

Reality Check

[John Gaming Target]

I think TFA is missing a few key pieces of data. First, he's using the EBGames website for his information, which is not terribly accurate. The release list I maintain has a 50/60 Xbox/Xbox 360 split. Not quite a big difference. Sure, 2007 will be all 360, but right now this is probably the best console transition for owners of the obsolete system ever.

Hmmm.. open the old Xbox up?

[Rifter13]

After reading comments here, I think MS could give the Xbox longer legs, and make it a legend. When they officially "retire" the box, send a final xbox live update that opens it up, and allows mods and such to work on it, and let it find a new life as a media PC/DVR type unit. It would generate goodwill from the fans, ensure a very long life for the hardware, and probably allow them to ship through all of their back inventory quickly.

Re:Forcing Next Gen.

[Osty]

So, in reality, Microsoft dropping the XBox so soon after the 360 is a move that ISN'T the norm in the gaming industry. Some might say Sega did this, but Sega seems to have had a history of dropping support for a system the moment it's popularity declines beyond a certain level. Some people think they should have stuck it out with the Dreamcast even though we all know they had to think of their investors first.

The article clearly shows that the Xbox is supported for a year after the 360's release. There are games scheduled to launch all the way up to October 2006 (that is, a year after the 360 launch). Anything after that gets into year two of the 360, and very few console makers have supported an old console that long (the GBA not withstanding, since Nintendo has said the DS is not a GBA replacement). Sure, the number of games is trending downward, but that's to be expected.

Nintendo and Sony will release Gamecube and PS2 games throughout next year, but that's within the first year of their next generation. Microsoft probably won't release any Xbox games next year because they're into the second year of 360. Unless you plan to hold Nintendo and Sony to the same two-year obsolecence commitment, I don't see how you can say Microsoft is bad for ramping down Xbox production after a year of 360.

The rest of your post turned into an anti-Microsoft troll, so I'm going to ignore it.

Re:XBMC forevar

[PDAToday]

I would say its 'fair' at being a MCE (media center extender). I have been using mine that way for over a year and it's obvious that MCE was an after thought with the XBOX. It is however cheaper than some of the third party MCE devices. Mostly my compliant is that it does lock up or get wonky at times and that it had to load the MCE front end from the CD everytime. The visualls are also weak, and as I understand it you cant use an HD tuner from the MCE Server on teh orginal XBOX.

The Xbox360 however is amazing as an MCE. My only complaint is that I had to wait almost 6 months for it to be easily picked up. My old XBOX will now be a for my bedroom TV untill the 360's come down in price. --bill

Was it really a failure?

[xswl0931]

From outside, it would appear that XBox was a "dismal failure". However, I think it really depends on the original goals. If the goal was to make a profit on XBox, then all would agree. However, at the beginning, Microsoft stated their long term strategy and did not expect XBox 1 to make money, but to get the brand out. Being late to the console game, Microsoft knew they had to spend lots of money to establish themselves as a legitimate player in the console business. For this, they succeeded. If XBox360 ends up winning the next round of consoles and makes enough money to cover the losses from XBox 1, would XBox 1 still be considered a failure?

Re:Was it really a failure?

[Jace of Fuse!]

If you look at it that way, I would tend to agree. As a single business venture in the short term, the XBox itself is a failure. It generated losses and it didn't even perform as well as Microsoft initially hoped.

As a foot in the door, a name generating entry, and a place holder for later efforts, it's certainly fullfilled it's goals.

I think it's unrealistic to expect the 360 to generate enough revenue to recap the losses of the XBox, though that will really depend more on how much competition the PS3 gives.

However, someone at Microsoft once said (I'd look for the quote, but I don't know the exact wording) that Microsoft was in this game for the long haul and wasn't even too worried about profitability anytime soon.

I never said the 360 was doomed, or that Microsoft was doomed in the game console arena. They do have deep pockets and they're willing to dig far into them. I simply stated that dropping the Xbox and focusing on the 360 is a wise choice. (As someone pointed out, though, they haven't dropped it YET...)

The question is how long will stockholders be willing to play along with that game?

Re:Forcing Next Gen.

[Desult]

I'm a bit of a console scavenger. I bought into the SNES after the 64 had been out for a while. I bought a Dreamcast during the Thanksgiving sales where it was 99$ with games and equipment bundles.

I just bought an XBOX last weekend. It is MS refurbed, which I wasn't too hot on, but I have to say, 150$ (130 + 10 dollar usb gaming keyboard + 10 splinter cell) is a PHENOMENAL deal for XBMC. It would have cost me at least 300 bucks to build a quiet media center PC (though it might have been a bit smaller). It was dead simple to softmod it and install XBMC (for the average Slashdot reader, I guess). Plus I now have access to the XBOX catalog, on the strongest hardware of the last round of consoles. I got Vice City used for another 10 bucks. I always wanted to play that Panzer Dragoon game. Fight Night Round 2 on XBOX looks 10x better than Round 3 does on PS2. But again... XBMC makes up for any dearth of games. It can play PAL and NTSC DVDs. It can play video from data discs. It can play streamed music (though the XBOX does lack an optical out, which I love on the PS2). It very well may be able to stream video, but I haven't tried that yet.

My point - I will continue using XBMC until my XBOX dies. I will evangelize XBMC to everyone who enters my home. I know that this alone won't keep the thing alive, but it seems like any current XBOX user who gets into XBMC will keep using as long as the damn thing runs. I'm tempted to buy one of the remaining new ones at retail if they ever knock the price down from 180, just to mothball it for when my current one drops the drive motor or whatever. I took apart my dreamcast to keep it going longer, I'm not sure I can disassemble the behemoth XBOX =)

I don't understand the architecture of the X360 or PS3 well enough to guess whether they can be easily repurposed to run code like XBMC/linux/whatever, but I would hope that by the time I own an HDTV and the next next generation is nigh, one of them has been hacked to allow use to full potential. That will probably be my only criteria to pick between them. Having a quiet, (relatively) attractive media PC for 200 bucks RULES! Tacking on HD output, wireless internet, a 60GB hd, and whatever HD disc format wins out is a nice 200 dollar upgrade, over the XBOX, too =)

Re:Forcing Next Gen.

[Kenshin]

The reason developers are still working on PS2 games is that there's a metric shitload of PS2 consoles sitting in front of TVs all around the world.

Why abandon a perfectly viable installed base in the tens of millions to focus solely on a console that's not going to have nearly that much of an installed base for a few years?

I mean, duh?