Topic: How'd you get into Xbox?

If you have been gaming for a long time there is no doubt you were once a fan of Nintendo, Sega, and/or Sony consoles. So what made you start playing with Microsoft and the Xbox Brand?

Up until the Xbox I was a Nintendo guy. Not a fanboy at all — I'm not loyal to any company — Nintendo just had amazing consoles and I enjoyed their games. My older brother was given a Xbox by my grandparents. We started to get into Halo and Forza and such. I really enjoyed it. Then when Halo 2 was released, I found myself playing Xbox 90% and Gamecube 10%.

I also owned a PS1 which I played a little. I never bought a PS2 despite all the great games it had. I was satisfied with the Gamecube's library and it kept me busy.

When the 360 and Wii were being released, the choice was quite clear. I bought the 360 after breaking up with an old girlfriend and played a ton of Halo 3 and GTA IV. It was fantastic.

I bought a Wii a couple years later, regretted it after a month, and sold it.

Then this generation I bought a Wii U. Much better than the Wii. The U is a great system. But ultimately, again, I just ran out of games I wanted to play on the thing. I sold it to a good friend and picked up the Xbox One, which I am definitely happier with.

I almost made the switch to PS4 this generation. Halo is what kept me on the Xbox. But oddly enough, I don't really like Halo much anymore. That was a surprise I didn't realize until I played Halo MCC for a while. Still, I'm happy with my choice, since more of my friends and family have the Xbox too. I'd be the only one with a PS4.

I have been gaming for more years than I would like to admit to. I started gaming with a 'Pong' console back in the 70's and also had an Atari too. My father had a BBC model B computer and I also gamed on that - it was also my first experience of the 'internet' although it was more like ceefax. My first computer was a Commodore Vic20. It was the perceived versatility of computers that stopped me gaming on consoles for many years. Although I had gamed on megadrives and nes/snes systems with the children, my main gaming system was a PC . It wasn't until the N64 came out that I went back to console gaming. It was games like SM64, ISS64, Turok, Blast Corps Goldeneye that seemed so fresh and above what was happening on PC's at the time.
I moved from my N64 to the original Xbox mainly on the strength of seeing and reading about Halo before it launched. My son had a PS1 but I could never get on with the controller and didn't like the majority of games either so the Xbox offered a great alternative. I didn't think much to the gamecube and dreamcast either by comparison. It was the 360 though that convinced me to try online gaming and invest in a XBL gold. I also bought a PS3 mainly for games like Uncharted, Resistance, Killzone and to take advantage of 3rd Party Exclusives.
I must admit there was some deliberation over upgrading to the XB1 with all the negativity but it made more financial sense to upgrade my xbox first as I had nearly 12months of gold left, season passes that would transfer up etc so it actually worked out cheaper than upgrading my PS3 would have been. It also had more Exclusives available and Titanfall was due out soon too. Thousands of hours later, I can honestly say I am not disappointed with the console, games etc.

I got into Xbox with the help of my youngest brother. I've been gaming since about '79 when my dad had a bat and ball type console, the moved on to Spectrum 128 plus in '85. After that I got a Commodore Amiga 500. My brother kept up to date with consoles mainly having Nintendo with the Sega handheld getting some time. He then got an original Xbox and I tried Halo and that was it, I was hooked. Got the white 360 then the Elite and then the slim one and then a day one One which is getting about 90% of my gaming time over my 360.

I too started with a "Grandstand" plug in to the telly type console, where you could choose all these different games that coincidentally all involved hitting a square block with a rectangular one! Moved on to an Atari 2600, then a Spectrum 48k , an Atari 600Xl (with optional 16k memory pack that was the size of a paperback book!). We skipped the NES/Master System era completely, for some reason......Then my Grandad bought a Megadrive to play Arnold Palmers Golf. Then we got one in our house, then I got a SNES and an original Gameboy. Not forgetting the Atari Lynx, of course........ After that it was Playstation, after playing Biohazard at a mates house in Japanese I couldn't buy anything else! I loved Gran Turismo, so stuck with Sony and their PS2, and also had a Gameboy Advance around this time. I bought a Dreamcast at a car boot sale for around £10 and played that for a while. We also had a N64 with Goldeneye, but I found the controller really annoying. My wife bought a Gamecube to play some Japanese turn based game about people turning into dragons that I can't remember the name of! For the choice between PS3/360, it came down to cost.....I got the 360, and after 4 months swearing at the controller I now can't go back. I also had an original Ds around this point...The wife then bought an original Wii to continue playing this game that I can't remember, but I never got on with it. I did buy a PS3 for GT5 and Last of US, but found them both really underwhelming and sold them and the console after about 3 months. Choice of current gen console was easy.......Most of my friends list stayed with the One, and the few that went PS4 I didn't really like anyway! Win win!

