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The End of the Original Xbox 137

Posted by Zonk from the the-xbox-is-dead-long-live-the-xbox dept.
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."
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The End of the Original Xbox More

The End of the Original Xbox

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  • Forcing Next Gen. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by the dark hero ( 971268 ) <adriatic_hero@@@hotmail...com> on Wednesday May 24, 2006 @03:34PM (#15397193) Homepage
    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.
    • Sega did that at least twice. Look where it got their hardware business.

      • Re:Forcing Next Gen. (Score:4, Insightful)

        by Osty ( 16825 ) on Wednesday May 24, 2006 @03:59PM (#15397372)

        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.

        • But in those days, emulation (or in another form, backwards compatibility) was not popular or even possible in some cases. However, the Sega Megadrive (OK, Genesis) had a plug-in you could buy that played Master System games.
          • In what days?

            If you go all the way back to the ColecoVision, it had an emulator plugin that would let you play Atari 2600 games. (As well as the Adam plugin which turned it into (Yet Another) 8-bit 6502-based computer (Like the Apple II, Atari 400/800, Commodore VIC-20 & C64 (Which had an improved 6502, the 6510)))

        • Re:Forcing Next Gen. (Score:5, Insightful)

          by Jace of Fuse! ( 72042 ) on Wednesday May 24, 2006 @04:54PM (#15397695) Homepage
          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. (Score:2, Interesting)

            by Osty ( 16825 )

            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. Ther

            • I don't see how you can say Microsoft is bad for ramping down Xbox production after a year of 360.

              I never said they were bad. I said it was wise. In fact, I never actually said what Microsoft is doing, I spent more time talking about what traditionally happened in the past.

              Anything that Microsoft does to the XBox is this point is probably aimed at focusing on the 360.

              It seems to me you ignored far more than the "rest of my comment".
          • 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 XBox
            • 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 giv
              • Well, MS's goals are quite low. Most console makers just make a console and take over the market on the first attempt or die from lack of money. The XBox was as dead as a console can be, it was on life support the whole time. From the sounds of it the XC isn't much better in the profitability department. I don't think any other console manufacturer in the history of the market ever incurred such a heaviy loss. Measured by the market standards, the XBox was not only a failure but probably the worst failure t
          • The reason developers are still working on PS2 titles is because Sony is turning the PS3 into a grand screwup. Nobody really knows how it's going to turn out, Sony is screwing developers left and right (nothing new), and to top it off we don't even know if we'll be able to afford the damned thing. $699 buys you a hell of a lot of handjobs!
            • For better or worse, Xbox was always second to PS2. PS2 was the everyman system, and Xbox was the system for people who wanted a little more. Put another way, if you were only going to have one console last generation, it was probably a PS2.

              Multiple console people, Xbox Buyers, are quick to drop the platform when something new comes along. People who are more mass market, and only have one console, upgrade later because they aren't as rabid about games in general.

              So, while Sony will/can/does have a good

            • Re:Forcing Next Gen. (Score:4, Interesting)

              by Kenshin ( 43036 ) <kenshinNO@SPAMlunarworks.ca> on Wednesday May 24, 2006 @09:48PM (#15398879) Homepage
              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?

              • 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.

                Not to mention the vaunted "backward compatibility" of the PS3 (if it works).

                Why aim a game for a small corner of a market that might not hit yet, when you can aim for a much much larger one, without sacrificing the emerging market, except in terms of new features ... at least until the new market grows large enough to warrent the expense.

          • Just a minor note: At E3, Nintendo announced that Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess would be released in two separate SKUs: one for the GameCube and one for the Wii with Wiimote pointing for the bow and arrow and hookshot and widescreen display. It is assumed they will release on the same day, and the ability of the Wii version to play in GameCube mode is unknown but unlikely.
    • Forcing you maybe. I see other brighter options. Then again, I don't buy Microsoft.
    • Well, duh. It's their current baby and a bigger source of revenue than the original Xbox is at this point.

