Remembering the Xbox 360, all the highs — and lows

Source: Windows Central Consoles had stickers dorsum in my mean solar day.

The Xbox 360 represents a special time in gaming when the cyberspace began to truly take off, and Microsoft came to the fore with its standardized connectivity for console games in the grade of Xbox Alive.

The Xbox 360 era also represents some of my favorite gaming franchises of all time, in an age where service-type games hadn't taken abroad all of the big publisher's attention. Games like Dead Space, Mass Effect, Dragon Age: Origins, and many, many, many more soaked up hundreds of hours of my time, launching right around the time I dropped out of school (perfect timing, perhaps?)

Here'south a little Xbox 360 retrospective, covering all the highs and some of the low lows.

Coming out swinging

Source: TechnoBuffalo

Microsoft positioned the Xbox 360 in a near-flawless way, taking advantage of Sony's self-approbation, built on the back of the wildly successful PlayStation 2. The PlayStation 3, by comparison, was more expensive, although arguably more frontward-facing. It had a Blu-ray drive, in a time where few Blu-rays existed. It had integrated WiFi, at a time where home WiFi wasn't ubiquitous like it is today. It had a highly-customized, expensive compages as well, which led to an inflated toll point.

Sony's Shuhei Yoshida described the PlayStation 3'southward price reveal as a "horrifying moment" at a developer conference back in 2022. And indeed, it was the misstep that gave Xbox a existent chance to striking the mainstream.

The Xbox 360 launched a twelvemonth earlier than the PlayStation iii, which gave it a huge caput-start when building upwards a userbase. The Xbox 360's design also allowed it to achieve a much lower retail price point. WiFi was optional, via a sold-separately dongle, and the Xbox 360 fell dorsum on DVDs as its primary medium, which was also cheaper. Microsoft drove innovation in other means, taking advantage of rapidly expanding connectivity owing to growing broadband networks, effectively building the entire console and its games around this manufacture-defining service known as Xbox Live.

Xbox 360 innovations

Source: TechnoBuffalo

Although Microsoft's primary innovations effectually Xbox Alive began on the original Xbox, it was actually the Xbox 360 that brought them into the mainstream. Xbox Live party conversation, via that iconic mono piece headset, Xbox Live Achievements, which are practically institute in every platform in some grade, driving appointment, and full messaging features and services, letting gamers share their experiences in real-fourth dimension (or cuss each other out, i or the other).

The speed at which Microsoft beefed up Xbox Live totally outpaced its rivals. Sony has practically completely caught upwardly now, only Nintendo still lags far behind the other two, not even able to offer basic features like messaging. Microsoft's identity provision in the class of Gamertags, becoming 1 of the commencement platforms to adopt Netflix and other streaming services as a media middle, and even things as obvious every bit friends lists all became the norm, due to the pace of innovation going on within the Xbox sectionalisation.

Netflix was at in one case, an Xbox 360 exclusive.

From a platform level, information technology felt similar Microsoft could do no wrong in this area. As Sony's PlayStation Network grew, it was decimated by a big and notorious security breach, which only added to the idea that Xbox Alive was the "king" of panel live services.

As we all know, information technology wasn't all peaches and roses for Microsoft last gen.

Then, the Red Ring of Death

Source: IGN

A few years into the console bicycle, gamers started noticing that their Xbox 360 consoles were commencement to fail, about in unison. The failure warning went on to get a notorious meme, dubbed the "Carmine Ring of Death," or RROD for short. RROD consoles displayed a red circle around the ability button, indicating a total system failure.

The RROD was a technological worst-case scenario for any electronics visitor. A smaller company might've been cached by information technology, too. Every single Xbox 360 consoles, practically, was susceptible to the Red Ring of Decease, leading and so-Xbox lead Peter Moore to asking over a billion dollars from then-CEO Steve Ballmer to rectify the trouble. Moore recounted the calamity in a previous interview (via Eurogamer):

"He said, 'what's information technology going to toll?' I recollect taking a deep breath, looking at Robbie, and proverb, 'we think information technology's $1.15bn, Steve.' He said, 'do it.' There was no hesitation. [...] "I'thou thinking, I'm most to crater Microsoft'southward stock."

"It was that moment of determination that Steve Ballmer fabricated, that I volition never forget. He didn't even think twice about spending $1.15bn to protect a brand that's probably worth three or iv times that today. Xbox One wouldn't have happened."

Source: Microsoft Microsoft unveils the Xbox 360 E model, which would be the terminal.

Microsoft later came out with various hardware revisions that solved the RROD, and Ballmer's investment in saving the Xbox brand largely paid off, with Microsoft's stock holding steady. Indeed, information technology led to the powerhouse that Xbox is today, with Minecraft and growing services like Xbox Game Pass, flooding Xbox with cash it has never really had earlier.

A legacy of astonishing games lives on

Source: Microsoft

The Xbox 360 was ultimately typified by a huge, huge trove of amazing games, many of which are now a little bit dormant.

My favorites came from BioWare, ultimately, with Mass Effect 2 and Dragon Age: Origins being two of my favorite games of all time. Both franchises picked upward a unmarried game throughout the Xbox Ane and PS4 generation. Still, it feels similar EA pivoted towards more service-type games, for a maximum guaranteed return on investment. There are rumors of new Mass Effect and Dragon Age titles existence in development, but nosotros've yet to run across either materialize.

Beyond that, the gen but had then many legendary entries, such as Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Deus Ex Man Revolution, Battleground Bad Company 2, Bioshock, XCOM: Enemy Unknown, Red Expressionless Redemption, and many other games I sank hundreds of hours into.

One of my favorite things virtually mod Xbox is the want to honor that library of games, bringing them forrard to the Xbox One and somewhen, the Xbox Series X via pervasive backward compatibility.

Did you have an Xbox 360?

What were your fondest memories of the Xbox 360-era? Which games did you love the nigh? Which franchises should return? Allow us know in the comments.

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Starting off on the correct foot

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