A brief history of (videogame) Time by me!

Started gaming on NES and kept up with every generation of consoles after that. No brand loyalty from me either, I go with whichever consoles I think will provide me the best experiences at the time (I always try to own multiple current-gen machines) but it took me a while to warm up to the Xbox. In mid-2004 I thought the original Xbox had finally built up enough of a library beyond Halo that I wanted to get one. Halo was the game that made me aware of the brand but Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay was probably my most-played original Xbox game, so I give those two games credit for getting me into Xbox gaming and overtime Halo evolved into my favorite entertainment franchise. I love the games, the music from the series and the books. I also had to let go of a little bit of my dislike MS, I felt the company was there for no other reason than just try and take over another market and bury it but I actually like a lot of what it ended up bringing to gaming and the 360 will probably go down as the 2nd best gaming console I purchased with my own money just after the PS2. The 360 was awesome. I had bought a Wii U earlier this year myself and I was enjoying it a lot for the first couple months while I worked through Super Mario 3D World but then I got Mario Kart 8, didn't get into it as much as I wanted to (disappointing because I used to love that series) and really wasn't finding anything that interested me at all aside from Bayonetta 2. Traded the Wii U, got an X1 to sit next to my PS4 and it has turned into my most-played console, just like the 360 was prior and I'm not sure I see that changing much next year. Uncharted 4 is my most-anticipated game of 2015 but after that it's all X1 exclusives I'm looking forward to, Quantum Break, Halo 5 and Rise of the Tomb Raider right at the top.

You know, I genuinely cannot remember.

I remember getting a PlayStation 2 and the circumstances around it, but I can't recall how or why I picked up an Xbox, or how much it cost or anything like that. I think it was probably that I caved and got it so that I could review for more platforms, more than anything. I do remember that I picked it up with Rallisport Challenge, Links 2004, Amped 2, and Top Spin though, and that I used to play Links against a really good player from Texas quite a bit, online.

And I do know that my original Xbox is sat under my TV and still works flawlessly.

The original Top Spin is one of the best tennis games, ever.

Up until about 18 months ago, I still had the majority of my gaming history inc a Vic 20, Amstrad CPC 464 and boxes of games. Due to moving though, most of this got scrapped My son has my N64 and all my games for this. I have also kept my original crystal xbox (traded in my black brick for a Crystal brick) as well as all my games for this. I have my 3rd Xbox 360 (traded my white original after buying a black elite, traded the Elite after buying a Slim with Kinect) and also still have my PS3 Slim (2nd after my original had YLOD - still have that one though)

I had to have every console that was released save for the neo geo because of its ridiculous price so I bought the xbox and every console since the nes.

Aside from the Atari 2600, the Amstrad CPC 464 is where I started out, with that horrendous green-screen monitor. So much time spent typing in "listings" from magazines that ended up either being broken or doing absolutely nothing. I still say that Match Day II is in my top ten games of all time.

Like many others here it seems, I've been gaming since the 70's, starting out with a "Radofin" (re-branded Prinztronic system) that was just little square blocks but it was enough to capture my imagination back then. Had a succession of pretty much every Commodore product starting with the Vic 20 and ending with the Amiga 4000. Coded some games and other programs but gradually drifted more into playing games on them rather than writing them. Got into console gaming fairly late as a result - started out with a PS1 that I saw in a branch of HMV running a demo of Ridge Racer. The graphics just blew me away and I bought one on the spot. Got a PS2 at launch but never fell in love with it like I did the PS1. My first experience of the Xbox was seeing Halo and it just blew me away all over again and I had to have one. Once I got that bad boy home the PS2 was quickly sidelined - the built-in hard drive, CD ripping, better graphics and later on, Xbox Live, were a complete revelation. I couldn't get hold of a 360 fast enough once it was announced and proudly picked mine up on launch day. It's fair to say the launch games were crap but the good stuff soon came and despite having 3 fail with the RROD it still became my main console 99% of the time. I queued at midnight to pickup my Xbox One and it hasn't disappointed (although lack impressive Kinect stuff has).