      Although, not being fully backwards-compatible is a strong disincentive for me to buy one, since only about 25% of my Xbox 1 games are supported.
    • 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.
      • If you were a gamer, you'd already have this "hefty hardware". If you were just a normal person rather than a troll, you'd have enough "normal hardware" to run Vista anyways. It's not like you're forced to run Aero Glass just to use your computer. You can run Vista with a plain-jane interface just like many users run XP with the classic grey interface. What's important is the underlying OS and its functionality. Even at this early stage, Vista does many things right like per-application and even per-re

        • Re:Forcing Next Gen. (Score:4, Interesting)

          by Desult ( 592617 ) on Wednesday May 24, 2006 @07:46PM (#15398482) Homepage
          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 =)
          • the XBOX does lack an optical out, which I love on the PS2

            Get the S-Video or Component video adapter pack for your Xbox, both have an optical output jack. Since you don't seem to have HD yet, you may be happy to know the S-Video adapter also sports a composite output if you don't have the proper hookup on your screen (get a new TV already!).

            I will continue using XBMC until my XBOX dies

            Actually I will go so far as buying another Xbox 1 if my current one dies. XBMC as a Universal Media Player is just too awes
            • I'm definitely going to keep an eye on the current 180$ *new* packages. They've gotta come down eventually, no one seems to be buying them at that price point. They're not being shipped anymore but my local gaming store had at least two or three of them on the shelf.

              I didn't buy any of the output dongles, I just used what came w/ the system. I will definitely grab the remote and a good output set... The video output isn't critical because I have a really cruddy TV (my girlfriend's) with my surround syst

          • Re:Forcing Next Gen. (Score:3, Insightful)

            by slack-fu ( 940017 )
            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 we
          • (though the XBOX does lack an optical out, which I love on the PS2)

            Only on the two lower-end output packs. Face it, the people who don't even have a S-Video capable TV are not exactly the market for a 5.1 or larger surround system, and optical out for sterro is pointless. All S-Video and Component output dongles have either optical or coax S/PDIF output.

            Yes it would have been nice to have it out of the box, but if you have a decent enough system to take advantage of optical you've probably upgraded the ou
          • It was dead simple to softmod it and install XBMC (for the average Slashdot reader, I guess)

            I know the most obbvious answer for this is Google, but could you point to any webpage with instructions on how to do the soft modding? I would REALLY appreciate it :).
            • xbox-scene.com

              The hardest part of soft modding is having a game which has an exploit on it, then getting that game onto the xbox.

              The games that have exploits are spinter cell, mech assault, and 007 agent under fire.

              The way I managed to get the game on the hard drive was a little tricky, but not too bad.

              I bought a memory card for my controller.

              I took apart an old usb mouse and an extra xbox controler dongle.

              You can match the cords together by color between the ubs end and the controller end. For ease of spli
        • If you were a gamer, you'd already have this "hefty hardware".

          I guess six years in the video game industry doesn't count? (See my profile [mobygames.com] or my resume [creimer.ws].) My current machine does support Vista but I'm in no rush to upgrade since I switched to a Mac. :P

          If you were just a normal person rather than a troll, you'd have enough "normal hardware" to run Vista anyways.

          Sure... if you like a slow computer system. I seen reports where machines with 256MB of memory will be Vista-ready even though you need 1GB o
    • Yes, they are. The original Xbox still costs them money to make, so the sooner they can stop supporting it and start making money on the 360, the happier they'll be.

    • Re:Forcing Next Gen. (Score:4, Informative)

      by ad0gg ( 594412 ) on Wednesday May 24, 2006 @04:40PM (#15397604)
      My gamecube wasn't backwords compatible with n64 games. Oh wait, we are bashing microsoft.
    • If you are worried so much about the backwards compatible games, you probably already had an xbox. If you already had an xbox and love those games so much, keep it plugged in. Pretty simple really. I am sure there are just as many people with a 360 that don't want time being wasted by making "old" games as there are people with the old xbox who want to have some new games for their system.
    • Without real backwards compatibility on the 360 there is no reason why an Xbox owner is tied into that upgrade path. The PS2 did so well partly because you could run your PS1 games if you wanted to. So a big library on day one and no need for two consoles under the TV.

