[Console] Was XBox really a failure?

[Chibibar]

http://www.gamepro.com/article/features/225031/was-the-xbox-a-failure/

It is a really long read (4 pages) 4 Billion lost (avg 1 billion a year) and "clunky" hardware. Even the creator thinks it was a failure (prior to 360)

Do you think XBox as a whole was a failure?

I think it may fail in Japan (rival with Sony) but in the U.S. it did pretty well with Live and their gaming line up.

360 was a minor failure in terms of hardware issue (RRoD)

 

[Zappit]

The 360 failed in Japan. Hard. But the rest of the world likes it. I don't see how you can call it a failure. Ugly? Yes. Unreliable? Yes. Training ground for idiot bigot 12-year olds? Yes. But not a failure.

 

[strawman]

The xbox360 was not. The original xbox, by some measures, was.

Microsoft's first release of anything is terrible. Story at 11.

 

[Adam]

Looking at the number of small market games now available on Xbox Live and PSN, I have to disagree with his conclusion that his dreams didn't happen:

"Blackley reflected on his hopes and dreams that the Xbox would revolutionize the gaming industry by ushering in a new era of developer-focused technology that would allow game designers to create the games of their dreams."

His disdain of licensed games illustrate a real lack of understanding on how they allowed for his vision. You have to create a market for people to come to. Those AAA titles created the environment for the small games to succeed by creating a demand for a centralized infrastucture. Would Penny Arcade have their own game if it wasn't for Xbox Live? Probably not.

 

[Chibibar]

I think the original system "may" have been a failure, but the technology spawn from it was a success. Xbox live has grown HUGE after-awhile and it is a subscription base. PSN and Nintendo network spawn from that as competition. I love the Nintendo online for the Wii with all the retro games I use to love (and sold ) that I can redownload and play them again. Same for PSN (granted I was upset I didn't have the version of PS3 that can play PS2 games)

 

[Null]

Not to mention there were some truly excellent games for the Xbox, and franchises launched to the Xbox360. Perhaps it was a minor failure, but I think it's more of a slow start. Xbox Live is a rousing success, after all.

 

[Encifer]

Yeah, if nothing else, the Xbox succeeded at being the proponent of Xbox Live.

 

[SpecialKO]

You could say that the original was a failure in a monetary sense, but the groundwork it laid and the expectations it set led to the 360, which is not even close to being a failure, either in hardware, games, or the gamer community it created.

The articles (both the GamePro and VB ones) are quite correct though; only Microsoft and the handle of companies like them could have gambled that much cash for something that didn't really pay off for 5 years.

 

[Necronic]

On it's own, the original xbox was a failure. But the first XBOX can't be viewed as an isolated piece of equipment, it has to be understood as the precursor for the 360. Now, as for the 360 I can't speak to the financial side of things, but in terms of the history of gaming the 360 will go down as one of the real key turning points of consoles, and here's why:

-First serious online gaming console. Integrated voice, downloadable patches, integrated game finders. This is stuff that existed (in a weaker version) in the xbox, but the 360 perfected.

-First serious online console. The bells and whistles now attached to the XBL (netflix, zune, ESPN, etc) are things that people only dreamed about back when they first thought about the possibilities of the Dreamcast. It does what the dreamcast wanted to do, and everyone hoped it would.

-First serious network home media center. 360s are not just a gaming console, they are not just an easy way to bring your TV online, they are also an easy way to connect your TV to all of your other digital media. Granted this is still not where it should be, what with the need to use TVersity or Windows media center/etc.

-Creation of the XNA framework and opening console development to the "little guy". This is may be one of the single most profound changes in gaming history that the 360 heralded.

-One of the (if not the) longest lasting console in history. Current statements put it at sticking around for at least 2 more years, if not as long as 4. The fact that you can still have new games run on hardware this old somewhat changes the long-standing hardware paradigm of "newer is always better". This is a huge boon to the console gamers (although it kind of sucks for PC gamers as we still subscribe to the previous paradigm and the XBOX is holding back some development.)

Anyways, the XBOX series may have been a financial failure, I honestly don't know, but in terms of the history of consoles it is probably one of the most important consoles of all time.