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{{Infobox VG system
| logo = [[Image:Microsoft XBOX.svg|125px]]
| image = [[Image:Xbox 1.jpg|250px|]]
| manufacturer = [[Microsoft]]
| family = Xbox
| type=[[Video game console]]
| generation=[[History of video game consoles (sixth generation)|Sixth generation era]]
| lifespan={{vgrelease|NA=November 15, 2001}}{{vgrelease|JP=February 22, 2002}}{{vgrelease|AUS=March 14, 2002}}{{vgrelease|EU=March 14, 2002}}
| discontinued = {{vgy|2006}}
| GPU=233 MHz nVidia [[Comparison of Nvidia graphics processing units#Console graphics processors|NV2A]]
| media=[[DVD]], [[Compact disc|CD]]
| storage=8 or 10GB Internal [[Hard disk|HDD]] (Both formatted to 8 GB), 8 MB [[memory card]]
| controllers=4 maximum (wired) <!-- Wireless controllers not supported directly - third-party wireless controllers require a wired base unit. -->
| connectivity=[[Fast Ethernet|100Mbit Ethernet]]
| online service=[[Xbox Live]]
| CPU=Custom 733&nbsp;MHz [[Intel]] [[Pentium III]]-based [[Celeron|Mobile Celeron]] <!--It's a Pentium III-based Mobile Celeron, not a Pentium III.-->
| RAM=64&nbsp;MB [[DDR SDRAM]] at 200&nbsp;MHz
| units sold=24 million <small>(as of May 10, 2006)</small><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.xbox.com/zh-SG/community/news/2006/20060510.htm|title=Gamers Catch Their Breath as Xbox 360 and Xbox Live Reinvent Next-Generation Gaming| accessdate=2007-05-27|date=[[2006-05-10]]|publisher=Xbox.com}}</ref>
| units shipped=
| top game=''[[Halo 2]]'', 8 million <small>(as of May 9, 2006)</small><ref>{{cite web | url=https://money.cnn.com/2006/05/09/technology/e3_microsoft/index.htm | publisher=[[CNN]] | accessdate=2008-07-16 | author=Chris Morris | title=Grand Theft Auto, Halo 3 headed to Xbox 360 | date=2006-05-09}}</ref><ref name="halo2sales">{{cite web | author=Asher Moses | date=2007-08-30 | url=https://www.smh.com.au/news/biztech/prepare-for-allout-war/2007/08/30/1188067256196.html | title=Prepare for all-out war | publisher=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]] | accessdate=2008-07-16 | quote=Combined, the first two Halo games have notched up sales of more than 14.5 million copies so far, about 8 million of which can be attributed to Halo 2, which is the best-selling first-generation Xbox game worldwide.}}</ref>
| successor=[[Xbox 360]]
}}
The '''Xbox''' is a [[History of video games (Sixth generation era)|sixth-generation]] [[video game console]] produced by [[Microsoft|Microsoft Corporation]]. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console market, and competed directly with [[Sony]]'s [[PlayStation 2]] and the [[Nintendo GameCube]]. It was released on November 15, 2001 in [[North America]], February 22, 2002 in [[Japan]], and March 14, 2002 in [[Europe]] and [[Australia]]. It is the predecessor to Microsoft's [[Xbox 360]] console. It was discontinued in late 2006.

==History==
The Xbox was [[Microsoft]]'s first product that ventured into the video game console market, after having collaborated with [[Sega]] in porting [[Windows CE]] to the [[Dreamcast]] console. Notable [[launch title]]s for the console included ''[[Amped: Freestyle Snowboarding]]'', ''[[Dead or Alive 3]]'', ''[[Halo: Combat Evolved]]'', ''[[Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee]]'', and ''[[Project Gotham Racing]]''.

