Microsoft first introduced the Xbox in November 2001; it was this gaming system that was the first big name console that went on to incorporate a hard disk drive, which was used primarily as a means of storing saved games. This meant there was no need to have separate memory cards. The Xbox paved the way for the Xbox 360 and was also the original console to introduce Xbox live; however back in 2006 the Xbox was discontinued after selling an estimated 24 million units.

The discontinuing of the Xbox came as something of a shock and a disappointment to many people. The reason for this is the Xbox was merely five years old when it was discontinued; this meant that after the release of the Xbox 360, Microsoft only kept this original console in production for another year. To many people the Xbox was only part way through its production life. Many people argue that they should have re-engineered the Xbox in order to make it cheaper to manufacture. If they had taken this approach they could have potentially kept on selling the console for a further five years. If they had done this they could have sold millions of additional units, especially in developing countries were lower income families would choose the cheaper machine. Not only would this have sold more units but it would have also been the perfect way of introducing people to Xbox live, which would have meant more people would have brought into future generations of Microsoft consoles.

Although in 2001 when this console was first released the Xbox live feature wasn’t available, it was produced in 2002. After its release players were able to access the features of it through the Xbox dashboard. This acted as the user interface of the gaming system. It was through this interface that you were able to access a media player that enabled you to pay music from CDs as well as rip CDs in order to store them on the built in hard drive. It is also within this dashboard that you are able to manage game saves and download content from Xbox live. The Xbox live feature allows you to sign in and manage your account, however it should be noted that you can only access this dashboard when you are not watching a movie or playing a game.

When the Xbox was released so were a range of game titles, you got the favorites as well as some under the radar hits. Some of the most popular games for this console however included; Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords, Fable, Halo 2, Need for Speed Underground 2, Doom 3 and Ninja Gaiden as well as Lego Star Wars.

As I previously mentioned the Xbox console helped to change the way we stored and saved games. This gaming system also gave you the option of an 8 MB removable solid memory card, which can be plugged into your controller. It was through this that saved games could be copied from the hard drive; this lets you use it on another Xbox console.

The Xbox was a great console of its time and without it we wouldn’t now have the Xbox 360, it really is just a shame that its production was cut so soon.