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Episode 416: The Xbox Launch and Legacy (Patreon)

Published:
2021-11-08 14:00:01
Imported:
2026-06
Tags:

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Content

In one sense, this episode is the first of a two-parter—next week we'll be looking at Xbox's big debut killer app, Halo. In another sense, this is a standalone episode dedicated wholly to the larger Xbox universe. It's like Obi-Wan says... something something certain point of view.

Kat, Stuart, and Ray join me this week to help cope with the reality that Xbox is, indeed, 20 damn years old. Weird. We dig into the extensively documented backstory of the system, discuss its launch lineup, dwell on its legacy, and have a largely civil disagreement about the merits of its girthy controller. The usual, in other words.

Edits by Greg Leahy and art by Nick Wanserski. Music selections:

12:19 - Bubble Symphony (Taito Legends 2): Inside a Picture Book

18:37 - Space Manbow (MSX2): Battle Ship

27:52 - Halo 2: High Charity Suite

38:24 - Ninja Gaiden: An Easy Enemy

48:04 - Peter Gabriel's EVE (PC CD-ROM): Come Talk to Me

57:00 - WWE Raw: Match BGM 3 | Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic: Old Republic Theme

1:13:27 - Shin Megami Tensei NINE: Roppongi

1:24:13 - Conker Live & Reloaded: Conker the King

1:30:33 - Grabbed by the Ghoulies: Ballroom Disco

Closing - OutRun 2: LAST WAVE Euro Remix

Files

Comments

Michael Castleberry

I didn't get an original XBOX until after the 360 launched and just loaded up on super marked down games. Plowed through Fable, KotOR I & II and Jade Empire

Eric Plunk

I won a Xbox shortly after launch when 1 system was given away at every Taco Bell location. I had to redeem an online code that was on a paper certificate included with each meal. The Taco Bell employees made the mistake of leaving the pad of codes at the counter so I got a handful everytime I went. 😂

Adrian Freeman

I just got my very first XBOX anything this year and picked up the original console. I am with Kat, at the time the whole culture around XBOX was a total turnoff. That said, now I am having a great time. Component >VGA>480p on a PC CRT monitor, everything looks so good. If there is an XBOX version of anything, I prefer playing it there. Great episode!

Michael Castleberry

There also was DLC content for KoTOR. There was a little space station storyline that gave you two really good Saber crystals at the end of it

John Learned

I have an awesome (if somewhat nefarious) story about how my then-roommates and I acquired an XBOX, but this comment is an appreciation screed for Come Talk To Me, even if it's the incorrect version

SilverHairedMiddleAgedTuxedoMask

I always found it sus the official story that the "Duke" controller nickname was the controller designers nickname for his cousin, and not the more immediately obvious idea that it was named after John Wayne as an overt "Fuck You" to the rival Japanese Sony and Nintendo rivals.

Virtual Balboa

I've never bought the "XBox was too large for Japan" argument. The PS3 is 65 cubic inches larger than the original XBox with a slightly larger footprint, and it sold over 10 million units in Japan. The PS5 has a larger volume that the XBox or the PS3.

Clayton McEvoy

I got an Xbox towards the end of its life. I played the hell out of Kotor, Kotor II and Jade Empire. Lets not forget the exclusive- yet-terrible Star Wars Obi Wan, which I pined after for about 20 years. I finally bought an original Xbox and a copy of Star Wars Obi Wan this year, and let me tell you people, don't meet your heroes. I am now just going after launch titles. If anyone had a copy of Azurik they want to get rid of cheap, I'm looking.

B. Traven

Oh man, can't wait for the KOTOR ep

VanDiagram

I really appreciated this episode! The console ones are my favorite. I learn so much and it helps me see those years from a different perspective. Love that Kat was on, especially since I'm making my way thru the Console Quest episodes of her Axe of the Blood God podcast and just finished the Xbox one. You guys really deliver quality and I look forward to each episode!

Julian

I always thought that the name Xbox was a reference to the DirectX multimedia libraries that the Xbox OS shared with Windows, which was a basis of their PC portability. Also, as an aside, I was at a SIGGRAPH conference (maybe ‘99?) where they had that giant chrome prototype Xbox. You think the commercial product was big, you should’ve seen that Cadillac!

Zach Folken

I love the artwork for this episode!

PurpleComet

Can someone explain why the codename "Midway" was insensitive? I know who Midway is, but I'm not quite connecting the dots. The Xbox did indeed have DLC, I bought several song packs for DDR Ultramix 2 on it. I mostly bought the system to play Street Fighter online.