Talking Point: What Are Your Earliest Xbox Memories?

Playing State of Emergency and NHL 2K3 with my friend on his original Xbox when we were 9 years old.

Was there on day one. Before then, even. I had the EGM with the announcement rolled up in my back pack, often pulled out to evangelize to classmates why this big black box was going to be the next big thing.

I was working at Toys “R” Us during the launch — worked my shift, came home, and stayed up all night playing Halo, Cel Damage, Amped, and more.

The original Xbox stands alongside the Dreamcast as my favorite console launch.

There was a special punk-rock attitude behind Team Green back then; seeing it was something really special.

Halo combat evolved on the original box will always be a sweet gaming memory.
I remember many ages of machines from the very start of gaming with great fondness, but few have left such pleasent memories as that game, for me it was THE reason to have an xbox 😊
Happy days...

I met a group of people playing Final Fantasy 11 on the PS2...once we tired of the MMO grind we all collectively decided on the 360 as our next landing spot. We were swept up in the Gears hype. They we moved on to Call of Duty 4 - that 360 era marked the last golden age of gaming in my opinion. Which ended around 2012 when Valve + Bethesda tried to start selling other people's work. [good Bethesda feelings now discount just how big of scumbags they have been in the past]

Gaming has been on a steep decline since 2012 until the Switch. The Switch has pulled this industry back away from the muck and mire. I don't care if you hate the Switch - it's responsible for this industry not becoming a complete quagmire.

22th? 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣

In any event, playing Halo Combat Evolved was my first memory. However, I hated the Duke controller and only fell in love with my OG Xbox when the S controller came out. That's when I moved over to Xbox as my primary system.

I got the original Xbox out of spite to Sony and Nintendo because I love, and I mean Loved my Dreamcast, the last thing I did on Dreamcast was beat shenmue and first thing on Xbox was beat shenmue 2. Hated the duke.

I bought the Original Xbox around 2003 I think. What I remember is it dropping off my Son's pram seconds after leaving Game. It made an almighty bang as it hit the ground in the shopping centre, and I thought I'd knackered it before I'd got it home.
Was all good though, and my Son is now a bigger xbox fan than me (He bought the One and One X while I jumped ship for PS4/Pro - both have Series Xs now).

...Still have no clue why I thought it was a good Idea to balance the OG Box above my baby Son though - Dad of the year right there.😂

Playing Halo: CE when it first came out.

@Cashews

Which ended around 2012 when Valve + Bethesda tried to start selling other people's work.

What do you mean by that?

Trying to wrap my hands around "The Duke" and play games at the same time.

Started with the 360 in 2008. Bought it to play Lost Odyssey and haven't looked back since.

Playing Halo on an American Xbox in the UK before the official UK release.

I was just about to quit gaming at the end of high school (2007) i had a wii pretty close to its launch but i didnt really like it. I never played my retro consoles anymore ps1/ps2, n64/snes/nes. I didn't bring any videogames with me to college.

My roommates in college all had 360s and I took a couple turns playing call of duty IV and I went out and bought one immediately. I'm not really into COD or multiplayer in general anymore but gaming is a major hobby for me now. I probably wouldn't be gaming at all if not for the 360.

Already had a Dreamcast and best mates had a PS2, so I picked up the Xbox bundle that included 6 games; Metropolis Street Racer, Dead or Alive and can't remember the others... Also bought Halo that same week and couldn't stop playing it. Cracking machine.

Not quite my earliest but my best early memory. Halo specifically Silent Cartographer level. Having warthog races with my mate in co op around the island.

Or in single player morbidly watching marines man the warthog with me not realising I was going to drive it off one of the cliffs jump out, tag with a plasma grenade and watch it fly.

@Cherip-the-Ripper Circa 2012 Bethesda and Valve hatched a scheme to start charging for Skyrim mods - mods made by talented do-gooders who made the game endlessly better than the vanilla console version. I believe the split was 70-30. 70 going to Bethesda/Valve but of course.

People rebelled mightily and it died. I still think if Bethesda weren't bought out they'd give it another go. Heck, they might.

@Cashews ohhh right, never heard of that. Sounds very much like Bethesda however.
Thanks for the explanation fam

Got my first xbox last month (Series S) Always wanted to play Gears of War and currently on the 2nd one and having good fun on it. My memories are still fresh

I remember seeing Halo and Xbox on demo in a store pre-launch and from that point on, I had to get an Xbox and owned every Xbox since...

I remember going around a friends house and seeing Halo 1 playing on the telly. A scorpion tank going through some environment. It was just amazing, like nothing I'd seen on Nintendo consoles before it. Playing Beaver Creek too.

I wouldn't own an Xbox myself for a while after but I remember Halo 2 over LAN and Xbox Live.

Last November I picked up a Series X because I saw all the positive coverage for MW2 (2).

Booting that game up having not played a Call of Duty title since Black Ops 2 was jaw dropping. I also had an absolutely great time playing Citizen Sleeper as my first GamePass download on it.

