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Microsoft was shocked and disturbed by the instant success of the original Playstation. Microsoft eventually became
worried that Sony and the Playstation might even attempt to take a share of the PC video game market that Microsoft dominated.
So, Microsoft made a bold move by entering the home console video game market. Microsoft looked at what made the Playstation
a success and incorporated that into the Xbox. Microsoft specifically targeted the older audience, beacause older video gamers
represented the majority of the industry. Microsoft, like Sega and the Dreamcast, also saw the potential of online play
and focused much heavier on it than Sony and Nintendo did. The result was Xbox Live, an online service constantly praised
for it's robust features and functionality. Microsoft also copied Nintendo and Sega, and made the Xbox a 4-way multiplayer
system, unlike the Sony Playstation 2, which only supported up to 2-way multiplayer. Next, Microsoft showed off it's experience
in visuals by giving the Xbox better graphical capabilities than any of it's competitors. It was much more powerful than the
Playstation 2, and a little more powerful than the Nintendo Gamecube. Microsoft also made a special kind of disc for the Xbox
that loaded faster than a Playstation 2 disc. And finally, Microsoft gave the Xbox a "Must-Have" game at launch-Halo: Combat
Evolved. The game was a huge success, sold about 5 million copies, and it's sequel, in 2004, sold over 9 million copies, making
it the best-selling Xbox game. However, the Xbox had many problems. It was constantly deemed to be "Big, fat, and ugly" and
the original Xbox controller was exmtremely large and uncomfortable (Microsoft quickly replaced the controller with a smaller,
more comfortable one). The $300.00 price tag also drove away some consumers, compared to the less expensive Gamecube and red-hot
Playstation 2 (Microsoft responded to this by dropping the Xbox's price to $150.00 only six months after the Xbox came out,
which obviously annoyed people who already boutht the Xbox). The Xbox was a failure in Japan, mostly due to the lack of RPG's,
a genre that the Japanese gaming public loves, but also because the Japanese dislike big consoles, which the Xbox was. Also,
Microsoft never made ANY money off of the Xbox-they continously lost money. Despite this, the Xbox was a success, and despite
only capturing 16% of the market, it managed to sell an impressive 24 million units in five years before it was disontinued
when the Xbox 360 came out in late 2005.
Worldwide Name: Microsoft Xbox
Market Share in Beginning of Lifespan: Unknown
Market Share in Middle of Lifespan: 16%
Market Share in End of Lifespan: 16%
Best-Selling Game: Halo 2 (9 million copies)
A 128-Bit System
Price at Launch: $300.00
Number of Units Sold: 24 million
Slogans:
Life is short. Play more.
Released Worldwide in: 2001
Discontinued in: 2005
Popularity Compared to Competitors:
In Japan:
1st-Sony Playstation 2
2nd-Nintendo Gamecube
3rd-Microsoft Xbox
In America:
1st-Sony Playstation 2
2nd-Microsoft Xbox
3rd-Nintendo Gamecube
In Europe:
1st-Sony Playstation 2
2nd-Microsoft Xbox
3rd-Nintendo Gamecube
Graphics Comparison:
1st-Microsoft Xbox
2nd-Nintendo Gamecube
3rd-Sony Playstation 2
4th-Sega Dreamcast
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