This is the sixth post in a series called “Hungry Goriya Used Acquire” that serves to highlight the contents of a large game collection I procured from an old high school friend of mine, Joe. Read here for the backstory.
Ah yes, the original Xbox. It was part of a console generation that I missed in its entirety in my youth and am just now finding out more about. My boyfriend and I have recently stumbled upon a few cheap Xboxes out in the wild and have been trying our luck at modifying them into multi-console emulators with great success. These have made great gifts for a few friends of ours, but before acquiring Joe’s collection, we probably only had about 3 games for the system.
Way back at my blog’s first entry when we acquired the collection of A.S. long, long ago now, one of the things he withheld giving us was his crystal Xbox. He had gone on about how much he loved playing Jade Empire and couldn’t bear to part with the machine, and at that point I didn’t care one way or another. In the past year we’ve seen the consoles going up and up in price and though we’ve never actively sought one out, we’ve always said that if a good deal came along that we’d jump on it. Well, Joe’s collection delivered a chance to us, and conveniently the console came complete in box with a matching controller.
The console was in its original styrofoam packing and was still in a bag, so it’s entirely likely that the thing has never been turned on. We are debating what we’d like to do with it since it’d be nice to modify it, but there’s also some allure to keeping it in its native state.
Along with this beautiful console, we got a bunch of games as to be expected. The first bunch of games here are all various versions of Halo and Halo 2 with some extras. Though at first glance it might seem as if there’s two copies of Halo and the Halo 2 Collector’s Editions, but there’s a regular copy of both along with Not For Resale/Display Only copies. I’m not sure if there’s a difference in gauged worth for these different releases, but it’d be interesting to look into them to see what they’re all about.
The next set of games are both Doom 3, the regular and collector’s editions of the game. The collector’s edition comes in a steel case and is actually quite heavy, but both games are complete with their manuals and discs in immaculate condition.
There were lots of games that we got for the Xbox I personally have very little interest in playing, and many of the Tom Clancy games fall into that category. I have many epic RPG quests to embark on, so I’ll leave these to my better half who might enjoy them a little more.
Along with these came many more games, and some of these I’m a bit more familiar with and am interested in. I’ve heard really great things about Psychonauts, Beyond Good & Evil, as well as the Star Wars games. I’m still looking into a lot of the others here since this is a console I normally don’t collect for, but it’s looking to be quite a well-rounded bunch of games. Every single game here is complete with its manual and sometimes has its other inserts as well.
Every time I see Max Payne: The Fall of Max Payne, I keep thinking of the physical interpretation of someone falling and crack up.
Last but not least, there were a handful of RPG-esque games for the console in the bunch. I was hoping to run into both Panzer Dragoon Orta and Fable, but Otogi and Otogi 2 came as a total surprise to me. I hadn’t heard of the series before now, but it looks pretty cool! I’m definitely looking forward to some action RPG action!
And that about wraps up what we got for the Xbox from Joe’s collection. If I don’t sound super excited about this portion of the buy, I apologize. I have truly never spent much time looking into the Xbox or its games, so this is all really new to me. If anyone has insight into some of these games and can tell me of their goodness/badness, I’d definitely appreciate some information, as usual.
Thanks for reading!
-GG
These games remind me the beginnings of the 2000s. I remember all the hype for the release of Doom 3 because it looked like it could have been a revolution in the world of computer visuals…and still today I consider it a milestone in the history of PC graphics. It looks like Joe is a huige fan of FPSs and in this lot there are many titles I remember fondly even though I played them on PC, especially Max Payne of which I remember some moments that were pure horror (Maybe it was the first Max Payne…). I’d love to try Oddworld Munch’s Oddysee. I loved the first installment that for me is one of the best games ever released for the PS1, so I think even this one will be great! 🙂
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Max Payne: Falling Over And Having It Hurt A Lot.
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YES! I wish so much that I could draw. I would do that up in a heartbeat.