===Development===
The Xbox 1st edition was initially developed within Microsoft by a small team, that included game developer [[Seamus Blackley]]. Microsoft repeatedly delayed the console, which was revealed at the end of 1999 following interviews of then-Microsoft CEO Bill Gates. Gates stated that a gaming/multimedia device was essential for multimedia convergence in the new times, confirmed by Microsoft with a [[press release]]. <ref>https://www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/2000/03-10xbox.mspx</ref>

According to the book ''[[SMARTBOMB: The Quest for Art, Entertainment, and Big Bucks in the Videogame Revolution|Smartbomb]]'', by Heather Chaplin and Aaron Ruby, the remarkable success of the upstart [[Sony]] [[PlayStation]] worried [[Microsoft]] in late 1990s. The growing video game market seemed to threaten the [[personal computer|PC]] market which Microsoft had dominated and relied upon for most of its revenues. Additionally, a venture into the gaming console market would diversify Microsoft's product line, which up to that time had been heavily concentrated on software.

According to Dean Takahashi's book, ''Opening the Xbox'', the Xbox was originally to be named "DirectX-box", to show the extensive use of [[DirectX]] within the console's technology.<ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.computerpoweruser.com/editorial/article.asp?article=articles/archive/c0508/03c08/03c08.asp |title = DirectX 10th Anniversary |accessdate = 2007-09-30 |author = St. John, Alex |date=August 2007, vol. 5, issue 8, pg. 14 |publisher = ''[[Computer Power User]]'' }}</ref> "Xbox" was the final name decided by marketing, but the console still retains some hints towards DirectX, most notably the "X"-shaped logo, which DirectX is famous for, along with the "X" shape on the top of the system.

As the console approached launch, Microsoft's [[J Allard]] was responsible for the hardware and system software development, [[Ed Fries]] was responsible for game development on the platform, and Mitch Koch was responsible for sales and marketing; all three reported to [[Robbie Bach]]. This team was also primarily responsible for Microsoft's follow-up product, the [[Xbox 360]].

===Price history===
<div style="font-size: 90%;float:right;border-left:1em solid white">
{|class="wikitable"
|+<!-- Title -->
|-
!Country
!Release date
|-
| [[Europe]]
| March 14, 2002
|-
| [[Finland]]
| March 14, 2002
|-
| [[United Kingdom]]
| March 14, 2002
|-
| [[North America]]
| November 15, 2001
|-
| [[Australia]]
| March 14, 2002
|-
| [[New Zealand]]
| October 3, 2002
|-
| [[Japan]]
| February 2, 2002
|-
| [[Mexico]]
| October 17, 2002
|}
</div>
With an expensive PlayStation 2 (PS2) and the moderately priced but seemingly family entertainment focused GameCube as competition, many gamers were eager to invest in the console. The Xbox initially sold very well. All three platform-holders had difficulty manufacturing and selling the systems profitably.

By September 15, 2005, Microsoft reported a four billion dollar loss in selling the Xbox gaming system.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.joystiq.com/2005/09/26/forbes-xbox-lost-microsoft-4-billion-and-counting/|title=Forbes: Xbox lost Microsoft $4 billion (and counting)|accessdate=2007-07-18|author=Cole, Vladimir|date=[[2005-09-26]]|publisher=[[Joystiq]]}}</ref>

===Xbox 360===
{{main|Xbox 360|List of Xbox games compatible with Xbox 360}}
[[NVIDIA]] ceased production of the Xbox's GPU in August 2005, which marked the end of Xbox production and the quick release of the [[Xbox 360]] on November 22, 2005.

When equipped with a removable hard drive add-on, the Xbox 360 supports [[List of Xbox games compatible with Xbox 360|a limited number of the Xbox's game library]] through emulation. Emulation adds support for anti-aliasing as well as upscaling of the still standard definition image. These emulators are periodically updated to add compatibility for older games and are available for free through Xbox Live or as a file download to be burned to a CD/DVD from the Xbox web site. These updates are also available monthly as part of the demo disc that comes with each issue of [[Official Xbox Magazine]]. As the architectures are entirely different between Xbox and Xbox 360, software emulation is the only viable option for compatibility without including processors from the original Xbox.

