As you might've read, Microsoft has stopped manufacturing new Xbox 360s.
With over 80 million sold worldwide over its 11-year lifespan, it remains the most successful console Microsoft has made to date.
I bought an HD flatscreen plasma TV the day my Xbox 360 arrived. It was purely for the Xbox 360, of course, and the most absurd expense - a couple of grand at least.
It's a real mark of how my priorities have shifted as I've gotten older, and life has settled down; I'd never spend that much on a thing anymore.
Looking back at it, I'm bewildered by how far technology has progressed across what feels like a heartbeat.
That TV weighed about the same as a family car - and none of its guts were contained within the TV itself. Instead, it came with a separate, console-sized, box, which plugged into the screen. The crispness of the visuals were immediately obvious to me. Which was frustrating, as nobody else in the house could tell the difference between SD and HD.
Regardless, my daughter ended up breaking the single HDMI port after a year or two. I found only one company willing to try and fix the set - apparently, it was a particularly complex model - which cost several hundred quid... Only to have it break again a month or so later.
The result was that my two grand HDTV remained SD for much of the time I had it.
With over 80 million sold worldwide over its 11-year lifespan, it remains the most successful console Microsoft has made to date.
I bought an HD flatscreen plasma TV the day my Xbox 360 arrived. It was purely for the Xbox 360, of course, and the most absurd expense - a couple of grand at least.
It's a real mark of how my priorities have shifted as I've gotten older, and life has settled down; I'd never spend that much on a thing anymore.
Looking back at it, I'm bewildered by how far technology has progressed across what feels like a heartbeat.
That TV weighed about the same as a family car - and none of its guts were contained within the TV itself. Instead, it came with a separate, console-sized, box, which plugged into the screen. The crispness of the visuals were immediately obvious to me. Which was frustrating, as nobody else in the house could tell the difference between SD and HD.
Regardless, my daughter ended up breaking the single HDMI port after a year or two. I found only one company willing to try and fix the set - apparently, it was a particularly complex model - which cost several hundred quid... Only to have it break again a month or so later.
The result was that my two grand HDTV remained SD for much of the time I had it.
ABOUT A BOY
Even early on, I was a 360 boy. It felt like proper future technology, rather than just another incremental continuation of the sort of things we'd already seen.
The controller was my favourite up until that point... I appreciated the friendliness of the Xbox Live interface... the graphics were noticeably better.
Heck, my favourite game from the launch line-up was Peter Jackson's King Kong, believe it or not. I remember calling the kids in from the other room to look at some photorealistic puddles.
Of the other games I picked up at launch, Project Gotham Racing was fine - though I've never been the biggest racing game fan, unless I can destroy the cars. Kameo I didn't much like - but it was the first game my youngest daughter ever obsessed over - and Perfect Dark Zero pretty much put a stake in the heart of that franchise. I recall describing the soulless graphics as looking like they'd been laminated.
HATELESS
And yet, I didn't hate the 360. I could see the developers learning, getting to grips with the hardware, and I was to have my patience rewarded a year later. Call of Duty 3 was the game that made me truly love the Xbox 360. It was the first game to get me into playing online in a big way; some of my happiest gaming memories are of playing that game online with mates. Plus, it had good puddles.
Though Call of Duty 3 was multiformat, and its release coincided with the launch of the PlayStation 3, it took me a long while to pick up Sony's competitor. When I did, my loyalties remained with Microsoft.
I never liked the PS3 interface - I still don't much like what Sony has done with the PS4, but now that Microsoft has ballsed up its own Xbox Live front-end, it's every so slightly better. Plus, that PS3 controller - a stubborn holdover from earlier generations - couldn't wave a candle at the 360's joypad.
Somehow, the latent goodwill that Sony had built up with its two previous consoles had carried through to the PlayStation 3. Many I spoke to were firmly in the PS3 camp, and hated the 360. I think Microsoft managed to silence most of those critics over time, but it was an uphill battle against blind adherence.
Oddly, not even my one and only encounter with the Red Ring of Death - the 360's famous fault, which essentially killed the hardware - could dent my own loyalty. Indeed, I was impressed by the swiftness with which Microsoft replaced my machine.
Even early on, I was a 360 boy. It felt like proper future technology, rather than just another incremental continuation of the sort of things we'd already seen.
The controller was my favourite up until that point... I appreciated the friendliness of the Xbox Live interface... the graphics were noticeably better.
Heck, my favourite game from the launch line-up was Peter Jackson's King Kong, believe it or not. I remember calling the kids in from the other room to look at some photorealistic puddles.
