Support NeoGAF

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

It's a very sad day today as after today the Xbox 360 Marketplace will be closed forever. In this episode I reminisce and talk about what made the Xbox 360 such a special machine. Goodbye Xbox 360.

Timestamps:

00:00 - 02:20 - Launch of the Xbox 360
02:21 - 03:12 - Putting my Xbox 360 into an Arcade Cabinet
03:13 - 05:06 - OG Xbox Backward Compatibility
05:07 - 09:47 - Xbox 360 gets hacked
09:48 - 14:00 - Xbox 360 Partnernet and Leaks
14:01 - 15:55 - Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA)
15:56 - 17:45 - The Games
17:46 - 20:11 - The future/emulation with Xenia
20:12 - 21:38 - Conclusion & Outro

End of an era, guys... Drop below some of your favorite Xbox 360 memories.

 

[adamsapple]

T

 

[ToadMan]

Only memory of 360 I still have...

Some decent games on the platform let down by awful hardware. Hope MS lets the remaining games trapped on it go free now.

 

[gooner4life_uk]

Can we still download owned games or is it all turning off today?

 

[Mitsurux]

Playing Uno with the Xbox Live Vison camera..... crazy times
A few example of the weird stuff i happened to run into:

Once played a few rounds with Kermit the Frog (person had the puppet and voice and was completely in character)
Many instances of people doing drugs on Cam
Was playing a game and a new person joins and it was what looked to be a young kid in an abandon warehouse?
Played a round with a kid and what looked to be people doing lewd acts in the background
Once joined a game with three other players who were extremely old ( estimate at 80's) after a few rounds the politely asked me to leave the game so that their other friend could join.
and A lot of other weird stuff... Crazy fun times

 

[U n i o n 0015]

And the saddest thing is that 360's emulator, Xenia, has a lot less development going on than RPCS3, so some of the big 360 console exclusives are still challenging to emulate.

 

[intbal]

Haven't checked to see if the store still functions this morning, but you can bet as soon as it shuts down for good, the price of the physical copies for the non-BC titles is going to go through the roof.

 

[adamsapple]

Can we still download owned games or is it all turning off today?

You'll be able to download owned games.

 

[Humdinger]

Goodbye 360? It's just the Marketplace they're shuttering. I don't think anyone used it after all this time anyhow. The 360 is still alive and kicking. Well, actually it's in my closet. But it's not dead. Just resting.

 

[M1chl]

Crazy the level of nostalgia, I have for this console...

i cry evertim



Goodbye

 

[Tiago Rodrigues]

It just hit me this console was released almost 2 decades ago and i'm not okay. The PS3/X360 era started in 2005.

 

[adamsapple]

It just hit me this console was released almost 2 decades ago and i'm not okay. The PS3/X360 era started in 2005.

 

[gooner4life_uk]

Playing Uno with the Xbox Live Vison camera..... crazy times
A few example of the weird stuff i happened to run into:

Once played a few rounds with Kermit the Frog (person had the puppet and voice and was completely in character)
Many instances of people doing drugs on Cam
Was playing a game and a new person joins and it was what looked to be a young kid in an abandon warehouse?
Played a round with a kid and what looked to be people doing lewd acts in the background
Once joined a game with three other players who were extremely old ( estimate at 80's) after a few rounds the politely asked me to leave the game so that their other friend could join.
and A lot of other weird stuff... Crazy fun times

I had some crazy times on Uno with the camera, people having full sex, some mad conversations about the new world order with some stoners who were convinced they had men in black suits and SUV's watching them, i used to play Gears of War with them as well, a woman tied up BDSM style with the pad in her hands which were tied at the wrist and her partner fast asleep on the bed behind her.

 

[phant0m]

#2 console of all time imo behind the PS2 in terms of library and cultural impact

Microsoft blew XB1 era so hard and still hasn’t recovered

 

[LordCBH]

Rest in peace, Xbox 360. So many good memories

 

[rabbity-thing]

 

[AeonGaidenRaiden]

Can we still download owned games or is it all turning off today?

