Xbox

General

After seeing how successful the gaming market was, Microsoft decided it was time to produce a home console; The Xbox (which originally was going to be called the DirectX-box was released in North America on November 15, 2001, Japan on February 22, Europe and Australia on, March 14, 2002.

It was the direct competitor of the Nintendo GameCube and the PlayStation 2. It was the first home console on the market to include an internal hard drive, a breakthrough at the time as it made games run faster that used the HDD, but also allowed player to save their progress without the use of a Memory Card. The Xbox shipped with a custom made Intel processor based on the Intel III models this processor allowed faster calculation resulting in a much more real experience at the time in addition to the processing power; nVidia produced the Xbox’s GPU which allowed better graphics than other consoles at the time.

"The Duke"

When first released, the controller (with the exception of the controller found in Japan) was criticized for being abnormally large compared to it's competitors. Eventually, it became known as "The Duke", and was replaced with the smaller controller sold in Japan.

The system was replaced by the Xbox 360 in 2005 and by the end of 2005 production of the original Xbox had ceased. The final game for the system was Madden NFL 09, released on August 12th 2008.

Launch Titles

U.S Launch Titles

Japanese Launch Titles

Jet Set Radio Future
Double S.T.E.A.L.

European Launch Titles

Innovation

Xbox was the first console to include a built in hard drive. Users were able to rip music from their CDs of choice and listen from the Xbox's hard drive, without the need of the disc. Making it possible to listen to customized soundtracks while in-game. The first games to take advantage of this was Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto Double Pack. In addition, the Xbox was the first console to charge an annual fee to play online and standardized online gaming on home consoles with the introduction of Xbox Live.

Sales

When the Xbox launched on November 21, 2001, the console quickly sold out in North America. In Japan, however, the console sold only 250,000. With the help of the addition of Xbox Live, Halo 2 became the best selling Xbox title worldwide, selling over 8 million copies. Arguably becoming the multiplayer game of choice on home consoles during sixth-generation of consoles.
According to Microsoft, the Xbox sold over 24 million worldwide as of 2006.

Support

Microsoft officially will no longer offer console repairs on the Xbox after March 2, 2009. Microsoft is rumored to offer a Xbox 360 upgrade offer to users of the original Xbox. Real support for the Xbox died on November 22, 2005, with the launch of the console's successor, the Xbox 360. Xbox Live support for the Xbox has been dropped for all Xbox original games on April 15th 2010.

Technical Specifications

Dimensions:

320 x 100 x 260 mm (12.5 x 4 x 10.5 in)

Weight:

2.4 kg (5 lbs. 5 oz.)

Media:

2-5x DVD
10 GB hard disk
8 MB memory card

Interfaces:

Controller port (4)
Memory Card slot (2)
AV Multi Out connector (1)
USB connector (2)
i.Link(TM (IEEE1394 connector)

Features:

An internal hard drive, for storage of game information -- a first in the console gaming industry. The Hard Drive also could store music for use in some games.
An Intel 733MHz processor, the most powerful CPU of any console at the time of launch.
An NVIDIA graphics processing unit (GPU, delivering more than three times the graphics performance of other consoles.
An Ethernet port for fast-action online gaming via a broadband connection.
A multisignal audio-video connector that allows for easy hookup to televisions and home theater systems.
A front-loading slide-out DVD tray.
Four game controller ports that allow easy multiplayer gaming and enable other peripherals, ranging from game pads to voice-activated headsets.

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Name	Platforms	Developer
Galaga Arrangement	ARC, PS2, XBOX, GC, X360	Namco
Avengers	ARC, XBOX, PS2, PSP	Capcom
Stargate SG-1: The Alliance	PC, PS2, XBOX	Perception Pty
The Unseen	XBOX	Tremor Entertainment
Petit Copter	XBOX	Aqua System Co., Ltd.
Great Swordsman	ARC, PS1, PS2, XBOX	Taito Corporation
Sam & Max Plunge Through Space	XBOX	Infinite Machine
Tour de France	PS2, XBOX	Konami Corporation
David Douillet Judo	GC, PS2, XBOX, PC	10tacle studios AG
StarCraft Ghost	GC, XBOX, PS2	Blizzard Entertainment, Swingin' Ape Studios, Nihilistic Software

Platform Name:	Xbox
Release Date:	Nov. 15, 2001
Online Support:	True
Install Base:	24,000,000
Original Price:	$299
Producing Company:	Microsoft Game Studios
Aliases
Total Games:	1037 games

	David Beckham first in	24
	Brett Favre first in John Madden Football '92	21
	Junior Seau first in	20
	Steven Gerrard first in	18
	Shaquille O'Neal first in Shaq Fu	18
	Peyton Manning first in	17
	Ichiro Suzuki first in	16
	Peja Stojakovic first in	15
	Tim Duncan first in	14
	Gary Neville first in	14

	New York City first in Spider-Man	109
	The United States of America first in The Oregon Trail	72
	Chicago first in The King of Chicago	71
	Los Angeles first in	46
	Space first in Spacewar!	46
	Japan first in Karateka	43
	Seattle first in	42
	Miami first in	40
	Boston first in	36
	Arizona first in	34

	Xbox 360 Backwards Compatibility first in Halo: Combat Evolved	408
	3D first in Spasim	304
	Bink Video first in	231
	Greatest Hits first in	218
	Health first in pedit5	184
	Death first in Spacewar!	181
	Xbox Live first in Whacked!	175
	Xfire first in	169
	Jump first in Frogs	153
	Artificial Intelligence first in Pong	148

	Gun first in Outlaw	195
	Pistol first in Mouse Trap	128
	Helmet first in Wizardry II: The Knight of Diamonds	115
	Shotgun first in The Evil Dead	103
	Grenade first in Front Line	103
	Car first in Death Race	100
	Sports Jersey first in	97
	Sword first in	93
	Sniper Rifle first in Snipes	90
	Machine Gun first in	78