I have a PS4 and WiiU for any exclusives but outside of those they are at the bottom of the pecking order beneath the One and 360 for me. Did have a Vita but flogged it before xmas as that was a huge disappointment for me personally. 3DS may go the same way soon...

I picked up a 360 after the Elite came out. Never touched the original Xbox aside from some Halo LAN parties at my friend's house.

Never been loyal to any particular brand, and I'm not now either.

Started in the early 90s with a Master System II, over the years had a range of consoles - NES, Sega Saturn, Dreamcast, PSone, PS2, and then I first started playing the 360 when I moved in with my now ex. When he bogged off I bought my own 360 and I've always loved it. Also have a PS3 and a couple of Ninty handhelds. Obviously also have two One consoles now (saves fights over who's playing it, and that's just me and my partner, not the kids...) and will invest in a PS4 later this year for the purposes of reviewing exclusives.`

I've been a computer gamer for as long as there have been computer games. Coming from the industry I've always had easy access to cheap (and occasionally free) pc's but also played on consoles/game systems. My first xbox was a few years back when I got ill and spent a long time in bed so got an xbox for the bedroom. Never looked back.

Honestly my main choice of system has always been a Nintendo system since that is what I grew up on. During the 16 bit era I became a multisystem gamer by owning both a SNES and Genesis since then I have always been a multiconsole gamer even go as far and buying older consoles that I never owned (like a Dreamcast and an Xbox).

Plain and simple I am a gamer and I have really no loyalty to a system/company. I get the systems as long as there are games on it that I want to play. I always get a Nintendo system at launch due to games like The Mario series, Zelda series, Mario Kart etc. which I know will come out for the system sooner or later. My other system during that gen depends on a variety of factors

1. What third party games they have that wont come to a Nintendo system (GTA, Metal Gear for example)
2. Price
3. What exclusives they have.

The Xbox 360 was my first Xbox console for those reasons alone. I had a Wii but I wanted to play games like GTA IV, and a few others that I can't remember so I looked at the 360 and the PS3 and at that time the 360 won cause of the price. This gen though I went with the PS4 for that same reason.

I am sure that sooner or later I will get an Xbox One it's just right now there are no really exclusives that pique my interest like the PS4. Also the big factor for getting the PS4 was the price. If MS offered the kinect free Xbox One at launch then I may have went with the Xbox One but since I was paying $100 more for a piece of equipment I would never use well the choice was clear.

Growing up I had always been a multi-console owning both a Nintendo 64 and a PlayStation at the time. So once the new generation started I quickly got a gamecube being lured with the Spaceworld tech demo and Metroid prime. I played Halo 1 and Loved it on a friends Xbox and it blew me away. So shift to 2004 I remember watching G4 and they had a video preview of two games for the Xbox Fable and Halo 2. So that Christmas I got Halo I and II, Fable, and Blinx the Time Sweeper. As a whole I had always been a JRPG console and playing these bigger environments and semi open world WRPGS blew my world view away. It was KOTOR and Jade Empire that really changed how I viewed RPGS.

So when it came to get my next system for the sixth generation and it came down between the Wii and Xbox 360. In the end I chose the Xbox 360 due to the Halo Mistwalker RPGS, Fable, and Halo being on the system.

I remember getting a Halo 2 original Xbox from my older cousin and booting up Halo to see what the hype was all about. Pretty soon I was captivated and then an issue of Game Informer came out previewing Halo 4, and I was like: well, time to get an Xbox 360. Next thing I knew I bought Halo 3, played the crap out of that until the day Halo 4 came out, and got that launch day. Good times, even if the multiplayer in 4 was a bit of a letdown. I did like the sprint and the Mantis, the loadouts should've been used in just a few game modes and there should've never been ordinances. DLC also felt overdone, but in the end I still enjoyed it, just not as much as 3's. Campaign didn't let down, and while out of place, that Starfox throwback was invaluable.