Even on gamepass you can still buy BC 360 games still. I believe this is just the actual store if you were for whatever reason still using an Xbox360 for online purchases.

 

[Gamer79]

It really was a golden era. I went through 5 xbox 360's with rrod and e74 errors but man I had fun on the system. Even bullshitting playing games like UNO with the web camera (occasional nudity included) were a blast. Ah playing Gears of War 3 co-op, Call of Duty 4 multiplayer, and so many great memories. Xbox lost it's way but for that generation they had the stars aligned. Great system that had bad hardware flaws.

 

[The_Observer]

Ever since the start of the ps4 gen Sony’s consoles have been my main platforms, but the Xbox 360 (and that gen) will forever be my favorite gaming years.

 

[Syphon Filter]

why people acting like the console is dead, its the marketplace lol.

 

[Moses85]

First and Last great Xbox console

 

[West Texas CEO]

Goodbye to a legend.

 

[T-Cake]

I spent millions of hours playing Mass Effect 3 multiplayer so I certainly got my money's worth. I have fond memories of Gears 2, 3 and Viva Pinata.

 

[Syphon Filter]

First and Last great Xbox console

first xbox is underrated..

 

[Jesb]

It started to die last night. I couldn’t get anything to work to buy anything.

 

[Moses85]

first xbox is underrated..

Yes, but the 360 is better

 

[McGILLAZ]

Only memory of 360 I still have...

Some decent games on the platform let down by awful hardware. Hope MS lets the remaining games trapped on it go free now.

Yep - I went through no less than 5 Xbox360s throughout that era, all red rings of death - 4 of them happened while I playing Dead Rising.

 

[begotten]

Thanks 360 for killing Halo, Gears of War and Fable

 

[Heimdall_Xtreme]

I will try to be positive, but it is also a way to get a lot of things out of my life, but just with the announcement of the Xbox 360, and the launch of the Nintendo Wii, it was the beginning of the worst time of my life by far.

I almost had a time without consoles because the Xbox 360 had the red light problem and it destroyed my Gears of War game.

The worst point of my life started with Rainbow Six Vegas and Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter

So it was the starting point that I never bought another Xbox brand product again.

See you later Xbox 360, I won't miss you for my part.

 

[adamsapple]

Goodbye to a legend.

The full game installs via the NXE update were a revelatory experience.

Watching Lost Odyssey battle times go from 15~18 seconds to 5 seconds was *chef's kiss*

Yes, some games like Halo 3 actually suffer if you do full game installs, but in 99% of cases it was a massive improvement.

 

[Roman Empire]

Remember the good days of playing CoD with my friends in couch co-op. Our friend group used to hold FIFA/PES tournaments in our friend who lived next door to school, it was the shit and his dad would make us barbecue or bring snacks. Good times.

 

[Heimdall_Xtreme]

Playing Uno with the Xbox Live Vison camera..... crazy times
A few example of the weird stuff i happened to run into:

Once played a few rounds with Kermit the Frog (person had the puppet and voice and was completely in character)
Many instances of people doing drugs on Cam
Was playing a game and a new person joins and it was what looked to be a young kid in an abandon warehouse?
Played a round with a kid and what looked to be people doing lewd acts in the background
Once joined a game with three other players who were extremely old ( estimate at 80's) after a few rounds the politely asked me to leave the game so that their other friend could join.
and A lot of other weird stuff... Crazy fun times

Playing UNO was like entering no man's land.

A lot of people did crazy things, like smoking marijuana, drinking alcohol, a black man made a racist comment to me even though I'm white (caucasic).

A person mixed drinks and felt bad.

 

[adamsapple]

Playing UNO was like entering no man's land.

A lot of people did crazy things, like smoking marijuana, drinking alcohol, a black man made a racist comment to me even though I'm white (caucasic).

A person mixed drinks and felt bad.

Uno was the Attitude Era of video games. We're in the PG era now.

 

[S0ULZB0URNE]

I just want the current BC to work on PC.

