An Xbox Eulogy

By Vermouth

When I first heard Microsoft was going to make a game console, I think my response was pretty much the same as everyone else. I kind of went wha?? These guys aren’t known for making fun stuff - they make Office and such. But okay, I figured console gaming was not for me anymore anyways. Well then came the launch and I barely noticed it. I mean oh a FPS on consoles *yawn* that can’t really be all that, can it.

At E3 2002; I decided I wanted to get a console though. Time on my good friend’s Dreamcast had convinced me that there was something here worth getting. If nothing else, the 2k sports series was as awesome as one can imagine in 2k1/2k2 on the DC. As Sega exited I lined up to place my bets. People who know me, know that I’m crazy fickle about hardware; the E3 where I was deciding about my first console in many years was really something.

Seeing as everyone had the 2k Sports line, and the list of games at the time seemed rather favorable, I went ahead and bought a Gamecube with Super Mario Sunshine and NCAA football 2003. Big mistake on my part. Not much after I’d bought my Gamecube it became clear that 2k sports were discontinuing their support on the Gamecube. This effectively broke the system for me. Not that it wouldn’t have some wonderful titles but without 2k sports it was no longer sufficient to go it alone with a PC. Then I bought a PS2 to fill that upcoming gap, but the trouble was I didn’t really enjoy most of the PS2’s big games. GTA 3, MGS2, GT3, none of them really did anything much for me. With some dissatisfaction I returned my PS2 and games in exchange for more PC games because that’s what I was playing back then, and the PC had a great Christmas in 2002.

Flash forward a few months. I was happily playing my PC and every once in a while my Gamecube. Lightning hits my building and blows my PC to hell and back. It was trash, I didn’t have more than a few hundred bucks to my name so replacing my PC wasn’t really an option. I went out looking for a console to fill my gaming void. Pretty much on a whim I decided on an Xbox as it wasn’t clear when I’d get my PC back and it was the one unknown entity.

Well, they say 3rd time is the charm and that definitely was the case when it came to this generation of consoles. I don’t know that a system has ever started with a better coupling of games as Halo, KOTOR, and Splinter Cell. With that amazing beginning the Xbox was well on its way to being my favorite console, ever. The games were just the sort I was used to getting on the PC, in other words I never really felt left out of the stuff I like. Western RPGs, got the best developer in the world working on them at Bioware and a pretty awesome pair of show ponies at Bethesda & Obsidian. Shooters? Well for the first time ever games need not apologize for being a console shooter. Halo, Chronicles of Riddick, Unreal Championship 2, Rainbows Six 3—all really were exceptional titles. Online play? I prefer Live to playing on PCs more often than not for shooters and the difference between live and PS2 online is really night and day. Sports and action games were wonderful.

A lot of people are surprised to see a dyed-in-the-wool PC gamer praising the Xbox. I acknowledge the fact that there are other ways to get a lot of Xbox games. Most of them are available on the PC. But, frankly I don’t ever feel like I get enough of the PC style of gameplay even if it’s on a console. Furthermore the Xbox strikes a unique balance between both worlds offering strengths from both.

I didn’t write this with the intention of bashing other consoles. If you liked something else I’m not going to fight you over it, I’m glad you found something you like. I really feel like Xbox still has more life in it but at the same time I can’t help but be excited by the 360. Even though mine died earlier this year I’ll still remember it fondly as the console that brought me back to being a fan of console gaming. I’ve never felt that I was an Xbox Fanboy, it certainly had it’s share of deficencies. It’s Japanese support, the feud with EA, the relatively short supply of real exclusives, but that’s not how I’m going to remember Xbox. I’m going to remember it for being the first console in a decade that didn’t make me want a PC. What is your perspective on the Xbox’s legacy?