==Hardware and accessories==
=== Hardware ===
{{see also|Xbox special limited editions}}

[[Image:Xboxinside02.jpg|thumb|right|Xbox drives]]

The Xbox was the first console to incorporate a [[hard disk drive]], used primarily for storing game saves compressed in [[ZIP (file format)|ZIP]] archives and content downloaded from Xbox Live. This eliminated the need for separate [[memory cards]] (although some older consoles, such as the [[TurboGrafx-16#TurboGrafx-CD|TurboGrafx-CD]], [[Sega CD]] and [[Sega Saturn]] had featured built-in battery backup memory prior to 2007). An Xbox user could [[Ripping|rip]] music from [[Red Book (audio CD standard)|standard audio CDs]] to the hard drive, and these songs were used for the custom soundtracks in some games.<ref>{{cite web |url = https://support.microsoft.com/kb/909942 |title = Xbox: Description of custom soundtracks |accessdate = 2008-01-13 |date = [[2007-04-25]] |publisher = Microsoft Knowledge Base }}</ref>

The Xbox was the first product in the gaming industry to feature Dolby Interactive Content-Encoding Technology, which allows real-time Dolby Digital encoding in game consoles. Previous game consoles could only utilize Dolby Digital 5.1 during non-interactive "cut scene" playback.<ref>{{cite press release |url=https://www.dolby.com/assets/pdf/press_releases/841_co.pr.0104.xbox.pdf |title=The Xbox Video Game System from Microsoft to Feature Groundbreaking Dolby Interactive Content-Encoding Technology |date=2001-04-18 |publisher=[[Dolby Laboratories]] |accessdate=2008-07-03 |format=[[PDF]]}}</ref>

The Xbox is based on commodity PC hardware and runs a custom operating system which exposes [[Application programming interface|API]]s based largely on [[DirectX]] 8.1; the API commonality led to a common confusion that the OS was a stripped-down version of the [[Windows 2000]] [[kernel (computers)|kernel]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://blogs.msdn.com/xboxteam/archive/2006/02/17/534421.aspx|title=The Xbox Operating System|work=XBox Team Blog|accessdate=2008-07-03}}</ref>

The Xbox itself is much larger and heavier than its contemporaries. This is largely due to a bulky tray-loading [[DVD-ROM]] drive and the standard-size 3.5 inch hard drive. However, the Xbox has also pioneered safety features, such as breakaway cables for the controllers to prevent the console from being pulled from the surface it resides on.

The original game controller design, which was particularly large, was similarly often criticized since it was ill-suited to those with small hands and caused cramping in the hands of some users. In response to these criticisms, a smaller controller was introduced for the Japanese Xbox launch. This Japanese controller (which was briefly imported by even mainstream video game store chains such as [[GameStop]]) was subsequently released in other markets as the "Xbox Controller S". In addition, all future Xbox consoles were shipped with a "[[Controller S]]", while the original controller (known as Controller "0" or "The Duke") was discontinued.<ref>[https://www.gamer20.com/features/150/4 Xbox Retrospective: All-Time Top Xbox News - Gamer 2.0<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

Several internal hardware revisions have been made in an ongoing battle to discourage [[modding]] (hackers continually updated [[modchip]] designs in an attempt to defeat them), to cut manufacturing costs, and to provide a more reliable DVD-ROM drive (some of the early units' drives gave Disc Reading Errors due to the unreliable Thomson DVD-ROM drives used). Later generations of Xbox units that used the Thomson TGM-600 DVD-ROM drives and the Philips VAD6011 DVD-ROM drives were still vulnerable to failure that rendered the consoles either unable to read newer discs or caused them to halt the console with an error code usually indicating a [[Programmed input/output|PIO]]/[[Direct memory access|DMA]] identification failure, respectively. These units would not be covered under the extended warranty.

