Xbox

The Xbox is Microsoft's first game console, released on November 15, 2001. It was Microsoft's first independent venture into the console arena, after having collaborated with Sega in porting Windows CE to the Sega Dreamcast console. Notable launch titles for the console include Amped, Dead or Alive 3, ', ', and Project Gotham Racing.

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The Xbox was initially developed within Microsoft by a small crew including Seamus Blackley, a game developer and high energy physicist.

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Sales and Games

Some critics were initially concerned that the Xbox would allow Microsoft to extend its dominance of the PC software market to consoles. However, as of February 2005, estimates show the Xbox's share of the worldwide console market is only slightly ahead of the Nintendo GameCube and far behind the PlayStation 2. Indeed, Xbox for the most part has a smaller selection of the teen-adult games than the PlayStation 2 has, with Xbox's advantages over the PS2 version being mostly performance, graphics and sound. Some poor first-party games did damage the initial reputation of the Xbox, leading to the impression that the Xbox emphasized hardware graphics over game design. Conversely, some third-party Xbox games were merely ports of the PS2 version that failed to exploit the Xbox's full potential. Also, Xbox did have trouble getting top-notch console-exclusive games, a strategy with the Grand Theft Auto series that made the PlayStation 2 very successful.

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In 2002–03, there were several releases that helped the Xbox to better compete against the PS2. Xbox Live online service was successfully launched and several best-selling and critically-acclaimed titles for the Xbox were published, such as Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell and ', putting the Xbox on par with its rivals with quality gaming. The exclusivity deal with Sony was amended to include the Xbox after Xbox sales improved, making it too good of a market for GTAs publisher to deny. In addition, many other publishers got into the trend of releasing the Xbox version right alongside the PS2 version instead of delaying it for months.

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Overcoming criticism

Some consider the Xbox's freshman foray into the console market particularly successful in spite of the established dominance of PlayStation 2 whose market lead had been due to the original PlayStation base, and compared to the GameCube which has failed to match the sales of its Nintendo 64 predecessor. In fact, the Xbox's success is remarkable despite the excessive criticism directed at it during its first year of launch, which was often expected since Xbox was the newcomer to the video game industry and because of Microsoft's less-than-stellar reputation.

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Besides the large original controller, critics of the Xbox often point out the size of the console, perhaps the largest in recent history. However, this overlooks the fact that the Xbox takes advantage of this to include more powerful graphics and audio hardware, online capability, and a hard drive (instead of having to seperately purchase memory cards as with the PS2 and GameCube).

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Because of its close similarities to PC hardware, the Xbox was ridiculed as being expected to have a library of mostly PC ports instead of console specific games. However, this was less of the case as certain games such as Unreal Championship and its sequel were designed specifically for the Xbox. As a corollary, many best selling cross-platform games such as EA Sports are not always designed specifically for consoles. Lastly, the Xbox is well positioned to take advantage of a slowdown in the saturated PC gaming market since in 2001 an Xbox costs as much as a high-end GeForce 3 video card alone; many gamers welcomed the Xbox port of Doom 3 since that game rendered most existing PC systems obsolete.

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Much criticism is considered unwarranted bias, such as when the Xbox unfairly receives extra attention for poor titles (often subpar graphics, or graphics over design), more so than the PlayStation 2 which had more low-rated titles overall. One example of anti-Xbox bias was about the selection of ' as the Game of the Year in 2001, with many dissenters claiming that Halo was overhyped (often criticized for lacking Xbox Live) and that the true winner should have been Grand Theft Auto III (which lacked a multiplayer feature). Nonetheless, Halo outsold several top PS2 games that season including Final Fantasy X (Ten) , Gran Turismo 3, ' and Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, though this is attributed to the lack of choice where original titles are available for Xbox, as the PS2 had a wide range of notable titles released that competed for consumer's money, whilst Halo - even today - remains the console's standout software title.

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Other editions

On April 16, 2004, Microsoft released a special version of the Xbox in the United States and New Zealand. This version came with Halo: Combat Evolved packed in and was a translucent green color. The system and its controller featured the Halo logo on it. The version of Halo that came with this bundle was identical to other versions of Halo, with the exception of a "NOT FOR RESALE" notice placed on the front of the game case. Only 200,000 Halo Xboxes were produced.

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The Xbox has not sold well in Japan, mainly because Microsoft is a non-Japanese company (as it is a well established fact that the Japanese culture historically ignores foreign-made consumer electronics), limited Japanese developer support, fewer game choices, and the large size of the hardware itself. In much of Europe, the Xbox is currently slightly ahead of the GameCube, but is still far behind the PlayStation 2. Microsoft predicted that it would not make a profit on the Xbox for at least three years and that turned out to be correct; the division had its first profitable quarter in 2005.

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In November 2002, Microsoft released the successful Xbox Live online gaming service, allowing subscribers to play online Xbox games with (or against) other subscribers all around the world and download new content for their games to the hard drive. This online service only works with broadband. The milestone of 1 million subscribers was announced in July 2004, and, as of July 2005, the service now has over 2 million subscribers.

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Several internal hardware revisions have been made to discourage modding (all of which have been defeated by updated modchip designs or installation procedures), cut manufacturing costs, and to provide a more reliable DVD-ROM drive (the early units' drives were prone to failure).

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Microsoft: Microsoft Corporation is the world's biggest software company, with over sixty thousand employees and a physical presence in over sixty countries as of 2005. It was founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, and is headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA. Microsoft develops, manufactures, lic...

Game console: REDIRECT Video game console...

2001: :This article is about the year 2001. For information on the movie, see '. For the Dr. Dre album, see 2001....

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