Was it the games? The hardware? The marketing? Tell us!
We’re fast approaching the 25th anniversary of Xbox (look out for it November 2026!), and over the past couple of decades, the brand has racked up millions of fans who have spent thousands on consoles, games and more.
It might be a fairly short history all things considered, but so much has happened in that time. Each of the original Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S eras have come with their own ups and downs, from major successes like the release of Halo and the glory days of the Xbox 360 library, to the Red Ring of Death and the botched Xbox One launch.
Halo CE. And the controller layout, I still love the Duke.
My cousin bought me a new USB Duke as a gift. It’s awesome.
Controller layout, and then later on achievements is what caught me. I can’t stand the ps controller. Cramps my hands so much.
I’m still convinced the person who chose the location of the sticks on the PS2’s controller had never seen human hands before. Or at the very least, they weren’t at all aware which direction our thumbs bend in.
Seriously. And for some insane reason they haven’t changed it after all this time!
My parents got rid of one of those giant old cabinet TVs and we needed something equally as giant to replace it. LOL XBOX IS HUEG!
I’ve had both (Playstation and Xbox) since the 360. I’m lucky enough that I’m able to buy both, but I like Xbox more, several reasons:
- I like the controller layout more (although Dualsense’s adaptive triggers are awesome)
- MS has regional prices in Argentina, so most games are dirt cheap
- I love Gears of War, not really into Halo.
Having said that, I still get the Playstation because of the exclusives (God of War, Last of Us, and Gran Turismo, that’s it). Also, since I got the One S and the PS4 during the previous era, I also purchased games that simply weren’t good enough in the Xbox (like Tekken 7). Fixed that error this time and got me a Series X.
Fucking loved the first and second game. Fell off in the last few. Not bad games. Just a different feel.
I was at Walmart with my parents, my dad had asked me which console I thought my older brother would like more. He said it was gonna be for his birthday. I looked at the games for both Xbox and PS2 and chose Xbox just because it looked cooler. Little did I know he was tricking me and they bought it for me.
The rest is history.
Sneaky parents aha.
Halo. And it seemed to me at the time that Xbox had more FPS titles and such.
I enjoyed Game Pass already on my PC - I even subbed to it when it was strictly “Console game pass” and so happened to give PC access to a few crossplay titles. I ended up taking someone’s used, dusty Xbox One just to get into some of the console-only games. Later, I upgraded to a Series S since I figured my whole Xbox library was digital and I didn’t own a 4KTV.
But, my enjoyment of Game Pass was reliant on sudden surprise hits like Hi-Fi Rush. So, now that they’re firing the people making games like that, I’m probably done as they’re moving a different direction from what I want.
Series X is my first Xbox after lifetime with Sony and Nintendo. There are barely any new games on next gen consoles so I’m using this opportunity to catch up with Xbox back catalog. Backwards compatibility is so nice that I ended up doing unexpected playthrough of Final Fantasy XIII among some other oldies. I also ended up doing loads of split screen gaming with my gf - started with Halo but we’re on second BG3 playthrough (after going back to Divinity 1&2).
Dead rising.
I don’t know why, but I could not stand Gran Turismo 4. I loved the first three and preordered 4, but within a week I was at GameStop trading in my PlayStation for an Xbox. I honestly don’t know what about it pissed me off so much, but I haven’t looked back.