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

Forcing Next Gen.

[the dark hero]

Without real backwards compatability on the 360 and little to no new games on the Xbox M$ might be trying to force us into buying the 360.

Re:Forcing Next Gen.

[Osty]

Sega did that at least twice. Look where it got their hardware business.

And Nintendo did that at least three times (NES to SNES, SNES to N64, N64 to Gamecube), but they're still alive and kicking.

Re:Forcing Next Gen.

[__aaclcg7560]

Microsoft will do the same thing when they pressure game developers to stop supporting Windows XP in favor of Windows Vista to force the general gaming community to upgrade to the latest and greatest. That was the case for the Windows 98 to Windows XP transition. Windows Vista is going to hit gamers harder since it may require a hefty hardware upgrade.

Re:Forcing Next Gen.

[ad0gg]

My gamecube wasn't backwords compatible with n64 games. Oh wait, we are bashing microsoft.

Re:Forcing Next Gen.

[Jace of Fuse!]

Actually since I worked retail between the NES and SNES phases I can tell you that Nintendo not only moved NES units after the SNES was released, but actually released new titles for the NES for at least a year after the release of the SNES. Between the SNES and the N64 things become a little harder to say for sure, but then I believe the Gameboy Color had taken up a larger space on the shelf than the previous gameboy line had ever had, and the rest of the space was dominated by PS1 and Saturn, so it's possible that the decline of the SNES popularity by that time was determined by factors outside of Nintendo's control. (By this time I was no longer working retail).

From the N64 to the Gamecube, it certainly was possible to still get an N64, but lack of 3rd party titles had long before already become a problem, and the only units I remember being available at retail in my area were those silly green and orange colored units.

Looking at modern times, let's not forget that there are still Gamecube games due out soon even into the release of the Wii. I do believe Twilight Princess is still a Gamecube game with Wii features added. There is also the new 2D Mario Adventure for the cube coming out.

The Gameboy Advance is still alive and kicking even though there is a huge shift from third parties to support the DS. Nintendo has repeatedly said that the DS has not replaced the GBA and that the GBA is still alive and moving in large numbers.

On the Sony side of things, the PS1 still had fresh titles for at least a year after the release of the PS2, and you can expect at least that kind of support for the PS2 after the release of the PS3. I say this because there are still several titles due out for the PS2 over the next year.

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.

Overall though, don't kid yourself. The XBox didn't do that well. Most of it's titles were available on either the PS2 or the Gamecube, if not both. The rest were available on the PC if not at the same time then shortly after. It only marginally had 2nd place over Nintendo and Nintendo's top selling titles at any time period were moving in far greater numbers than all but a very few of the highest rated Xbox games, and the rest of the titles that were available were losing sales to the PS2 version (and in some cases even the Gamecube version!)

Xbox Live! was the only thing that kept the XBox popular and that's the only thing pushing the 360.

Microsoft dropping the XBox might seem like it's coming pretty quickly by the gaming industry standards, but considering the losses the XBox has generously given the company it is wise on their part to ditch it now and focus their resources on the 360 which actually has some chance of success.

The XBox was not a success. It was a dismal failure. It's just a failure with a lot of fans. Kind of like the Dreamcast, though I sometimes think the Dreamcast has more fans now than it did while it was still alive.

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:Forcing Next Gen.

[ad0gg]

Bashing sony is only on tuesday and thursday. Microsoft bashing is Monday and Wednesday. Friday is reserved for worshipping Steve jobs.

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?

Re:Forcing Next Gen.

[slack-fu]

Speaking of modded Xbox's...I slapped a chip in, added a custom faceplate with an LCD screen on the front, and put a 250 gig hard drive in my Xbox. With XBMC I have (in my opinion) the ultimate media center. I have over 60 games installed and about 2 dozen movies with plenty of room for new stuff all accessible without having to change a disc. It also streams 500 Shoutcast radio stations, has one of the best visualizers for partys, can stream movies or music over the wirelass network, AND tells me the weather outside. Xbox might have been a technically financial failure for Microsoft, but screw them, my Xbox is better than a 360.

Re:Forcing Next Gen.

[KDR_11k]

Unlike the Gamecube, it actually had games that adults wanted to play and could feel good doing it.

Last time I checked all of them were available to someone who has a GC, PS2 and gaming PC.

Re:Forcing Next Gen.

[Phisbut]

The Xbox was far from a failure. Unlike the Gamecube, it actually had games that adults wanted to play and could feel good doing it.

Why should an adult not want to play a Mario game and feel good doing it? Does every game one plays need to involve shooting at stuff and lots and lots of violence in order for him to enjoy them?

People who can enjoy simple games like Wario Ware, Mario Party and Mario Kart are probably more psychologically and socially stable than people needing violent games to satisfy their impulses. Because a game is rated "M for Mature" doesn't mean the person playing it is mature.