Of the other games I picked up at launch, Project Gotham Racing was fine - though I've never been the biggest racing game fan, unless I can destroy the cars. Kameo I didn't much like - but it was the first game my youngest daughter ever obsessed over - and Perfect Dark Zero pretty much put a stake in the heart of that franchise. I recall describing the soulless graphics as looking like they'd been laminated.
HATELESS
And yet, I didn't hate the 360. I could see the developers learning, getting to grips with the hardware, and I was to have my patience rewarded a year later. Call of Duty 3 was the game that made me truly love the Xbox 360. It was the first game to get me into playing online in a big way; some of my happiest gaming memories are of playing that game online with mates. Plus, it had good puddles.
Though Call of Duty 3 was multiformat, and its release coincided with the launch of the PlayStation 3, it took me a long while to pick up Sony's competitor. When I did, my loyalties remained with Microsoft.
I never liked the PS3 interface - I still don't much like what Sony has done with the PS4, but now that Microsoft has ballsed up its own Xbox Live front-end, it's every so slightly better. Plus, that PS3 controller - a stubborn holdover from earlier generations - couldn't wave a candle at the 360's joypad.
Somehow, the latent goodwill that Sony had built up with its two previous consoles had carried through to the PlayStation 3. Many I spoke to were firmly in the PS3 camp, and hated the 360. I think Microsoft managed to silence most of those critics over time, but it was an uphill battle against blind adherence.
Oddly, not even my one and only encounter with the Red Ring of Death - the 360's famous fault, which essentially killed the hardware - could dent my own loyalty. Indeed, I was impressed by the swiftness with which Microsoft replaced my machine.
MISS IT
The Xbox 360 is probably only the second games machine of my adult life - the other being the Super NES - towards which I feel anything approaching affection.
I had such good times with my 360. There were some perfect Saturday mornings playing Marble Blast with my youngest, and feeling a blossom of pride as she chose to play Kameo over watching Hannah Montana.
And it got me through some of the worst times.
It was there when my marriage disintegrated once and for all. An escape into fantasy, on at least two of the most destabilising days of my life. It's no exaggeration to say that I honestly don't know what I would've done without it. A rock of stability and continuity as everything I'd clung to began to crumble beneath my fingers.
When my daughter and I found ourselves living in an unfamiliar home, it was once again the feel of holding that Xbox 360 pad in my hand which just about kept me grounded. An anchor in an uncertain ocean.
ALL THE SAME
It's fair to say that the current generation has yet to win me over. The Xbox One and PlayStation 4 are basically the same machine; their differences are in the software exclusives they offer, rather than the relative warmth of the face they greet you with.
Sadly, I don't know if I'll ever get that feeling again. With Sony hinting that the future of its gaming hardware will be pigeon-step hardware upgrades, rather than an all new format, maybe the days of pinning my loyalties to a piece of consumer technology are well and truly over.
The Xbox 360 and I went out on a high, though. The last game I ever played on it was Assassin's Creed: Black Flag - which has become one of my favourite games.
It's ironic that a game set on the open seas would reach me at a point where I'd found the solid ground where I want to spend the rest of my life. Perhaps it was a message. I didn't need the 360 to anchor me anymore. Funny how things work out.
The Xbox 360 is probably only the second games machine of my adult life - the other being the Super NES - towards which I feel anything approaching affection.
I had such good times with my 360. There were some perfect Saturday mornings playing Marble Blast with my youngest, and feeling a blossom of pride as she chose to play Kameo over watching Hannah Montana.
And it got me through some of the worst times.
It was there when my marriage disintegrated once and for all. An escape into fantasy, on at least two of the most destabilising days of my life. It's no exaggeration to say that I honestly don't know what I would've done without it. A rock of stability and continuity as everything I'd clung to began to crumble beneath my fingers.
When my daughter and I found ourselves living in an unfamiliar home, it was once again the feel of holding that Xbox 360 pad in my hand which just about kept me grounded. An anchor in an uncertain ocean.
ALL THE SAME
It's fair to say that the current generation has yet to win me over. The Xbox One and PlayStation 4 are basically the same machine; their differences are in the software exclusives they offer, rather than the relative warmth of the face they greet you with.
Sadly, I don't know if I'll ever get that feeling again. With Sony hinting that the future of its gaming hardware will be pigeon-step hardware upgrades, rather than an all new format, maybe the days of pinning my loyalties to a piece of consumer technology are well and truly over.
The Xbox 360 and I went out on a high, though. The last game I ever played on it was Assassin's Creed: Black Flag - which has become one of my favourite games.
It's ironic that a game set on the open seas would reach me at a point where I'd found the solid ground where I want to spend the rest of my life. Perhaps it was a message. I didn't need the 360 to anchor me anymore. Funny how things work out.
RSS Feed