I got the OG to play Silent Hill 2 after reading it was better looking on Xbox and had extra playable levels and another character you could play. I picked Halo up when I made my purchase. I was 38 and had just gotten out of the hospital, I had a heart attack and was told I would need complete bedrest for a few months. Halo really helped kill the boredom and Silent Hill 2 looked amazing. Everyone else I knew had Playstation 2 and after seeing Silent Hill 2 on it I knew I made the right decision. My kids became diehard Xbox fans after playing Halo MP together.

First memory of Xbox was playing Halo 2 multiplayer at a friends house back in 2005. Used the OG Duke, which felt too weird for my liking.

Did get a 360 myself in 2006 alongside WWE Smackdown Vs RAW, PGR3 and Kameo. Have much of my Xbox memories through the 360, which included hundreds of hours of Gears MP across the trilogy.

@BleedingDreamer glad you are still with us BD.

I bought an xbox once I heard it didn't use memory cards and had internal storage. One of the best things to happen in gaming after two of my memory cards became corrupted on the gamecube. My first game was a pack in of Jet Set Radio future and Sega GT. Perfect!

The first time I played Xbox we bought the original console, Halo, and Star Wars Obi Wan for my buddy as a wedding gift. I remember playing Halo split screen with him the night before his wedding. Got my own Xbox some months later, with my favorite game being NFL 2K. Really wish EA hadn't been "granted" NFL exclusive license.

My brother had an original xbox at that time i was more interested in my playstation

But a few years later I got a xbox 360

So xbox 360 was my first xbox console and my first game was batman arkham asylum

It’s really interesting reading people’s stories. Thanks for sharing everyone.

My entry was the original Xbox.

I’ve been very fortunate to own every console from each of the big four (Sega/Nintendo/Sony/Microsoft) but I didn’t have my eye on the Xbox until a friend bought it and showed me Splinter Cell and Halo: Combat Evolved.

Once I bought mine, two more friends had also got Xboxes and we had LAN parties of Halo. We would borrow controllers from distant friends and rope in sisters and their friends to play 16 player Halo across four TVs and four consoles. Usually it would dwindle down to 8 players or some such, but we would play into the early hours and it was honestly some of the best gaming fun we had.

We even created our own alcoholic concoction called “Chemical X” which we would drink to accompany our gaming sessions which would make it even more interesting.

That era of gaming, the Dreamcast, GameCube, PS2 and Xbox is probably my most memorable time gaming. Although each generation has been special to me. Good memories.

I bought an original Xbox right around release just because I wanted KotoR, the system didn’t disappoint.

I had grown up with SEGA consoles (Genesis 2, GameGear, Nomad, DC) and was very disappointed when the Dreamcast went under. I never owned the NES or SNES, but had the N64, but my favorite games there were the Rareware ones: Banjo-Kazooie, Diddy Kong Racing, Jet Force Gemini, and GoldenEye.

Jet Set Radio Future was the console-seller for me and when the acquisition of Rare was announced in 2002, I was thrilled and still am to this day, despite the droves of players out there who wish Rare was still closely tied to Nintendo and think MS irreparably damaged them.

Xbox has always felt like a natural fit for the types of games I want to play and it's been fun to see my 5-year old son fall into it in a different way than I did. We own a Switch as well, and while he occasionally wants to see or play Luigi's Mansion or Mario Party, 9 out of 10 times he picks something on Xbox. Sea of Thieves, Minecraft, Minecraft Dungeons, Grounded, Flight Simulator (he can do take off by himself!), Forza Horizon 4 & 5, Viva Pinata, Banjo Nuts & Bolts, or watching me play Ori and Hi-Fi Rush. Bit of a tangent, but it's fun seeing and making his first Xbox memories with him.

From the beginning. When Xbox live launched not knowing I had to press the white button to talk. Island thunder for the win

OG for me. Still have it. Still play it.

Reading in a British Newspaper about how Microsofts Direct-X-box tech specs totally smoked the
Dreamcast / PlayStation 2 / GameCube by miles and miles and also came will a broadband connection a hard drive and a headset as standard
😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱
Edit did the headset come as standard or was it a year later?
I'm old and the memories are fading
😂😂😂

I remember my mum got the 360 as a free gift with her phone contract. I don't remember much of it other than the red ring of death.

Storming that beach in The Silent Cartographer level of Halo.

Splinter Cell.

Rallisport Challenge and its sequel (wish they were backwards compatible or remastered).

Xbox 360, it's the second console I ever owned, and now it's broken💔
It gave me a lot of good memories, though I never played any halo, fable, gears or Forza on it😅(I actually bought a Forza horizon and halo 4, but Forza didn't work for some reason, halo campaign multiplayer also didn't work so I dropped it after the first mission, I wonder why I didn't play it solo, it wasn't broken in solo mode, I think😂)

I have to say I never played an Xbox, 360 or One! My journey with Xbox started with the series X in 2021. I kind of moved away from consoles during the 64 era and only the Switch brought me back in force.