In 2002, Microsoft and [[NVIDIA]] entered arbitration over a dispute on the pricing of NVIDIA's chips for the Xbox.<ref name="eetimes-chip-dispute">{{cite web|url=https://www.eetimes.com/news/semi/showArticle.jhtml;?articleID=10803514|title= Microsoft takes Nvidia to arbitration over pricing of Xbox processors|accessdate=2006-06-29|date=[[2002-04-29]]|publisher=[[EE Times]]}}</ref> NVIDIA's filing with the [[United States Securities and Exchange Commission|SEC]] indicated that Microsoft was seeking a US$13 million discount on shipments for NVIDIA's fiscal year 2002. Additionally, Microsoft alleged violations of the agreement the two companies entered, sought reduced chipset pricing, and sought to ensure that NVIDIA fulfill Microsoft's chipset orders without limits on quantity. The matter was settled on February 6, 2003, and no terms of the settlement were released.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.eetimes.com/news/latest/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=10800974|title=Microsoft and Nvidia settle Xbox chip pricing dispute|accessdate=2006-06-29|date=[[2003-02-06]]|publisher=[[EE Times]]}}</ref>

Launch-era Xbox gaming units were manufactured in [[Hungary]], while the controllers were manufactured primarily in [[Indonesia]].

===Technical specifications===
{{Unreferencedsection|date=January 2008}}
*[[Central processing unit|CPU]]: 32-bit 733 [[Hertz|MHz]] Custom Intel [[Pentium III#Coppermine|Coppermine-based]] processor in a [[Micro-PGA2]] package. 180 [[nanometre|nm]] process.<ref name="anandtech">[https://www.anandtech.com/systems/showdoc.aspx?i=1561&p=2 Anandtech Microsoft's Xbox]</ref>
<!-- DO NOT change this to Pentium 9876. It is not a Pentium 3 unless it has 256 KB or more L2 cache.-->
<!-- Anandtech claims the processor still has 8-way set associative L2 cache, which the Pentium III has. The Celeron has 4-way set associative L2 cache-->
**[[Streaming SIMD Extensions|SSE]] [[floating point]] [[SIMD]]. Four [[single precision|single-precision]] floating point numbers per clock cycle.
**[[MMX (instruction set)|MMX]] [[integer]] SIMD.
**133&nbsp;MHz 64-bit [[Gunning Transceiver Logic|GTL+]] [[front side bus]] to GPU.
**32 [[kilobyte|KB]] L1 [[CPU cache|cache]]. 128 KB on-die L2 "[[Advanced Transfer Cache]]".
*[[Shared memory]] subsystem
**64 [[megabyte|MB]] [[DDR SDRAM]] at 200&nbsp;MHz; 6.4 [[gigabyte|GB]]/s
**Supplied by [[Hynix]] or [[Samsung Group|Samsung]] depending on manufacture date and location.
*[[Graphics processing unit|GPU]] and system [[chipset]]: 233&nbsp;MHz "[[Comparison of Nvidia graphics processing units#Comparison Table: Miscellaneous|NV2A]]" [[Application-specific integrated circuit|ASIC]]. Co-developed by Microsoft and [[NVIDIA]].
**Geometry engine: 115 million [[vertex (geometry)|vertices]]/second, 125 million [[Particle system|particle]]s/second (peak)
**4 [[pixel pipeline]]s with 2 [[texture mapping unit|texture units]] each
**932 [[megapixel]]s/second (233&nbsp;MHz x 4 pipelines), 1,864 [[Texel (graphics)|megatexels]]/second (932 MP x 2 texture units) (peak)
***Peak triangle performance (32pixel divided from filrate): 29,125,000 32-pixel triangles/sec raw or w. 2 textures and lit.
****485,416 triangles per frame at 60fps
****970,833 triangles per frame at 30fps
**4 textures per pass, [[texture compression]], [[FSAA|full scene anti-aliasing]] (NV [[Quincunx]], [[supersampling]], [[Multisample anti-aliasing|multisampling]])
**[[bilinear filtering|Bilinear]], [[trilinear filtering|trilinear]], and [[anisotropic filtering|anisotropic]] [[texture filtering]]
**Similar to the [[GeForce 3 Series|GeForce 3]] and [[GeForce 4 Series|GeForce 4]] PC GPUs.
*Storage media
**2x – 5x (2.6 MB/s – 6.6 MB/s) [[Constant Angular Velocity|CAV]] [[DVD|DVD-ROM]]
**8 or 10 [[gigabyte|GB]], 3.5 in, 5,400 [[Revolutions per minute|RPM]] [[hard disk]]. [[Disk formatting|Formatted]] to 8 GB. [[FATX]] [[file system]].
**Optional 8 MB memory card for saved game file transfer.
*Audio processor: NVIDIA "MCPX" (a.k.a. [[SoundStorm]] "NVAPU")
**64 3D sound channels (up to 256 [[Stereophonic sound|stereo]] voices)
**[[Head-related transfer function|HRTF]] [[Sensaura]] 3D enhancement
**[[Musical Instrument Digital Interface|MIDI]] DLS2 Support
**[[Monaural]], [[Stereophonic sound|Stereo]], [[Dolby Surround]], [[Dolby Digital|Dolby Digital Live 5.1]], and [[Digital Theater System|DTS Surround]] (DVD movies only) audio output options
*Integrated 10/[[Fast Ethernet#100BASE-TX|100BASE-TX]] wired [[ethernet]]
*DVD movie playback
*A/V outputs: [[composite video]], [[S-Video]], [[component video]], [[SCART]], [[HDMI]] Optical Digital [[TOSLINK]], and [[RCA connector|stereo RCA analog audio]]
*Resolutions: [[480i]], [[576i]], [[480p]], [[720p]], [[1080i]]
*Controller ports: 4 proprietary [[Universal Serial Bus|USB]] 2.0 ports
*Weight: 3.86 kg (8.5 [[Pound (mass)|lb]])
*Dimensions: 320 × 100 × 260 mm (12.5 × 4 × 10.5 [[inch|in]])