 

[jufonuk]

Dreamcast part 2 as far as I’m concerned

 

[Danjin44]

 

[Heimdall_Xtreme]

that scene is fantastic

 

[Bumblebeetuna]

Thanks 360 for killing Halo, Gears of War and Fable

But Halo 4 is the best Halo

 

[gooner4life_uk]

I remember my launch day 360, one thing Microsoft have got absolutely right since then, has been the whole presentation and packaging of the consoles, unboxing them feels like an event, it's quite special.

 

[Sleepwalker]

The greatest xbox.

I have 4 right now, I need to mod them so they can live on.

 

[BouncyFrag]

Still playing ME3 multiplayer.

 

[LavitzSlambert]

I think he means "Goodbye Xbox 360 Marketplace". Nothing else is being lost right now, you can still download games you owned. It's just not possible to buy anything new.

With that said, end of an era for the real introduction of DLC to most console gamers. I resisted for a long time, but ended up buying a bunch of song packs for the Guitar Hero and Rock Band games back in the day. Also pretty sure I have Shivering Isles for my 360 copy of Oblivion (last call for horse armor, lol).

 

[MacReady13]

I remember picking it up at launch night at my local EB Games. The leap in fidelity was something to behold. Before it came out they had high def TVs everywhere showing off PGR3 on the 360 and my jaw hit the floor! I instantly upgraded to an LED HD TV to play the 360 and PGR3!

It is my fav console of all time. The amount of fun I had playing this thing was insane! Playing the original Modern Warfare was something I'll never forget. Gears. PGR. Rock Band. Resi 5 co-op. All of those insane arcade xbox live games like seeing Symphony of the Night appear on there! TMNT and Simpsons arcade games! I spent an INSANE amount of time playing Bejeweled 3 as well and still play it to this very day! Ripping my CD's ontot the console to play games to whatever tune I wanted was sensational! The amount of games this console had that will forever remain classics is incredible. Really was some fun times.

Sadly they completely changed their ways with the xbone at launch which is why they are in the position they're in now (kids, a simple word of advice- if it ain't broke folks, don't fix it!!!)

Anyway, sad day in gaming. So much for the promise of preserving games. Many of these will be lost forever and xbox doesn't really seem to care, especially with what is going on with their move into subscription gaming. Just look at Forza Horizon and how it'll be lost IF you don't OWN it already.

RIP to the greatest ever- the mighty Xbox 360.

 

[Rambone]

Time sure flies. I had some good times on my launch 360. It died sometime back in June of 2010 due to a red ring of death. M$ had replaced it but I traded it in for a new 360 slim model at a Gamestop. I think the black slim models had just hit the market around then. Still have it but it has been retired from gaming and lives in my closet along with the Xbox One X.

Thanks for reading, as a reward, here is a old reddit post with somebody else's Xbox memory.

 

[digoutyoursoul]

Best Xbox out of them all despite RROD. Loved it.

 

[Js562]

That shit sucks that the marketplace is closing down but that's the way it is. I got a modded slim version with all the 360 games on there so it'll still be sitting there in my living room. A great marketplace and system

 

[Barakov]

And yet the PS3 PSN is still kicking.

One of the industry's ironies, I guess.

 

[Bry0]

It just hit me this console was released almost 2 decades ago and i'm not okay. The PS3/X360 era started in 2005.

It was so exciting. I know it’s largely a combination of nostalgia and me being younger at the time, but I still think there something a bit special about it. Console and pc gaming hadn’t converged yet and graphics tech was moving so fast so it was just so exciting. Battlefield 2 on pc was mind blowing, then the consoles had wireless controllers, all this new online stuff, competing with gamerscore with the homies, churning through 3 360s with rrod and not caring because the games were mind blowing. Online co-op gears was just so cool. Good times, good times.

 

[Syphon Filter]

Thanks 360 for killing Halo, Gears of War and Fable

to be fair for the gears game, it was a spinoff.. nobody expected it to be on the level of gears of war 3.

 

[tusharngf]

I remember playing gears of war on it. I was amazed by the graphics. The gears of war 2 MP was completely insane and had so much back then. My favorite game on x360 was dark souls as i missed playing demons souls earlier.