Xbox

The Xbox was Microsoft’s first real venture into console development. Microsoft had been involved in PC gaming for many years, but had never built a console before. The Xbox belonged to the sixth generation of consoles, competing with the Nintendo GameCube, the SEGA Dreamcast and the Sony PlayStation 2.

Unlike its rivals, which used highly customised hardware, the Xbox was built much like a PC, an architecture Microsoft knew well. It also included a built-in hard drive for saving games, removing the need to buy memory cards.

Xbox emulation was slow to progress. For years, emulators such as CXBX, DXBX and Xeon could only get a handful of games in-game, and performance was poor. Despite the console’s resemblance to a PC, its custom hardware and the lack of documentation made it hard to emulate. Today xemu, which grew out of the XQEMU project, is the leading Xbox emulator and can run a large part of the library.

The Xbox also had a built-in Ethernet port, and with Xbox Live it was the first console to build a proper online gaming community. As well as online play, Xbox Live offered a friends list and ways to interact with other players. Its reliable service, together with the online play of Halo 2, helped make it a success.

The Xbox did well for a first console. It finished a distant second to the PlayStation 2 with over 24 million units sold, ahead of Nintendo’s GameCube and well ahead of the SEGA Dreamcast.