===Official accessories===
====Audio/video connectors====
*Standard AV cable: Provides [[composite video]] and [[monaural]] or [[stereophonic sound|stereo audio]] to TVs equipped with [[RCA jack|RCA]] inputs. Comes with the system. European systems come with an RCA jack to [[SCART]] converter block in addition to the cable.
*RF Adapter: Provides a combined audio and video signal on an [[RF connector]].
*Advanced AV Pack: Provides [[S-Video]] and [[TOSLINK]] audio in addition to the RCA composite video and stereo audio of the Standard AV Cable.
*High Definition AV Pack: Intended for HDTVs, it provides a [[YUV|YPrPb]] [[component video]] signal over three RCA connectors. Also provides analog RCA and digital TOSLINK audio outputs.
*Advanced SCART cable: The European equivalent to the Advanced AV Pack, providing a full RGB video SCART connection in place of [[S-Video]], RCA composite and stereo audio connections (composite video and stereo are still provided by the cable, through the SCART connector, in addition to the RGB signal), while retaining the TOSLINK audio connector. As Europe had no [[HDTV]] standard when the Xbox was released, no high definition cable was provided in those markets.

Numerous unofficial third-party cables and breakout boxes exist that provide combinations of outputs not found in these official video packages; however, with the exception of a few component-to-VGA converters and custom-built VGA boxes, the four official video packages represent all of the Xbox's possible outputs. This output selectivity is made possible by the Xbox's SCART-like AVIP port.