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I’m fairly new to the original Xbox meself, so not able to recommend too much at present… however, out of the games you’ve already got, Psychonauts is indeed excellent. I booted it up recently and the opening cutscene is just awesome. I also like, but don’t quite love Panzer Dragoon Orta. The controls take some getting used to and I wish it was an RPG like Panzer Dragoon Saga, but it’s still absolutely beautiful and well worth a play. Besides those two, I’ve only sunk much time into Jet Set Radio Future (very good) and Metal Slug 3 (great, but of course available on many other systems)!
Best thing about the original Xbox though? The S controller. I love it.
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I’m glad to know that I’m not the only person that is late to the Xbox party. I really should get around to playing Psychonauts first. That game has been on my radar for a long while now and it’s nice to finally own it!
We actually have Metal Slug 3 for Neo Geo MVS and pop that in for a good time once in a while. I like it!
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Ha ha, well there you go then, no need for an Xbox port 😛 I would love to own a Neo Geo system but with the cost and difficulty tracking down games, it’s a tough one to justify.
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I can understand. We “consolized” the MVS (arcade version) and have been buying up the significantly cheaper/larger Neo Geo MVS stuff. The AES home console version is waaaaay too expensive.
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The original Xbox had its pluses. Among them were the ability to have LAN play. The Xbox was born of a desire to bring PC quality gaming to the living room, while also trying to be a media center. Really every Xbox console has had a bit of that. With the system link cable, players could hook a few Xboxes together with some TV’s, and play multiplayer. Keep in mind this was at a time when the only place to do this sort of thing was on PC. Back in 2001 that meant organizing a day when all of your friends would bring their computer towers, monitors, keyboards, mice, and speakers to your house. Or you’d rent a hotel conference room. The LAN party was great fun. You could network your computers offline, and host a whole weekend of Quake III, Unreal Tournament, Warcraft, etc.. Everyone would have their own screen. No squinting at a corner of a TV, and hoping your friends weren’t going to cheat by looking at your corner.
With the Xbox, people could LAN party with a console. And people did with Halo, and Halo 2. For YEARS.
It also had more horsepower than the PS2, and it was just above what the GCN was doing in graphics. It had the upper hand with multiplatform games thanks to Xbox Live though you can’t really do internet multiplayer on it anymore without tunneling software since the servers aren’t up anymore. And it had a few nice exclusives beyond the typical Microsoft stuff. It really took a lot of the world by surprise. The PS2 still had the sales numbers, and a much larger library. The GCN had all of the Nintendo goodness, and a few great exclusives of its own. And they all crushed the Dreamcast despite how awesome, and ahead of its time it was. All four of them are nice machines to have in a collection really. But the original Xbox is pretty nice.
Now’s the time to scoop up games for that generation too, because people are so focused on the NES through the N64 right now. Dreamcast games are starting to spike, and the First-Party Gamecube games are climbing. But obscure GCN/PS2/XB stuff can be scooped up cheap. Just don’t get Drake of the 99 dragons. That’s almost as bad as Vampire Rain on the 360.
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I was never much of a PC gamer, though I did often hear about these LAN parties but had no idea what they were all about. I suppose the Xbox was pretty revolutionary considering what it achieved simply by existing!
I am definitely going to have to do some research on some good titles for the system. Hopefully I’ve already got a few!
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That crystal Xbox is truly beautiful! I don’t hate Microsoft’s consoles, but they are usually the last ones I get and tend to be neglected by me a lot. I guess I must have a slight preference for Nintendo and Sony things.
I loved Beyond Good and Evil. It’s such an overlooked game.
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I’ve never even seen a crystal XBox before, and it looks really cool! I really like Oddworld: Munch’s Oddysee. It’s a strange game with a strange sense of humor, but very enjoyable! 🙂
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Crystal Xboxes are beautiful for a reason I can’t quite put my finger on. I suppose it looks less “industrial”? So many gaming consoles are just boxes with flaps and lids. This one certainly has a bit of character!
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