XBMC forevar

[Smack]

It's still very good at being a media center.

Re:XBMC forevar

[no_such_user]

If you're not using XBMC, you have every right to complain about the xbox being a poor "media center extender". It's not the MS-based app you seem to be referring to; it's MUCH, MUCH more than that. Go on craigslist, get a used xbox for $100, softmod it, and load up XBMC. It's simply the best "media center" I've come across.

From their site:

XboxMediaCenter is a free open source (GPL) multimedia player for the Xbox(TM) from Microsoft. Currently XboxMediaCenter can be used to play/view most common video/audio/picture formats such as MPEG-1/2/4, DivX, XviD, MP3, AAC, JPG, GIF plus many more less known formats directly from a CD/DVD in Xbox DVD-ROM drive or of Xbox hard-drive, XBMC can also stream files from a PC over a local network and even stream media streams directly from the internet. XBMC has playlist and slideshow functions, a weather forecast and many audio visualizations

So?

[Per Wigren]

There are at least 573 games already released for it. I doubt you have already played through all of them...

Re:So?

[thatguywhoiam]

There are at least 573 [wikipedia.org] games already released for it. I doubt you have already played through all of them...

Yes, of course. Those were all killer titles, every one of them.

I haven't finished sifting through all the PS1 games yet. Every one a gem.

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...

Fond Memories?

[tgpo]

"but it sure does not paint a very rosy picture for the gigantic console that gave us so many fond memories." Not quite. I'm still playing the ole' N64. I figured then that all games on newer systems were nothing more than remakes with "Better graphics". I don't care about graphics, I want gameplay!

Change happens, people!

[cinnamoninja]

Is this shocking to anyone?

... abandoning a console is something that is going to make people angry, no matter how it's handled.

Who gets angry that their console is outgrown? Of course, plenty of people might choose not to buy the newer system immediately. Most who make that choice are happy with the amount of games they already have to play, and are willing to wait for the newer generation to come down in price.

The article has a table of future game release dates. Apparently, the Xbox has 31 new games scheduled to come out, compared to 85 for the 360. Given that the 360 has been out for half a year, I'm surprised to hear that many new titles in the works for an older system.

But then...

[skyman8081]

But without the original Xbox, what will we laugh at for being "OMG XOBX HUEG?" "OMG PS3 HUEG" doesn't have the same ring to it.

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..

Of course...

[Scorpion265]

I mean, would you really want to develop for a system that is now considered obsolete? The same thing happened to the Saturn when the dreamcast came out, n64 to gamecube. There might be a month of two of overlap, but thats the way the console market is run. We really shouldn't be surprised by this, in fact, this is common sense here.

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.

It was (is) a good system

[Nightspirit]

I'm not really a fanboy (I have both a xbox & ps2, will be getting the Wii), but the xbox did pretty decent overall. Sure, it lost 4 gazillion dollars, but they got decent marketshare in an area already saturated IMO.

Sony and nintendo were pretty indifferent about online (I'm sure someone could quote something to prove me wrong here), and who knows where they would be now if xbox live wasn't introduced, and the evolution of live into the 360 is pretty sweet IMO.

The ps2 had more exclusives (the only reason I bought a ps2 was for the romance of the three kingdoms series, and dragon warrior), but those tended to be japanese RPGs and similar games, which don't interest everyone. Cross-platform games tended to look better on the xbox because of the hardware, and the xbox controller was better than the ps2s IMO. The xbox had some decent exclusives as well (jade empire was better than most recent final fantasies IMO).

Where the xbox mainly failed was in Japan, hence the lack of japanese development, and it looks like the 360 is doing, if anything, worse in this aspect.

Also, the custom development for hacked xboxes is impressive. XBMC is (honestly) the best open source program I have seen. I don't know anything about software but even I could get XBMC to play the way I wanted. Not to mention emulators exist for nearly any non-recent game system (no dreamcast, gamecube, ps2, etc).

This Isn't a Big Surprise

[Mitaphane]

MS themselves have said before that they're no longer going to make any new software for the console. And it's been said they're soon going to halt production of the original XBox. It's no surprise that other 3rd parties are following suit as they prepare for the very pricy next-gen change.

I imagine MS is much more eager than other console makers to jump to the next-gen because they know the original XBox has hacked wide open. They've done their research with the 360 and they know it's going to long while before someone really cracks the 360 open.

As for me, I'm quite content with the original XBox. It isn't a great game box, but it's a fantastic media player/emulation box.

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.

Ah yes the fond memories

[Trogre]

1. Buy XBox
2. Modchip
3. Linux
4. OSS Media Center!

I'm not sure what they are talking about....

[guspasho]

I predict many happy years to come for millions of Xbox users, with their Xboxes hacked to be a media center device.

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?