====Networking====
*Ethernet (Xbox Live) cable: An Ethernet cable with RJ-45 connection for connecting the Xbox to a broadband modem or router. The Xbox also can connect to [[Xbox LIVE]].
*Xbox Wireless Adapter: a wireless bridge which converts data running through an Ethernet cable to a wireless ([[IEEE 802.11|802.11b or 802.11g]]) signal to connect to a wireless LAN. While the official Wireless Adapter guarantees compatibility with the Xbox, almost any wireless bridge can be used.
*Xbox Live Starter Kit: A subscription and installation pack for the [[Xbox Live]] service, as well as a headset (with monaural earpiece and microphone) that connects to a control box that plugs into the top expansion slot of a controller. The headset can in fact be replaced with most standard earpiece-and-microphone headsets; headset specialist [[Plantronics]] produces various officially-licensed headsets, including a special-edition headset for ''[[Halo 2]]''.
*[[System Link]] cable: A [[Category 5 cable|Cat 5]] [[Ethernet crossover cable]] for connecting together two consoles or a Cat 5 straight through cable used in conjunction with an Ethernet hub for connecting up to four consoles, for up to 16 total players. This functionality is similar to [[Sega]]'s [[DirectLink]] for [[Sega Saturn]].

====Multimedia====
*Xbox Windows Media Center Extender: A software kit released by Microsoft which allows Xbox to act as a [[Windows Media Center Extender]] to stream content from a [[Windows XP Media Center Edition]] computer. It can also be used for DVD playback.

*DVD Playback Kit: Required in order to play DVD movies, the kit includes an [[infrared]] [[remote control]] and receiver. DVD playback was not included as a standard feature of the Xbox due to licensing issues with the [[DVD]] format that would have added extra cost to the console's base price. By selling a DVD remote separately, Microsoft was able to bundle the cost of the DVD licensing fee with it. Although there is nothing to prevent the Xbox from acting as a [[progressive scan]] DVD player, Microsoft chose not to enable this feature in the Xbox DVD kit in order to avoid royalty payments to the [[patent]]-holder of progressive scan DVD playback. The DVD Playback kit only plays DVDs from the local region. The DVD Playback kit will also allow the Xbox to play [[Video CD|VCD]] movies. By default, the Xbox can only play Xbox games and audio CDs.

*[[Xbox Music Mixer]]: A utility software bundled with a [[microphone]] that connects to an adapter that plugs into the top expansion slot of a controller. It provides a music player with 2D/3D visualizations as well as basic [[karaoke]] functions. It also allows users to transfer pictures in [[JPEG]] format (to create slide shows) as well as audio in [[MP3]] or [[Windows Media Audio|WMA]] format (for karaoke or a custom game soundtrack) from a [[Windows XP]] or [[Windows Vista]] machine running the [https://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/m/musicmixer/pctool-overview.htm Xbox Music Mixer PC Tool].

====Controllers and removable storage====
[[Image:XboxOriginalController.jpg|thumb|right|The original ''Duke'' controller (left) and the ''Controller S'' (right).]]
The Xbox controller features two [[analog stick]]s, a directional pad, two analog triggers, a Back button, a Start button, two accessory slots and six 8-bit analog action buttons (A/Green, B/Red, X/Blue, Y/Yellow, Black and White).<ref>{{cite web| url = https://euc.jp/periphs/xbox-controller.en.html |title = Inside Xbox 360 Controller}}</ref>

The standard Xbox controller (also known as the "Duke" controller) was originally the Xbox controller for all territories except Japan. The Duke controller has been criticized for being relatively large and bulky compared to other video game controllers (it was awarded "Blunder of the Year" by ''[[Game Informer]]'' in 2001<ref>Games of 2001. ''[[Game Informer]]'' (January 2002, pg. 48).</ref> and a Guinness World Record for the biggest controller in [[Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition]] 2008). The black and white buttons are located above the A, B, X, and Y buttons, and the Back/Start buttons are located between and below the d-pad and right analog stick.