      If most Xbox games don't work/work well then you may as well choose which next gen to buy based on the console itself not it's predecessors back catalog. That approach may force an "upgrade" but not necessarily an MS console.

  • XBMC forevar (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Smack ( 977 ) on Wednesday May 24, 2006 @03:35PM (#15397201) Homepage
    It's still very good at being a media center.

    • Re:XBMC forevar (Score:1, Interesting)

      by PDAToday ( 661417 )
      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 am
      • Outside it being the term MS uses for media playing products(set top boxes, XBox, XBox360), Media Center Extender and Media Center are synonymous. What media program where you running on your XBox? I was thinking you might of had problems if you were loading it if off a CD-ROM. A lot of homebrew XBox apps assume the ability to write to the directories that the executable is located in. I know XBMC writes to some it's files upon running(logging, DB updates, etc.).
        • True some stuff is dumped onto the HD. I am using the MS Xbox Extender software. It's works "ok". But when you use it on the 360 you really geta sense of just how much of an afterthought the Xbox version was. I would like to see an upgrade to the Xbox MCE software to make it more like the new 360, but really doubt that is in the works.

          I guess I am being too critical of its functionality, look and feel. It does work, it just doesnt feel polished. So whats's my point? Well, I guess I didn't agree with the
          • That's probably because we're talking about two different media center programs. I didn't even know MS made a media extender [microsoft.com] for the original XBox until today. I'm surprised the offical MS media extender makes you run the software from the CD. I'd figured MS would have the program would update the dashboard to enhance its functionality.

            Anyway, I thought you were talking XBox Media Center [xboxmediacenter.de] or some homebrew app for modded XBoxes. XBMC is pretty much the standard for media playing programs on the XBox. It suppo
          • Yea, the Microsoft extender software was clearly half-assed. IMO no extenders for XP MCE were bearable until the 360, the rest were just too damn slow and incapable of HDTV.

            Definately try XBMC though, it'll change the way you use your Xbox. Mine's set up to stream movies in almost any format I throw at it from my media server, so I can use the entire hard drive to back up games and store all my movies, music, and emulator ROMs in one place shared between my two modded Xboxes and 6 PCs.

      • Re:XBMC forevar (Score:3, Informative)

        by no_such_user ( 196771 )
        If you're not using XBMC [xboxmediacenter.com], 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/a

  • So? (Score:5, Informative)

    by Per Wigren ( 5315 ) on Wednesday May 24, 2006 @03:37PM (#15397222) Homepage
    There are at least 573 [wikipedia.org] games already released for it. I doubt you have already played through all of them...
    • take the subset of games you don't dislike because of the premise or gameplay, then take the subset of that which doesn't suck.

    • Re:So? (Score:4, Funny)

      by thatguywhoiam ( 524290 ) on Wednesday May 24, 2006 @04:16PM (#15397473)
      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.

      • My point (although I failed to write it) was that most people (except those who pirate every game they can find) only have maybe 1-5 games and there are still plenty of gems for them to find.

  • The X-Box is dead, you say? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Golias ( 176380 ) on Wednesday May 24, 2006 @03:38PM (#15397226)
    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.
    • Heck ya. I still use my original NES from time to time. I love the old school Metroid and Zelda. I'm sure people who have the old Atari systems play those too.. Systems never really die as long as they have some fun games. However, the end of support and push by the owning company may come to an abrupt halt. Thats when replay value of the games come forward allowing you to witness the firepower of this fully armed and operational battle station! or.. .. um... the console.. I mean you can see the long term
    • 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...
    • Old consoles never die, they just play dead.
    • I put my Dreamcast in the closet for a while. I pulled it out the other day to play Reel Fishing Wild and I couldn't find the video cord. I've actually paid $2 for the cable and like $20+ for shipping (I ordered other stuff too, to mask the pain) just so I could play that game.

