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Six reasons the Xbox is the best system of all time

We look back at the big, bulky console on its 10th birthday

Words: on November 15, 2011
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60 comments

  • BladedFalcon - November 16, 2011 7:43 a.m.

    All those reasons legitimately make the Xbox be an IMPORTANT console and one that mattered. But not the best console of all time. Not by a longshot. For all the contributions it made, it lacked the one thing that matters the most for ANY console: Games.

  • samsneeze - November 16, 2011 9:18 a.m.

    Dead or Alive 3/Ultimate, Ninja Gaiden Black, Halo, Jade Empire, Grabbed by the Ghoulies, Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon 2, Jet Set Radio Future, Fable, Project Gotham Racing, Blinx 1 and 2, Kung Fu Chaos and tons others. The only reason people didn't pick up the Xbox or say it didn't have games, in my opinion, is because it didn't carry RPGs the way the Playstation 2 did. Keep in mind this was somewhat before RPGs became an abused genre and were more or less from one another. But besides that, I'd say it had plenty of games. It really only lacked third party support from Eastern countries in my opinion. But since all the main releases were RPGs, I don't think they missed much. Case and point, saying the Xbox lacked games is pretty wrong.

  • samsneeze - November 16, 2011 9:19 a.m.

    Not saying that you prefer Playstation to Xbox, I was just using it as an example.

  • mothbanquet - November 16, 2011 10:02 a.m.

    Ah but I believe you're referring more to JRPGs - XB had some of the finest western RPGs of its day, including KOTOR, JE, Fable and Morrowind. I believe it's more a case that by then Sony had developed a staunchly loyal fanbase at the time and people simply didn't look into what it offered. For those that did, such as myself, discovered what a console could really pull off. Again, though, that's just my personal experience. I just remember playing Halo and knowing there was nothing like it on either my PS2 or GC.

  • BladedFalcon - November 16, 2011 1:41 p.m.

    I wasn't really comparing it only to the PS2, since to me, The SNES and the PSone are better consoles simply because they offered more games. This includes the PS2 really, and now that you wanted to enter that territory, I'll go there: Tekken 4 and 5, Devil May cry 1 and 3, God of War 1 and 2, Ace combat 4 and 5, Frecuency and Amplitude, Zone of the enders 1 and 2, Chaos legion, Castlevania: Curse of Darkness, Contra: Shattered Soldier, Shadow of The Colosus, ico, Gran Turismo 3 and 4, God Hand, Gran theft Auto 3 and Vice City, Jack And Daxter, Sly Cooper, Ratchet and Clank, GrimGrimoire, Odin's Sphere, Metal gear solid 2 and 3, Onimusha 1, 2 and 3, Resident Evil 4, Rygar, Silent Hill 2 and 3, SSX, Viewtiful Joe 1 and 2. There, I just listed the triple amount of awesome games that you could play on the PS2 but NOT on the Xbox, And do note the distinct lack of a single strategy or RPG game in there, the genre that you argued above that the Xbox lacked. If I added all the great WRPGS for the PS2 in there, I'd have a list 5 times longer than what you posted. The Xbox,and the GC for that matter, both had their share of great, and axclusive games, t be sure. But honestly, they both were pretty lacking when compared against the sheer quantity of quality titles that the PS2 had, and if you compare them to the PS one, and the SNES, they would also pale by those as well. So yes, I'll say again that the Xbox Lacked games, SPECIALLY if anyone tries to put it as the best console ever made. And I'll also note that I owned the three consoles of that generation. I had fun with all three, but the only one I never stopped playing for more than a month was the PS2.

  • BladedFalcon - November 16, 2011 1:58 p.m.

    Er... honestly, most of the multi-platform games, while did look better to the PS versions, there wasn't that much of a difference,at least to me. And the trade-off is that, let's be honest, the Xbox's controller was HORRIBLE. Specially in comparison to the PS2. There's a good reason the PS controller has remained largely unchanged for 3 generations: The design is great as it is. This is also the main reason why any multi-platform game was always better on the PS2. Though on the other hand, the Xbox undeniably has the edge when it comes to FPS games, they had plenty of those, while the PS2 had a very little selection. I know a lot of it it's based on taste, and I'm not trying to change the mind of anyone. I am just defending my argument that when talking about games, the PS2 definitely had a much larger selection of great games.

  • mothbanquet - November 17, 2011 2:48 a.m.

    Many of those you mention were not only on xbox and GC as well, but the iterations on the other consoles were more often than not superior both graphically and in terms of in-game performance (Silent Hill 2 even came with extra content for the xbox). Also, games like ZoE and Omnimusha weren't necessarily great games at all. I've no doubt you could rattle off a list of other games in a given genre but that's a given - the PS2 had far more games than the other consoles. Of course, with that comes the fact that the amount of shovelware was far greater too. In the end, it's an argument for fanboys - suffice it to say that I think the proportion of great games was equal enough on all the major machines. Point condeded on the controller though...

  • BladedFalcon - November 17, 2011 5:43 p.m.

