Why the Xbox 360 is still Microsoft’s most successful console – Reader’s Feature

A reader reminisces over the Xbox 360 console and it games, as Microsoft’s groundbreaking format prepares to celebrate its 20th anniversary.

The Xbox 360 is eight months away from celebrating the 20th anniversary of its launch. The Xbox 360 brought us hundreds of classic games, along with the very popular Xbox Live Arcade and popular indie titles (such as CastleMiner Z, a personal favourite of mine) along with the introduction of party chat and playable demos, including multiplayer.

The console today remains Microsoft’s best-selling console. It played host to very popular games series such as Crackdown, Left 4 Dead, Saints Row, Dead Rising, Gears Of War, Halo, Call Of Duty, and Command & Conquer. As well as some of my personal favourite shoot ‘em-ups: The Outfit, Frontlines: Fuel Of War, Syndicate, and Condemned, plus Xbox Arcade games such as Uno, Texas Holdem, 1 Vs 100, South Park: Let’s Go Tower Defence.

The Xbox 360 fought off a rocky launch, with its Red Ring Of Death, and despite this set back it still managed to cement itself as one of the best consoles to be produced by Microsoft.

Microsoft could celebrate the 20th anniversary with its fans by offering everyone on the Xbox Network three of the best Xbox 360 games, all backwards compatible on the Xbox Series X. Newer generations of players would also enjoy these classics and would get to experience some of the best games Microsoft has to offer from the past. While the Xbox 360 store is closed the servers are still active and multiplayer could still be enjoyed.

One particular memory fans of this console may also have is the free demo discs that came with the Official Xbox Magazine, ensuring those without Xbox Live access got to play new demos without the need to download or have an internet connection. This was a great way to ensure no one missed out and was one of the best magazines available for the Xbox 360 platform. One thing I remember with the demo discs was the menu music, which was catchy and great to listen to.

I’m sure many other people have great memories of this platform, such as making new friends and some funny moments playing the online games. The Xbox Live Vision camera was also a great accessory, that did add more fun to games and provided a social aspect to the Xbox 360 by allowing video features.

There are fans who still have a good collection of Xbox 360 games today, which they can play on the Xbox Series X with some optimisation. Crackdown, for example, looks great on the Xbox Series X with better visuals.

I first purchased an Xbox 360 way back in January of 2006, which was not a very good year for me but it did help me get through this bad time. The Xbox 360 is the best console Microsoft ever produced and without its great games and features gaming would not be what it is today, nor would we have seen the new technologies developed. What a console and I’m sure Xbox fans will agree the Xbox 360 will be remembered for many generations.

Thanks for reading and here’s to a spectacular 20th anniversary for the Xbox 360.

By reader gaz be rotten (gamertag)

The reader’s features do not necessarily represent the views of GameCentral or Metro.

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