      So yeah, good games will keep a console alive long after they leave retail.
    • While in Tokyo in March, I went to a Yodobashi Kamera in Shinjuku and noticed they were still selling new Dreamcast games. The system may be dead in the rest of the world, but for some damn reason it still seems to be kicking in Japan. Just not as much as the rest of the consoles.
      • And by keeping an eye on Play-Asia, I managed to snag Zero Gunner 2, Trizeal, Radirgy, and Under Defeat. All appear to be conversions of Naomi (an arcade version of DC) titles, meaning there is potential for a few more DC titles to trickle out. (assuming you have a modchipped DC)

        Not that I've gotten around to playing them yet...I still have shrinkwrapped Saturn titles I haven't gotten around to (including the legendary Radiant Silvergun)

        (oh, yeah, and then there are the handful of Jaguar games I haven't

  • Fond Memories? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by tgpo ( 976851 ) on Wednesday May 24, 2006 @03:40PM (#15397240)
    "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!
    • I'd agree with that, it seems as games get flashier they don't increase in quality and often you'll see games that look good but play like crap. Take the First Rouge Squadron for N64, great game with two crappy remakes. Why is it that the first thing out of most people's mouths is a question about the graphics?
  • Only game I liked on Xbox was Halo 2 because it had good online features. Halo 1 was somewhat fun, but it lacked the depth that an online ladder game has. I guess I look for a lot in a system nowadays, mostly online multiplayer ladder, or massive multiplayer. I for one won't be looking back at the Xbox as nostalgic as Nintendo or Atari 2600. There were better games on PS2 or on the PC during the Xbox era for me to give it a crown in my memories.

  • Change happens, people! (Score:5, Insightful)

    by cinnamoninja ( 958754 ) on Wednesday May 24, 2006 @03:42PM (#15397258)
    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.

    • Half a year ?? you must be exadurating.... oh, nope forgot people in australia have had the 360 here for about 3 months now. But the reason for this is that supply could not keep up with damand in the states so we got shafted, i dont think that i being phased it is a problem either as this has happend with every console and is mainly why i dont buy them in the first place.
    • The number of times I've seen a 360 Premium bundle in stores is approximately equal to the number of times I've played chess with Bigfoot. Thus I'm not too surprised that some publishers are still hanging onto the machine that's actually got a market share for now.

  • Grammar nazi-ism. (Score:1, Offtopic)

    by numbski ( 515011 ) *
    company's???

    Nope, companies.

    Grr....

    "Please select your fighting style!"
    "Grammar nazi-ism"

    (Why oh why did they call fighting styles "ism"s in SFZ3 anyway?)

  • But then... (Score:3, Funny)

    by skyman8081 ( 681052 ) <skyman8081@gm a i l.com> on Wednesday May 24, 2006 @03:53PM (#15397339) Homepage
    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.
    • 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.

      "OMG XOBX 360 PSU HUEG"? Still doesn't have the same ring to it, but that damn power supply is a space heater....

    • All those jokes we remember so fondly were mostly a problem of industrial design.

      The 360 is almost the same size (I think it's even larger in at least one dimension) and managed even that only by moving its PSU to an enormous external unit but it *looks* much sleeker. The same's true for the PS3. The whole Xbox design is clumsy and just screams "I'm huge, make fun of me". Kudos to MS for getting it right this time.

  • Well... (Score:2, Interesting)

    by xCROSSFIREx ( 976937 )
    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..

    • the big switch will be if/when microsoft doesn't allow xbox (1's) on xbox live..

      Okay, but why would this happen, really? I don't think it would be difficult at all for 360 service and legacy service to coexist happily together, so why pull the plug when you're more likely to make people angry than drive up sales?