    Er.. Aside from that Silent hill 2 and maybe one or two more that slipped my memory, most of those never reached the Xbox. And while a few of them were shared with the game-cube, that doesn't really factor in the Xbox vs PS2 comparison. And the argument you use for onimusha and ZoE can be also applied to Xbox games as Blinx, Grabbed by the ghoulies, and Kung Fu Chaos. And well, the amount of shovelware is kinda irrelevant if the number of great games and variety is still superior. Since any knowledgeable enough gamer would never care for the shovelware in any console anyway. I know a lot of these variables can be subjective, but I am stating all this because both you and Samsneeze argued that the PS2 didn't have more and greater variety of good games. And i just proved otherwise. In the end, I'm not really saying you're wrong to like the Xbox better, a lot of the reasons you've given are genuinely valid, such as better versions on the Xbox. Still, personally, i think game selection and variety overall is king, and which is why the PS2 is my favorite of the 6th generation of consoles.

  • patbateman17 - November 16, 2011 6:40 a.m.

    Flame on! I've owned most of the consoles that have come out so far (I'm in my late 20s) and wouldn't say one was better than the other though. Except for maybe SNES and N64...because I mean come on.

  • mothbanquet - November 16, 2011 6:32 a.m.

    I had a PS2 for a long time before I got my first Xbox. I ended up getting it after hearing good things about Halo and wow...the things it could do far outstripped the PS2. Max Payne, for example, looked markedly better and oh! The quicksaves! I've been an Xbox man first and foremost ever since. Not exclusively mind you, I also have a PC and all the PlayStations but the big black box was the first thing to truly inspire awe. Also, having custom soundtracks in games like WWE and GTA were simply fantastic. While I'd probably couch the PS1 as my favourite all-time console, the xbox is still up there.

  • NightCrawler_358 - November 16, 2011 5:01 a.m.

    While I know you do these articles with the anniversary of any system, I never considered the original Xbox as even a contender for best system ever. I even liked the Gamecube better than the Xbox, but PS2 was king of last generation! Still, these are some pretty valid points for it being revolutionary.

  • Hobogonigal - November 16, 2011 3:38 a.m.

    Come on, maybe not the best! I agree with a lot of these points but they really don't show that it was the best console, just that it changed things up a little. BTW, there were other great shooters on consoles before Halo and I don't think Goldeneye and Perfect Dark were simply classed as party games because they had great multiplayer. By that logic, even Halo itsef as well as CoD can both be classed as party games. That's okay though, if I see any five year olds looking to buy Disneyland Adventures I'll just recommend Goldeneye: Reloaded instead as that is the better party game.

  • Mezolitik - November 16, 2011 2:13 a.m.

    I grew up with the original Playstation. That was where I discovered Tomb Raider, Final Fantasy, Command and Conquer, Xenogears, etc. Good times! I could never take the Xbox seriously. It was too...ugly.

  • taokaka - November 16, 2011 12:30 a.m.

    XBOX, best console????? how exactly would you go about deciding the best games console? Would it be the quality of software, relative graphical power of the time, user friendliness, etc? The Xbox was revolutionary but not the best console, your points prove this for example halo brought shooters to the console but it isn't the best shooter ever because that is an impossible thing to decide. So perhaps the title could be changed to "six reasons the xbox may or may not be the most revolutionary console" And for the record the best games console was so the Atari Jaguar.

  • taokaka - November 16, 2011 12:32 a.m.

    *Halo made shooters on consoles widely popular* instead of brought shooters to console because that is a rather stupid thing to say.

  • Imgema - November 15, 2011 10:29 p.m.

    I can agree with every point except the first one... Halo was a big step forwards as a multiplayer game but as a single game experience it was a huge step backwards compared to what other console shooters like goldeneye had already achieved. Goldeneye was a much more varied and richer game, it was not just a generic, hand holding shooter. Halo opened the way for the casual, generic shooters we get today, sorry.

  • mothbanquet - November 16, 2011 10:06 a.m.

    Even then the original CoD was hugely acclaimed on its release for bringing something new to an MoH-dominated genre. What we should be pissed off at are the developers who are content to keep rehashing the same thing and the publishers and moneymen who stifle creativity in the name of yearly profit-turners. Halo may have introduced some of the mechanics we still see today but it didn't force developers to keep using them.

  • megaklok - November 15, 2011 9:58 p.m.

    Not true, For the shooters thing we should be pissed off because now we get stupid things like Call of duty, battlefield, and other crappy shooter games.

  • RadicalVoodoo - November 15, 2011 9:08 p.m.

    Never had an Xbox. Had a Gamecube. Although, I gotta say I love the Xbox for succeeding and resulting in the release of the 360. Me loves my 360.

  • brickman409 - November 15, 2011 7:44 p.m.

    you better have a gamecube anniversary article three days from now, or else im gonna go nintendo fanboy all over everybody's ass!!

  • IceBlueKirby - November 15, 2011 7:42 p.m.

    It took me forever to accept the Xbox as a legitimate game console. I had a PS2 and GCN, and my friends and I would take every chance to make fun of the Xbox we possibly could, just because at a glance there was absolutely nothing appealing about it. Finally I decided to cave in due to wanting to play Ninja Gaiden and a few other games, and got a used one pretty cheap. I was happy with it, and Halo was a lot better than I expected, but it was still far from my favorite of the generation. Still, it proves that you can't judge a book by it's cover, and all those other tired old cliches.

  • ghostcula - November 15, 2011 6:22 p.m.

    best? I dont think so but I will admit all of the points you made attributed to its validity as the most important console as far as innovation goes

  • ncurry2 - November 15, 2011 6:04 p.m.

    I only had a gamecube last generation and I loved that little purple box. I appreciate what Microsoft did. I don't think either console is the best ever though. But well written.

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