The Original Xbox: 20 Years Later

We still have the box too…

Over 20 years later and the Original Xbox still shines on. With Microsoft celebrating this special Xbox anniversary, I thought I would resurrect this blog (last post was September 29, 2019). Back in 2001, I remember my brother and I dreaming about Xbox from all the magazines we used to read (such as EGM and Gamepro). I recall the EGM issue (#149) December 2001, a hefty issue where the Gamecube “battled” the Xbox, where editors shared which console they preferred after a lengthy debate. Back then, the magazines really shaped our opinions of the video game industry as we did not have an internet connection at home.

I ended up purchasing the Gamecube shortly after launch, as I felt in the long-run the Gamecube would be the console that had most of the games I would enjoy. While games such as Star Wars Rogue Squadron II, Super Monkey Ball, Pikmin, Super Smash Bros. Melee, and Animal Crossing were all amazing in their own ways, there was an excitement in the air about Xbox LIVE. When the online service launched in November 2002, my brother really wanted to purchase an Xbox to be part of this new phenomenon (and of course to play Halo!) At the time, I was not sure about what the future of the Xbox would be – though my brother had full confidence in the console. I remember we went to Best Buy around December 2002 and that is when he purchased the Xbox with Jet Set Radio Future and Sega GT games included in the box. He also bought Halo…. and that’s when I realized there was something special about the Xbox.

We played the Halo co-op campaign and it was a phenomenal experience! I remember we also played the multiplayer games too. My brother also brought the Xbox to different events with his friends so they could all play Halo multiplayer. Even though we were enjoying the games over time (such as The Sims, The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, Kung Fu Chaos, Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic, and Fuzion Frenzy), we still did not have an internet connection at home, so we could not experience Xbox LIVE.

November 2004 soon arrived and my brother purchased Halo 2 immediately, which led him to ask our parents for internet almost every day. A few months later, his dream became a reality, and Halo 2 became a home for me. Xbox LIVE became the catalyst that made gaming a place which combined “just one more game” with a community of people around our world who loved video games. In high school, my classmates seldom played video games, so Xbox LIVE became my escape.

I played over 10,000 games on Halo 2, and also enjoyed playing Burnout 3, Dead or Alive Ultimate (2), Dance Dance Revolution Ultramix series, and Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict online. I mainly played Xbox games online, which became difficult playing anything single-player at the time (as I was connected to the online community). I let many games go under the radar, and years later finally got around to playing these games, which included: Syberia and Syberia II, Still Life, Panzer Dragoon Ortra, Dreamfall, Project Gotham Racing 2 and the Xbox Arcade disk, Indigo Prophecy, Matrix: The Path of Neo, and Phantom Dust, to name a few).

After all these years later, I am still playing the Original Xbox in 2021 (with a Hyperkin HDMI cable). However, the Xbox we had also went through its own challenges. In 2012, the internal power supply “blew up” and the console no longer worked. I took the Xbox in for repairs, only to soon realize the repair shop was a scam. They held the Xbox hostage (for lack of better words) and the police got involved as well. I was one of hundreds who were being ripped off by this business. My case went to court, and justice prevailed. When I received my Xbox back over a year later, I had to take matters into my own hands and figure out how to repair the Xbox myself as there seemed to be no repair place that would fix it as it was way past its warranty.

I ordered an internal power supply on ebay, and learned how to disassemble the Xbox. When I installed the power supply unit, I wasn’t sure what would happen. I turned it on and to my surprise, the Xbox booted up again! Was one of the happiest days of my life, as we had many memories attached to this Xbox (along with many save files and downloadable content). I then also learned that the original power supply cable was at fault for this, and did not know that Microsoft had issued a recall on these cables and provided new cables that prevented this burnout from happening. I ordered one on ebay soon afterwards (if only we knew back in the early 2000s….)

As I continued to use the Xbox, I noticed the disc drive was having a challenging time reading the discs. Using the disc tray cleaner and all the other cleaning tips did not seem to alleviate the issue, so I again went back on ebay to see if I could replace the disc drive. I was successful in finding a replacement part and installed this too! The Xbox continued to be a system I would often play, up until 2015, when I began my dissertation. For awhile, the Xbox remained in its original box, though not for too long. I ended up unpacking the Xbox and bringing it to Orlando in 2019 to play with my friend (who I met through Xbox LIVE) as we remembered the old Xbox days (we played Halo 2, Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance, Kung Fu Chaos, and Fuzion Frenzy.)

Soon 2020 arrived and the pandemic kept me home. The Xbox soon became my go-to console. I would play the Dance Dance Revolution Ultramix series (and also Yourself Fitness) for awhile, until I became very heavily involved with my new job (postdoctoral appointment). The Xbox soon started to collect dust, though as I write this article today, I cleared off the dust and booted up some old games just like the old days…. I played a little bit of Panzer Dragoon Orta (I have one side episode still to complete, those mini chapters in Pandora’s Box are challenging!) and still have more missions to finish in Project Gotham Racing 2 (I forgot how cool the songs are in the radio stations). The games still hold up well after all these years.

After all this time, the Original Xbox remains a console I continue to cherish and go back too. I hope one day to play more Baldur’s Gate Dark Alliance (I and II) along with Dungeons and Dragons Heroes someday again with friends. In the meantime, happy 20th anniversary Xbox, and thanks for the memories!