I just bought an oXbox for the first time (sorta)

[ZRofel]

I might be a little bit addicted to buying Xbox games now I can't stop adding more to my collection now

I now have KOTOR 1 and 2, Project Gotham Racing 2, Midtown Madness 3 and The Chronicles of Riddick ordered and on their way.

Considering how few people seem to talk about the Original Xbox and how cheap a lot of the games are, there are a lot of unique and interesting exclusive gems. I wonder why more people don't seem to collect for it or talk about it much.

Yeah! A few years back I got into a real kick of scooping up original Xbox games I was interested in on the cheap. I had an Xbox and a fair amount of games when I was younger, but my collection probably doubled in size over the span of that year or two

I think there are a couple of reasons why it's a console neglected by collectors. The first is that I feel like there's a mistaken impression that all the Xbox systems, being Microsoft hardware, are just consolized PCs. And sure, a lot of original Xbox games were PC ports. But like you said, the Xbox does have a surprising number of exclusives too. It wasn't until the Xbox 360, and really until the following console generation, that pretty much everything became available on PCs too. So I think a lot of it is just people retroactively applying their feelings about newer Xboxes to the older hardware, not realizing that the original Xbox was really more a Dreamcast 2 than a proto-Xbox 360. I think this is one of the same reasons emulation of the original Xbox is still so poor compared to PS2 or Gamecube emulation. Everyone figures you can already play all those games on PC, so why bother?

The second reason I think is because the console was such a huge flop in Japan. As such, its library just doesn't have the breadth of a system which succeeded on both sides of the Pacific, like a PS2 or an NES. A lot of really hard-core collectors love digging into the import scene and ferreting out all kinds of hidden gems, which you can't really do with the original Xbox. Sure, there are a handful of Japanese exclusives, but what the U.S. and Europe got was the overwhelming majority of the library. I feel like the collector scene has always had a significant focus on Japanese-made games, and so a console without much of a Japanese presence may just be less attractive to them.

Anyway, those are just my thoughts on the issue.

[Reprise]

Some of my new games arrived. I always get nostalgic for the first KOTOR game. The first few hours of gameplay blew me away when it came out. The way you could approach so many of objectives in completely different ways just felt amazing. I recently started playing it on Switch and I think it still holds up, but it's nice to have the Xbox version again. It's not quite as pretty as the PC version (which I also have) or the recent re-release, but there's not that much in it.

I also ordered Outrun 2 and XIII. I already have XIII on Gamecube and PS2, but the Xbox version is 60fps and has an exclusive multiplayer mode, so seems like a worthy upgrade.

I have Outrun 2006 Coast to Coast on PS2 already and I know the Xbox version is marginally better, but I reckon probably not quite £85 better The PS2 version supports 480p, widescreen and plays really well imo.

I hear Outrun 2 is closer to the arcade original, is a bit harder, (they also reduced the penalty for crashing in 2006), has slightly better graphics, has a few unlockables 2006 didn't have and also has its own different mission mode, so it seems worth getting.

[SpaceBooger]

PXL_20240602_143042351~2 (1).jpg (333.26 KiB) Viewed 4866 times

Here is my oXBOX collection minus Halo 2, its in the case with Halo 1) and KOTOR which my friend is borrowing.
Also if anyone has WiFi and and not an easy way to connect the XBOX to a router, this WiFi extender is what I used and it's perfect... and it's only $15 right now.

[Reprise]

Nice titles, Spacebooger. I can see a few there I hope to pick up at some point. I was just reminiscing about Return to Castle Wolfenstein earlier this evening (I had great fun playing through that cooperatively with a friend back in the day) and watching a Youtube video about the console ports. I have the PS2 version, but want the Xbox one at some point. Gun Valkyrie is one I am also eager to pick up.

I now have Otogi 2, House of the Dead 3 and GTA 3 and Vice City on the way. I really wanted the first Otogi and I am sure I will get it at some point, but it seems like most people prefer the second game, so I went with that one.

What I keep forgetting is even if a multiplatform Xbox game is only marginally better than other versions, living in a PAL country, a lot of PS2 games (and to a lesser extent, Gamecube games) are stuck in 50hz. Nearly 100% of PAL Xbox games are 60hz compatible though (and even a couple of rare exceptions like Psychonauts can be forced into 60hz with a modified console I hear), so it's worth me picking up any Xbox versions of PS2 or Gamecube games I own that don't have 60hz options on those consoles.