My first XBox memories is when my brother got his Original XBox a few months after launch. I saw a and played some of the first games and was pretty impressed. Dead or Alive 3 and Halo Combat Evolved were games, we played all over.
But at that time, I wasn't convinced to get one myself. But later on, I got one myself.
But my personal passion with XBox really began on XBox 360.

original halo with my cousin back when that came out.

the duke left lasting impressions on all of us. mostly that we couldn't hold the darn thing lol

Not realising how heavy the 1st one was when it was handed to me at Game.

I remember my friend having the translucent green model and thinking Halo was the business. I then looked into getting one myself but quickly realised it was just a PS2 minus the interesting Japanese titles and a controller that made games like SSX Tricky twice as hard because it only had 2 shoulder buttons.

I did later buy a 360 and it remains my favourite console of all time.

The first xbox I had was the 360 arcade version. The basic one. Added the expandable hard drive to it. The reason I bought was to play Saints Row. I was a huge fan of SR2, and wanted to play the original, but it never had a PlayStation version. I have had every xbox since. Now I have a Series X, and a PS5 - because there are great games available for both consoles. The first time I played Mass Effect was on the 360, as well. And the Mass Effect trilogy are my favourite games ever.

Original Xbox Christmas 2002 came bundled with the Jet Set Radio Future and Sega GT disc some good times, still have the disk but not the console but luckily it works on the xbox 360 👍

My first and last Xbox Console was Xbox 360 E. I never wanted to have a One or series S/X. But maybe I'll get Xbox Original someday for few games that I can't play on Xbox 360.

@S-Bacc Splinter Cell was amazing. Revolutionised the stealth genre.

Coming back from the game store picking up the HD cables and getting in a car accident destroying my car

My Xbox 360 is my first Xbox console, which I purchased in January 2012. I still use it.

May 2022. Purchased Series S. Had been Nintendo since NES. Tired of waiting for PS5 availability. Sorry X-box for lifers. Absolutely loving Game Pass and the whole modern gaming system thing.

Got an original Xbox close to launch with the DVD remotes, some DVDs and Oddworld Munchs Odyssey.

Xbox 360 Elite. Bought as a bundle with PGR4, Halo 3 and a game I'd never heard of - Assassins Creed. The latter went on to be one of my favourite franchises

Got an Xbox on launch day at Sears with Halo. I also had to get a bunch of games I didnt really want, they made you buy a bundle. I'm pretty sure I got Nascar and Mad Dash Racing.

For all you other Xbox OGs out there, I just saw they remastered Enclave and released it like a week ago, now that is a serious blast from the past.

Rumours of Microsoft making a console that I read in the pages of Edge magazine decades ago, does that count?

Playing kotor 1 on the og xbox back in 2003 , awesome game was that ..

Original Xbox, no less. It was my first ever home console. I got it for Christmas around 2004 or 2005 I think, so I would’ve been either 12 or 13. Though being a poor boy from a poor family, I got mine second hand from CEX - and all the games I got were also second hand too.

@EvenStephen7, YEA...I remember that magazine; I had that, XBN, and a whole slew of other magazines announcing it. Being as I was a native New Yorker, and with everything going on at the time, I remember being nervously excited going down to Times Square for that first giving of the Xbox at Toys R Us and Gamestop. You probably heard all about it if you weren't there, but if you were....MAN, what a night!! I remember picking up the Xbox, Halo, Munch's Oddysee, and Max Payne; BEST NIGHT EVER!!!

360 (bought it for VF5 Online) was my first and started a stream of sunken cost replacements that numbed a lot of my interest in the console. If I didn’t love the controller I likely would have walked away with the 360. I do think after the disc drive died in my xbone that series x is my final xbox though. I’m just not getting good returns. Aside from RgG being multi platform. Will likely go full PC as my Microsoft console next gen.

It seemed like barely anyone I knew had an Xbox back in the day... I was very late to the party, but I have to say the OG Xbox is a very cool system!

I got a couple of dying Xboxes for free, and tried to fix them, but had no luck... I guess they technically count as my first Xbox console, though. First one I bought new was Xbox One S, however.

First Xbox memory is of some of my fellow teens at the time, arguing whether Halo is the most enjoyable activity in existence or not... let's just leave it at that.

I remember being treated to an original Xbox console bundle at the start of summer break in 2003 I think, with Halo and Munch's Oddysee.

Before that, I'd been watching "Wreckless" gameplay on a gaming TV channel during the day.

I was amazed at the graphics and the HDD with its ability to play custom soundtracks!

I was working at Best Buy at the time the OG Xbox launched and there were fellow co workers who thought the Xbox would dethrone the Playstation 2, and myself included. That never happened and the Playstation 2 became the best selling console of all time. But I can never forget firing it up with Halo, the sound and the startup music still gives me chills even unto today. My favorite console of all time though is the Xbox 360, it was the console that I would start up and didn't have a particular game in mind tp play. Microsoft learned from their mistakes with the first Xbox and truly made the 360 in my view, the greatest console of all time.