
This year marks the 21st anniversary of Xbox as a brand, and over the past couple of decades, Microsoft has learned an awful lot about how to develop new consoles, features and everything else in-between.
But as great as the Xbox experience might be in 2023, we're still left wishing a few classic features from the past could make their way into the modern era. For whatever reason, we've never seen a reboot of the classic Xbox 360 game, 1 Vs. 100. Some fans are still calling for the likes of Snap Mode and Netflix Parties to return as well, and you can barely go a few months without someone bringing up the beloved "Blades" dashboard.
There's a lot more where those came from as well. Personally, the feature I'd most like to see return is custom music, as the likes of the NHL games really benefited from the ability to integrate music directly from your hard drive. Spotify is an OK alternative, but it really doesn't give you the same immersion as a dedicated custom music feature.
So, what would you pick if you could bring back any old Xbox feature from the past? Would it be something we've listed up above, or a different option entirely? We're keen to hear your thoughts in the comments below.
If you could bring back any old Xbox feature, what would it be? Tell us!
Comments 43
Not having the terrible ad filled home screen on the xbox series
@boatie Agree. The days of pertinent ads that were less invasive were better days for the UI.
1 Vs 100 so many rumours over the years it's coming back and yet still nothing ,every showcase they do I keep my fingers crossed for that announcement
Blades or Custom Soundtracks - I loved the fact I could make my own Playlists from my CD collection and use those ass the Soundtrack in my game. Driving around with my Music blaring out the Car Stereo was so much better than having the 'in-game' Radio station with the same few tracks on a loop.
I also preferred the Blades to the tiles...
Xbox indies with online multiplayer and avatars. Miss games like avatar miner paintball, Castleminer Warfare, and a game called Avatar Dairansen which was like Dragonball Z with destructable player made stages.
Having a proper offline mode and the entire game on the disc like most playstation 5 games.
Being able to play EVERY Xbox game, would be good
Summer of Arcade
The snap feature.
Removed - trolling/baiting; user is banned
I really enjoyed the Kinect. There were a lot of cool things to do with it that weren't necessarily game related. Voice controls worked really well for watching movies and such, powering on the system when you don't need a controller.
I'd absolutely LOVE to see return of 1 vs 100.
Also really miss the Microsoft Sports series on Xbox (XSN Sports). Really enjoyed every one they put out. Great alternative to EA Sports, etc.
@iplaygamesnstuff Funny you mentioned this. I was thinking just the other day, if Kinect came out in 2019, it would been incredible success. If think back how such a huge thing was to be able for people and family to video call each other during the scamdemic was. That alone willing to bet would had the Kinect alive and well today.
A lot of Microsoft hardware and ideas are all far too often ahead for their time. Zune, Windows Phone. Those off top my head were amazing and sooooooo very underappreciated.
@GuyinPA75 I think for the most part the fact that you couldn't get an Xbox One when it launched without the Kinect hurt them more than the lack of game support. I enjoyed it right out the box. It was great for Skype at the time through the console and other features like I said weren't necessarily game related. It was very impressive technology at the time.
Bring back LAN multiplayer like on original Xbox. Yes today we have only multiplayer but having an entire group of friends all sharing the same network all in the same room was Magical that's sadly a missing piece today.
It's all money today.
Every single player not only needs a Xbox, same game installed but also Xbox Live Gold Multiplayer Monthly Subscription is ridiculous.
Yes, that is nice but boy do we miss the days of not needing subscription live for every game wanna play in your home with friends.
I’d love to see them bring back Xbox Live Arcade as there was always some cool and cheap mini games on there.
1 vs 100 was a game not a feature, but I want it back.
I used to use snap quite a lot but I prefer just using a tablet or phone nowadays, it’s more versatile. That said I loved Smart Glass where a phone or tablet could be used to extend the game e.g. a larger minimap, but it was underused, that’s what I was going to vote for but…
@boatie is right, a customisable dashboard not filled with ads!
Please bring back 1 vs 100! I had so much fun with that!
Custom soundtracks all the way. I loved adding my tunes on OG Xbox for sports, racing and of course Tony Hawk.
I want a game to use a clan/lobby system like Chromehounds absolutely nailed. Back at 360 release, never to be bettered or even close to repeated AFAIK.
1vs100 that was so freaking fun.
1 euro trial for gamepass ultimate for 1 month for new profiles for totally legit purposes of course 🥺🤑
Does new backwards compatibility count as an old feature yet, it's been gone less than a year and I already miss the idea of new games being added terribly. :'(
Go back one dashboard. It was just about perfect.
Hands DOWN by far, SNAP mode. I miss playing video games and watch tv.
The sliding UI on the 360. It was the best.
Snap mode. Or the Picture-In-Picture replacement we were promised. Nothing was more chill than wasting an afternoon in Forza while kinda watching the game.
The ability to pin more than 2 game groups to home... crazy to think as recently as one year ago we could pin about a dozen game groups to home, keeping everything organized and on home by genre, but midway through 2023 Xbox decided to arbitrarily mostly kill this feature, dropping the max groups pinned to home to a measly TWO! Seriously that's like nothing! They must think every Xbox gamer only owns like 10 games or something
Reward points. 😏
That splitscreen they keep promising us.
Local co op games, fun games with a level editor.
No point wishing they can't deliver any of this they are inept.
Custom soundtracks for Forza Horizon since they removed custom soundtracks I hardly ever play it. I miss listening to BTO while cruising the countryside.
Advent Rising. Try again and this time don't ship it broken.
A good remote control like previous consoles. The IR sensor on the Series X is woeful.
Gta custom music was good and continuing the bc program, dbz budokai collection would have been nice.
Also, retail mode emulators were awesome and the rewards program before it got watered down.
It's been 7 years since Microsoft discontinued the Kinect, and months since I updated my Xbox 360 preventing it from playing any game apart from Kinect Adventures!. I wish THE SENSOR IS SUPPORTED AGAIN ONCE AND FOREVER!!!!!😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
@CaptainCluck Yup, and even better when in the 2030s Nintendo's new Smash title utilizes the resurrected successor to the Kinect (I dub it Kinect v3.0) and adds characters from Xbox and PlayStation universes - who knows what would happen when either Master Chief or Kratos uses their brand-new Final Smash? 😎
IR blaster. I used to be able to control all of my AV equipment with it.
I would honestly love to see the Blades come back, such a sleek and easy to navigate Ui and it looked really cool too.
@Kaloudz Would be great to see a return , like you say , even if just for events. I won a copy of Undertow, which Microsoft never gave me lol.
But would be cool to see it rolled out again.
Worth while exclusives.
Snap and an ad free dashboard for me.
Kinect was cool and I got a lot of use out of it, just none of it was gaming related. But I don't miss it so much as other features.
Games being announced and then coming out within 3 years.
@Kaloudz There would nearly always be 8 of us in a party on a Friday night to play it. I came 3rd in the Mob in a Marvel/DC themed quiz. I remember the speed of your answer was as important as getting them right.
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