[Reprise]

Here's an update on my collection. I ran out of space, so have two games I can't fit. It's kinda annoying that I need to sort out another DVD display unit for just two games

[Ziggy]

My ElectronXout finally came in last week. I haven't had a chance to try it out yet.

Re: Xbox RAM upgarde

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2hvSL30Rlg

Someone made an adapter to use a more modern RAM chip on the OGXBOX, and apparently now you can upgrade it to 256 MB LOL. I haven't watched the entire video yet. But it will be cool to see how people will take advantage of this. Also, upgrading aside, I think it's great that there's an option now to replace the RAM if need be.

[Jagosaurus]

Crazy, I hadn't heard about that RAM adapter yet.

Earlier in this thread we got into a bit of the history of the OGX. If you haven't seen it yet, this 5 part documentary is super interesting.

Power On - Chapter 1 - The Renegades

In particular, I enjoyed the earlier episodes going into the genesis of OGX & the rocketship that was the 360 launch window. I had no idea MS had some of the old 3DO hardware guys working for them (on CE team, Hi Dreamcast!), feverishly pitching another potential console route vs the "Direct X Box" we came to know. Also fascinating that Bill Gates & MS execs were worried Sony overtaking the living room/household.

[Reprise]

Anyone played Crazy Taxi 3? I got it last week and I am really enjoying it.

The first Crazy Taxi is one of my favourite games of all time. I still regularly play it on my Dreamcast and even play it sometimes at my local arcade that has the cabinet. I never got into the sequel though. Crazy Taxi 2 just kinda sucks. I hated the New York maps. Everything is so flat and roads are designed in a criss cross fashion, like grids, with lots of right angles. Navigation is super confusing and if you take a wrong turn then it can completely mess you up. I also didn't like the introduction of the 'crazy hop' (essentially a jump button).

Crazy Taxi 3, on the other hand, is so much fun. The graphics look fantastic and playing on the Xbox with a controller so similar to the Dreamcast's means you adapt to the change in console instantly. It contains the original arcade maps from the first two games, but San Francisco from the first game has been expanded with brand new areas, many of which take advantage of the crazy hop function. That completely threw me at first, because as soon as I went onto the highway ,I flew right over it and landed in a new area! That blew my mind, because I was always trying to 'break' the first game in that exact part as a kid and trying to fly off the highway (which you obviously can't do). The map looks fantastic with the new graphics engine too. The new map for the game is a Las Vegas level. I quite like this one too. It isn't as iconic as the first game's map, but it's much better than the second game's New York map. It has a rural mountainous region and then the bustling city area with neon lights.

I am kinda shocked the game got destroyed so much by critics back when it came out. I get that the formula was wearing thin and arcade style titles on home consoles weren't cool any more, with people favouring games like GTA and Halo, but it's an amazing Crazy Taxi game and as addictive as ever. People complained about the framerate in the new Las Vegas map, but it doesn't seem all that bad to me. If anything, it doesn't seem to tank as badly as Crazy Taxi 1 did on the Dreamcast (and presumably on PS2 and Gamecube).

[Jagosaurus]

How's the music on Crazy Taxi 3? Helps make it for me on older titles.

@ Ziggy, how was the ElectronXout? I'm interested in picking one up.

[Ziggy]

I've been meaning to post in this thread... I was getting a high pitched whine from my Xbox and had to unplug it. So the Xbox doesn't shut off fully, I don't think. I guess it stays in some kind of standby mode? So now I have to leave it unplugged when not in use. I did buy a cap kit, but haven't got around to doing that yet. I'm hoping the whine goes away after the recap. I forget if there's any inductors, but I could try hot gluing them (I've read that these can cause whine in power supplies). If I can't resolve it, then I'll see if I can get an inline power switch for the power cable, which would be slightly less annoying then having to unplug and replug it. I did also get a "super capacitor" so I don't have to worry about the clock resetting after unplugging it.

@ Ziggy, how was the ElectronXout? I'm interested in picking one up.

I didn't use it a whole lot (sorta taking a break from the Xbox) but from the little bit that I have used it I think it's great! The image quality looks fine to my eyes. And it doesn't have the audio problem with the 1.0 console.