  • Of course... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Scorpion265 ( 650012 ) on Wednesday May 24, 2006 @04:07PM (#15397418)
    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.
    • I don't know you, but i would develop for a system that has a considerable installed base...
    • There was ongoing development for the PlayStation/PSone for several years after the PlayStation 2 hit the streets. There are still GBA games being developed, even though the DS has been out for awhile (don't give me the naming thing, DS is supposed to be the "next leap" in practice, if not in name). It's become more common in recent years, as the "current" systems are still out of the price range of some more casual gamers, and the old systems still remain quite useful, for development of titles to continue

  • Reality Check (Score:5, Interesting)

    by John Gaming Target ( 721410 ) on Wednesday May 24, 2006 @04:26PM (#15397524) Homepage
    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.

  • A sobering look? (Score:1, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    When the end of life for a video game console is sobering you know your priorities are seriously messed up.

  • It was (is) a good system (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Nightspirit ( 846159 ) on Wednesday May 24, 2006 @04:28PM (#15397537)
    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).
    • I'm still not so sure about the impact of online in the now-ending generation. MS managed to get a pretty healthy subscriber base, but I also think that the demographic that signed up for Live is made up of a lot of PC gamers, and/or hardcore gamers. These are the same folks who are forcing the arms race of HD and graphical masturbation between Sony and MS.

      Then we get to the money aspect. If my demographic assertion is correct, this is a group that isn't expanding at a phenomenal rate. I've read analys

  • This Isn't a Big Surprise (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Mitaphane ( 96828 ) on Wednesday May 24, 2006 @05:02PM (#15397741) Homepage
    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 [xbox365.com] 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 [xbox-scene.org]. 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.
    • 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.

      I know this is the Slashdot party line, but Xbox hacking has little or nothing to do with Microsoft's desire to pull the plug on the Xbox. They want to pull the plug because every time they make and sell an Xbox they're still losing money. It's far more advantageous for them to produce and sell the Xbox 360 for a loss than the Xbox. If Microsoft could produce the X
    • And it's been said they're soon going to halt production of the original XBox.

      They already did. nVidia stopped making the NV2X/MCPX chips some time last year, which meant all Xboxes produced since then were just burning through stock. As of a few weeks ago, I could not find a new Xbox available through the website of any major retailers, and the on-shelf stocks have been dwindling for a few months. When I bought an Xbox about a month back to mod for a friend, I had to search 4 stores before I found one,
  • 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.
    • And let people cheat even -more- on Halo 2 than they already are? I prefer it stays closed. People unable to cheat (for the most part) is worth the 5$ a month, or the use-and-canceling of 2 month trials, for me. If only Bungie had actually locked down their DLC like every other Xbox game does.....

  • Ah yes the fond memories (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Trogre ( 513942 ) on Wednesday May 24, 2006 @05:21PM (#15397839) Homepage
    1. Buy XBox
    2. Modchip
    3. Linux
    4. OSS Media Center!

  • I predict many happy years to come for millions of Xbox users, with their Xboxes hacked to be a media center device.
  • Uh, whoop-de-doo. I can't buy games for my old Sega Master System either... what's the big surprise again? XBox had a reasonably long life for a console. Let it be.
  • I've said it before and I'll say it again. I dont care if retail stores stop selling games for my XBOX, I'll just continue to pick up the games I never got round to playing off Ebay for £3-£5 and build up a substantial collection of quality games to keep me happy until the prices for the new generation of consoles come down to somewhere not approaching ridiculous. I'm just going to sit back with my pile off games and wait for the dust to settle.
  • Does this mean that the original Xbox is now going to be cheap as chips and I can finally buy one and load it full of haxncrax?
  • It only makes sense that developers would prefer to develop for the xbox 360 hardware. Which should be (or so microsoft tells me) easier to develop for and at least provide the extra power.
    I intend to upgrade to an xbox 360 in the future (I refuse to pay the AU$650 !!) but I wouldn'd be burned if all the good games in the next year come out on a 360, infact I would be happy to know that when I get my 360 there will be some good titles in the library I can pick up cheap.
  • - Only HD capable device I have (an I use it at 720p with XBMC) - AFAIC it's a dead system, so roms are free. - lots of emulators. - my wife likes Baldur's Gate & D&D Heroes, so lots of quality time spent together there.

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