Looking Back on the Xbox, Ten Years Later

As of November 15th, 2001, the Xbox console is ten years old. It’s hard to believe that Microsoft has been in the console gaming market for more than a decade, but the time just flew by. A lot has changed since November 15th, 2001 and present day, so we thought it would be fun to look at the differences between the Xbox’s launch day and what is going on with the Xbox 360 right now.

On November 15th, 2001…

• There were only 12 titles for the Xbox console.

Today…

• There are over 900 Xbox titles, combined with over 800 Xbox 360 titles.

• Xbox Live did not exist. Which means, gamers couldn’t play online together, compare gamerscores with their friends, download map packs, download patches, etc.

Today…

• There are over 35 million Xbox Live subscribers, with a new subscriber currently registering for the online service every 2 seconds. Xbox Live has brought users a constant flow of downloadable content for their favorite games, the chance for friends to connect online, and much more. Social networking and media has been brought to Xbox Live, which now offers users access to Facebook, Twitter, Zune, Last.FM, Netflix, Hulu Plus, ESPN, UFC, and much more.

• The Xbox console controllers were big, clunky, and voted by Game Informer to be 2001's "Blunder of the Year." Even worse? Wires. Thank God we're out of that Stone Age.

• The Xbox 360 has sleek, comfortably fitting controllers. The controllers were downsized and made to fit gamers' hands perfectly. The new controllers continue the idea of providing the best button layout for shooters and racing games, but now it doesn't feel like you're holding a football. The upgrade to wireless controllers is a much appreciated addition to the Xbox 360.

• Halo: Combat Evolved was being discovered by gamers for the first time. Nobody knew that the game would become the system's best selling launch title, nor could they have predicted the sheer number of system link parties that Halo: Combat Evolved was going to generate. Halo 2 and its Xbox Live matchmaking was still an unknown at this point, and thus, Halo was nowhere near as successful as it was about to become. The powerhouse that is the Halo franchise was not yet the console's main selling point, but that would change pretty quickly into the Xbox's life.

Today...

• Everybody knows the Halo franchise. Many people bought the Xbox 360 for the promise of a soon-to-be-released Halo 3. The Xbox Live experience of Halo 2 fueled gamers' motives to purchase the online service, and this popularity transferred over to titles such as Halo 3, Halo 3: ODST, Halo Wars, and Halo: Reach. The Halo community is composed of die-hard fans that breathe, eat, and sleep Halo. Halo 3 made $300 million in its first week, Halo 3: ODST became the top-selling game worldwide upon it's release, and Halo: Reach made $350 million worldwide in its first 16 days on the market. The Halo franchise is a juggernaut now, and Master Chief is the mascot for all things Xbox.