Its hard to believe that its been 25 years since the original Xbox console was released. The reason the release of original Xbox console was such a big deal was because it marked Microsoft’s entry into the console wars that started back in the 90’s. There are many people who are aware of Sony, Nintendo and Sega going head to head during console wars for years prior to 2001. While Sony had been dominating the console wars Nintendo had seemingly become number two and Sega pretty much dropped out of it. Sega’s final home console was Dreamcast which was released back in ’98 and was discontinued in 2001. Sega’s departure as a competitor in the console wars meant that Microsoft’s Xbox console had the opportunity to shine during the early 00’s. Xbox came out the same year Nintendo had released the GameCube console and targeted adults more similar to how the PlayStation 2 did following its launch in the late-00’s.

The original Xbox console was not only an alternative to PS2 but it was also more powerful game system that featured popular games like Halo, Dead or Alive 3 and Project Gotham Racing. In 2001, Xbox had just entered the console wars and did not have as many high profile third-party video games like the PlayStation 2 did. Also, despite GameCube being a commercial failure featured popular titles like Super Smash Bros Melee, Super Mario Prime, Metroid Prime along with Luigi’s Mansion. Xbox came out during a time period where the landscape of gaming was rapidly changing and Microsoft capitalized off of it. The reason why the first-person shooter genre was starting to increase in popularity during the early 00’s because 3D video games were becoming more immersive. The early 00’s was a time period where online connectivity was still evolving and first-person shooters ended up common preference among gamers along with other genres like RPG’s and action-adventure titles. While the original Xbox console did not come close to selling as much as PS2 did during its lifetime it managed to barely outsell GameCube by reaching around 24 million units worldwide.

Even though, some believe that Xbox was considered to be a commercial failure it actually sold far more than people expected. The PlayStation 2 is considered to be the best-selling game system of all-time reaching at least 155 million units sold setting the bar extremely high for future generations. While the original Xbox console fell below desired expectations the Xbox 360 from 2005 ended up selling around 84 million units worldwide. At this point Microsoft has been in the console wars for more than two decades. The introduction of the original Xbox console felt like the beginning of a new chapter of the console wars following Sega’s departure. While 2001 felt like a pretty grime depressing end-of an era year for 90’s culture in general the Xbox console was one of the good things to emerge from that era.