Celebrate A Decade of Gaming With Xbox

It is hard to believe that on November 15th, 2011 the Xbox brand turned ten years old. Microsoft has given gamers a decade of gaming. This decade of gaming has had its high points and its low points. Do you consider yourself to be an Xbox fan? Let’s take a walk down memory lane and see how much you know about Xbox history.

The Original Xbox

When Microsoft decided that they wanted to enter the console market, the critics all stood up and laughed. They did not think that the software giant had what it takes to succeed in the cutthroat market video game console world, and when the first Xbox was shown to the public, it’s huge size was questioned. The giant black box was packed with more power than the competition.

Do you know how fast the processor in the original Xbox was?

If you answered 700 MHZ then you were right. That is quite a difference from what is out there today, but remember this was ten years ago. This gave Microsoft twice the processing power of the already popular PS2. It also enabled the Xbox to have better visuals and better sound too.

Do you know how much ram the original Xbox had?

Get ready for this one. It had a massive 64 MB of ram. While it may not seem like much by today’s standards, this was still twice as much power as the PS2.

What was the nickname of the original Xbox controller?

This question will really test your Xbox knowledge. Not many gamers from this era have even held this giant controller in their hands. Because of the huge size, the original Xbox controller was given the nickname of “The Duke.” This giant controller became a fan favorite quite quickly, but internal testing at Microsoft showed that a lot of people could not use the controller because it was just too large to fit in their small hands. You know what they say, “Little hands means little controller.” The Duke was quietly put to rest, despite many avid gamer’s protests. Microsoft was after the entire video game market, not just the 18 and up crowd.

The original Xbox would not have gotten off the ground if it was not for one game. There was one game that was sold with almost every single Xbox. Do you know what game this was?

If you guessed Azurik: Rise of Perathia, then you are not a true Xbox fan. Shame on you! Halo Combat Evolved was the game that everyone wanted. Microsoft knew that they needed a game that would move their new console, and purchasing the game developer Bungie got them Halo, a game that is still a system seller to this date.

Halo Combat Evolved was recently given a fresh coat of paint in a HD remake for the its tenth anniversary. It was listed as one of the best selling games for the week of November 15th 2011 at many video game retailers. Fans still can’t seem to get enough of the legendary Halo.

There was one game for the original Xbox that out sold every other game on the system. Do you know what that game was?

It was not Madden 2002. It was Halo 2.

Something wicked this way comes!

Did you know that the original Xbox did not have Xbox Live. On what date did Microsoft unleash Xbox Live to the world?

It was exactly one year later on November 15th 2002. This is a day that changed the way people played video games forever.

This new service allowed users to choose a gamertag. This would become their online user name. Do you know what the very first gamertag was?

If you answered Bill Gates, you are wrong. The very first gamertag was “E”

Within a few months Xbox Live had around 250,000 subscribers. According to stats released by Microsoft that number has now grown to over 20 million people. Microsoft really hit the nail on the head when it came to the Xbox Live service. By now the Xbox was an actual threat to Sony, and people started to take it much more seriously. Microsoft was making it well known that their video game console was going to be around for a very long time.

Even with the success of the original Xbox selling around 24 million units, Microsoft had bigger and better things on the horizon. The original Xbox was put to rest and discontinued in 2005.

A rush to the finish line.

With rumors flying about the PS3 and the powerful cell processor, Microsoft had to try and beat the competition to the market. On November 22 2005, the Xbox’s replacement was released. The Xbox 360 was greeted by legions of crazy fans who fought over its limited quantities, but the Xbox 360 was a ticking time bomb.

Xbox 360 systems all over the world started failing. What was the nick name for the system failure?

If you guessed happy green lights, then you were wrong. This needed a much more ominous nickname, a name that would reflect the anger of gamers. It was called The Red Ring of Death. Microsoft stepped up to the problem, and announced that they would extend all warranties to a period of three years. Gamers were still sore, but like crazed addicts, they were happy knowing that they would still be able to get their fix.

In a short period of ten years Microsoft has made huge advances with their Xbox brand. The next time you turn on your Xbox, remember that this whole phenomena only started ten short years ago. Happy 10th birthday Xbox!