Hey kids, how’s about a history lesson: Japanese companies shunned the big green plastic X as an “American” video game console, thereby depriving it of success in the Land of the Rising Sun. This left a huge gap in the system’s lineup of titles as American developers primarily created shooter and action games and left the RPG’s to the developers in the East. I originally had a pretty large hate-on for anything Xbox, Halo and online multiplayer, as I was still getting back into gaming and had my traditionalist gamer pants on. 3,500 online matches of Halo 2 later proved that my rubber arm was sufficiently bent.
Xbox (2001)
In the early aughts, video games were a local multiplayer event. The GameCube had a $50 add-on that let you locally connect a few systems together for even bigger in-home multiplayer, and the PlayStation 2 employed a similar add-on, but it only sold because it was later used as a gateway to play pirated games.
Microsoft changed the way people game together forever with the introduction of Xbox Live. No longer did you have to convince your sports game fan friend to play the bottom screen of a shooter, nor suffer thought the teaching of Street Fighter 101 to your girlfriend.
Suddenly there was an entire world of people to compete against, anonymously, and with little consequences for your actions. One time I was playing MechAssault and losing miserably. To gain the upper hand I paused for a moment and spoke excitedly into the microphone for all to hear.
“Holy crap guys, are you watching CNN? They just bombed the Empire State Building”.
This gave me a 5 minute opportunity to jet-pack my Robotjox around the map, disable and destroy the lifeless Mechs as their pilots scrambled to change the channel to see the breaking news, and get the high score for the match. I used this trick a few times, but when it began to negatively affect my online “popularity” I gave it a rest.
Outside of being an asshole to random players, I did get a chance to play Halo 2 with Dane Cook. I assure you that sounded way more impressive in 2002.
Oh, and I once saw two people having sex while I played UNO.
Xbox 360 (2005)
While I may have shunned its younger brother in the past, when the Xbox 360 came out, I embraced it with wallet wide open.
There was a day when my local video store franchise had a “Buy One, Get One 50% Off” used game sale, so I hatched a plan. I felt like an honorary Goonie, equipped with the phone numbers, addresses, a printed Google Map with each of the 7 locations marked off with a pin, and the best driving directions to get to each one. I didn’t drive, so I puppy-dog-eyed my girlfriend at the time to hustle me around to each location, a journey that started at 8 AM and didn’t end until around 2 PM.
Halfway through the expedition VISA gave me a call and was curious as to why there was a significant increase in spending at video stores. In total I scooped up about 150 games and a bill for $3,500. I played most of the games at least once, but ended up trading then back into another game store for about 1/4 of what I paid, but it made for a good story.
My love affair with all things Microsoft nearly ended when I called 1-800-MY-XBOX for the 6th time, requesting a cardboard box to send back yet another system suffering from the highly publicized “red ring of death” to the mother base.
But when Halo:Reach was released I decided perhaps it was time to purchase the new slim limited edition Xbox 360. I kindly donated my last living Xbox 360 to a friend of the family as the warranty had expired and it had little to no resale value.
Reach didn’t ignite my gamer flame as I had hoped and I only ended up logging about 150 hours into the system as working life had changed since the heyday of Halo 2. Now I spend most my Xbox gaming time flailing my arms around with my Kinect and watching Netflix movies.
Looking forward into 2011 the only temptation of returning to the system for any long-term gaming sessions is on November 11 when the new Elder Scrolls game is released. Many hours were dedicated to Elder Scrolls IV:Oblivion and I’m looking forward to gallivanting in that world once again.
But first, next week brings us to the final System Overload column. It’s all about me and the Wii and it’s a doozy. See you there!
– The Jolly Gamesman
