By Zhaan 
Since the Xbox 360 is now ancient and probably considered “retro” by younger generations, I figured I’d share my personal experience with Xbox and show off my humble collection. I’ll try not to turn this into my life story, though. Let’s mosey.
Early Beginnings & The Console War
As a somewhat troubled teenager I was absolutely obsessed with video games in the 2000s, to the point where I ran several crappy game blogs (like this one) and even a Final Fantasy fansite. Most of my free time was spent playing games, thinking about games, or talking about games, to the detriment of my school work. That being said, I was very much a PlayStation and PC gamer. My experience with Xbox was limited to basically playing Halo at a friend’s house once, and some snowboarding game. Possibly SSX.
When the seventh console generation was about to kick off in 2005, it was Sony’s PS3 that caught most of my excitement. I was more than a bit biased towards the piano black behemoth, and would often frown upon its competition (including the Wii). Indeed, I gleefully played my part in the console war and loved every moment of it. I’m not exactly proud of that now, but eh, we were kids and it was fun.
At any rate, the Xbox 360 still managed to pique my curiosity. Microsoft did a lot of things right with this console, after all. It was a true “do it all” machine with a cool futuristic design, high-definition graphics, achievements, multi-media support, and cutting edge online components. It felt like a true next-gen moment, and it (mostly) put my fanboyism to rest. To this day I still think that original white launch model is a top five console design. So stylish.
A More Connected World
It’s easy to forget now, or maybe you’re too young to remember, but video game consoles were mostly played offline in the early 2000s. Internet Gaming™ was largely considered a PC thing. Sure, the original Xbox and Sega’s Dreamcast existed, and they both made a valiant attempt to usher in the age of connected consoles, but neither was considered a big success and they didn’t really change the world.
As for the PS2 or the GameCube? Yeah, you could get a network adapter for those as well, but most people I knew just played local co-op.
The Xbox 360, however, very much changed the landscape of gaming. It launched with the most robust online capabilities ever seen in a home console at that point. You got online multiplayer, in-game voice chat, friends lists, downloadable games, demos, DLC, music, and more – all presented in a user friendly interface. The 360 didn’t invent these things; it simply made them more accessible and easy for anyone to use. That last part is a big reason why the console succeeded.
Of course, it also released at a better time than those other consoles. While most people had a home internet connection in 2005, that was less true for the Dreamcast when it came out in the late 90s.
My First Xbox
Moving on – while I didn’t get a 360 at launch, I would eventually get my hands on one in 2007 or so. I had no money, so I foolishly traded a whole stack of PS2 games for the “crappy” budget model at a local EB Games store. Not entirely sure which SKU this was, but it lacked HDMI, WiFi and likely had no built-in storage.
Still, that wasn’t a big deal for me as I was rocking a CRT TV at the time. Plus, wired internet was more reliable than WiFi anyway. It worked out in the end, but I sorely regret trading those games away. Especially Shadow of the Colossus. Sigh.
So, what really made me want to get an Xbox 360? Mostly, it was Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey – two superb games by Mistwalker Studios. As a die-hard Final Fantasy and Squaresoft fan, they seemed irresistable to me. These were full-blown HD JRPGs helmed by ex-Squaresoft legends Hironobu Sakaguchi and Nobuo Uematsu, with character designs by Akira Toriyama and Takehiko Inoue. That’s basically a dream scenario right there.
And yes, they delivered on their promises. Blue Dragon turned out pretty good, while Lost Odyssey is one of the best in the genre. Both games hold up well today
Another favourite of mine is The Last Remnant, which I’m currently re-playing on my Switch 2. It’s an excellent RPG made by Square Enix, and you’ll often see it brought up in discussions about “underrated gems”. It’s essentially an unofficial SaGa game with some heavy Final Fantasy XII vibes. Killer soundtrack, too.
My Games & Hardware
With that out of the way, it’s time to show off my fairly average collection of 360 games and hardware. It’s not very big and you won’t find any rare games here. Also, I got rid of that budget model long ago.
Xbox 360 – Model E
To start off, here’s my somewhat ugly blue and mint-green “Model E”. This was last hardware revision made for the console. It actually came out after the Xbox One had launched, so it features a similar design to that. This particular model is less prone to hardware failure than its predecessors and it runs more quietly.
Sadly, I sold this one years ago due to how hideous it was. Sorry, but that minty blue colour combination did not work for me!
Xbox 360 Slim
My current “main” 360 is the Slim variant with 250GB storage. It has a nice matte black finish and better specs than the launch models. Unfortunately, it’s rather loud with buzzing coil whine and annoying fan noise. It also runs pretty hot, so it doesn’t get used very often. I should’ve kept the ugly one, huh?
Standard White Controller + Keyboard
Undoubtedly, this is my favourite controller for the console. Sure, it’s just a basic white variant, but that keyboard attachment looks awesome and I love the backlit keys. They glow white, green and orange while in use. Lovely.
Silver Controller With Rotating D-Pad
Apparently this was a “special edition” of sorts, but whether that means limited or not I couldn’t say. It’s a very nice satin silver controller with an interesting party trick: you can rotate the d-pad so it sticks out more. Perhaps not the most useful feature, but it’s neat.
Standard Black Controller
This is the basic black controller that came with my Slim. It has that old-school “rough” plastic texture to it, which I honestly quite like. You don’t really see that anymore. And those coloured buttons still look great up close. It’s nothing special, but it is reliable.
The Games
Last but not least, here’s my beloved game collection. It’s obviously very RPG-heavy, but I do think there’s a decent amount of variety in there. This post is already longer than planned, so I’m going to be lazy and just dump a top 10 list below. Enjoy!
My Top 10 Xbox 360 Games
- Lost Odyssey – A modern day JRPG classic. Mature themes, great writing, interesting characters. God-tier OST, easily one of Uematsu’s best works.
- The Last Remnant – Great blend of SaGa weirdness and Final Fantasy. Good world building, unique combat, great music.
- Fable 2 – Still the best Fable game. I re-played it recently on Series X and it holds up well, despite some clunky animations.
- Dragon Age Origins – This is one of BioWare’s greatest works to date. Good story, fun combat, and a fantasy world that feels grounded.
- Blue Dragon – Not quite as good as Lost Odyssey, but still a very enjoyable game with a timeless artstyle. Bonus points for having a fun job system. Now, if only the characters and story were more appealing..
- Mass Effect – Yeah, I’m one of those people who prefer the original. Maybe because it was the first one and it felt like a big deal at the time, or simply because it’s more RPG-focused than its successors. Either way, it holds up well today.
- Mass Effect 2 – This is still a phenomenal game and I can see why many people have this as their #1 game. It’s definitely more streamlined and action-oriented compared to 1 though.
- Test Drive Unlimited – This is basically a Forza Horizon game and I love it. That is all.
- Burnout Paradise – Not in my physical collection, but it deserves a spot here for having some of the best car destruction in a game.
- Magna Carta II – A very solid Korean RPG with some pretty unique combat mechanics. Embarrassingly lewd cover art, though.
And with that we’re gonna wrap this up. There’s so much more I could get into here, especially when it comes to console wars, hardware failure (aka Read Ring of Death), HD-DVD, Kinect, or big megaton headlines like Final Fantasy XIII going multi-platform, but this will have to do for now. I’m tired.
Perhaps we’ll revisit this topic someday. Until then, peace out.