The Controller S, a smaller, lighter Xbox controller was originally the standard Xbox controller only in Japan (codenamed "Akebono").<ref>Ninja Beach Party. ''[[Official Xbox Magazine]]'' (October 2002, issue 11, pg. 44).</ref> It was designed to be more comfortable for those with smaller hands.<ref>[https://archive.gamespy.com/hardware/march02/xboxcontrollers/ GameSpy.com - Hardware: Xbox Controller S<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>[https://www.gamer20.com/features/150/4 Xbox Retrospective: All-Time Top Xbox News - Gamer 2.0<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> The controller S was released in other territories by popular demand, and eventually replaced the standard controller in the Xbox's retail package, with the larger original controller available as an accessory. The white and black buttons are located below the A, B, X, and Y buttons, and the Back/Start buttons are similarly placed below the left analog stick. This controller has received its share of criticism as well, especially with regards to placement of the black/white and back/start buttons.<ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.talkxbox.com/hreview1.html |title = Xbox Controller S Review |accessdate = 2007-09-30 |author = Final Sniper |date = [[2003-08-11]] |publisher = TalkXbox }}</ref>

An 8 MB removable [[solid-state drive|solid state]] [[memory card]] can be plugged into the controllers, onto which game saves can either be copied from the hard drive when in the Xbox dashboard's memory manager or saved during a game. Most Xbox games can be copied to the memory unit and to another console but some Xbox saves are digitally signed, each console has a unique signing key, and some games (e.g., ''[[Ninja Gaiden (2004 video game)|Ninja Gaiden]]'' and ''[[Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball]]'') will not load saved games signed by a different Xbox, limiting the utility of the memory card. Additionally, game saves can be tagged as uncopyable, or simply padded to over 8 MB (''[[Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic]]''). The signing mechanism has been reverse-engineered by the Xbox hacking community, who have developed tools to modify savegames to work in a different console, though the signing key of the recipient Xbox (the 'HDkey'), and the ramped-up title key of the game (the 'authkey'), must be known. It is also possible to save an Xbox Live account on a memory unit, to simplify its use on more than one Xbox.

==Xbox Live==
{{main|Xbox Live}}

On November 15, 2002, Microsoft launched its Xbox Live online gaming service, allowing subscribers to play online Xbox games with (or against) other subscribers all around the world and download new content for their games to the system's [[hard drive]]. This online service works exclusively with a [[broadband]] Internet connection. Approximately 250,000 subscribers had signed up within two months of Xbox Live's launch.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://games.ign.com/articles/381/381618p1.html|title= Xbox Live Subscriptions Double Expectations|accessdate=2007-09-30|author=Coleman, Stephen|date=[[2003-01-07]]|publisher= [[IGN]]}}</ref> In July 2004, Adam Berger announced that Xbox Live had reached one million subscribers, and a year later, in July 2005, that membership had reached two million.

==Xbox modding==
[[Image:Xboxinside01.jpg|thumb|right|Xbox motherboard with installed [[modchip]].]]
The popularity of the Xbox, as well as its relatively short 90 day warranty, inspired efforts to circumvent the built-in hardware and software security mechanisms, a practice informally known as [[modding]]. Within a few months of its release the Xbox BIOS was dumped and hacked by MIT student [[Andrew Huang]] so that it would skip digital signature checks and media flags, allowing unsigned code, Xbox game backups, etc., to be run. This was possible due to flaws in the Xbox's security.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/The_Hidden_Boot_Code_of_the_Xbox |title = The Hidden Boot Code of the Xbox|accessdate=2007-07-18|publisher=[[Xbox Linux]]}}</ref>{{Verify credibility|date=July 2008}} Modding an Xbox in any manner will void its warranty, as it may require disassembly of the console. Having a modified Xbox will also disallow it from accessing Xbox Live as it contravenes the Xbox Live [[Terms of Use]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.xbox.com/en-US/live/legal/legal-tou.htm|title=Xbox Live Terms of Use|accessdate=2007-07-18|date=October 2006|publisher=Xbox.com}}</ref> however most modchips can be disabled, allowing the Xbox to boot in a "stock" configuration, softmods can be disabled by "coldbooting" a game (having the game in the DVD drive before turning the console on, so the softmod is not loaded) or by using a multiboot configuration.

Four main methods exist of modding the Xbox :

*[[Modchip]]: Installing a modchip inside the Xbox that bypasses the original BIOS, with a hacked BIOS to circumvent the security mechanisms.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://vgstrategies.about.com/od/faqglossary/a/modchips.htm|title=Modchips - What Are They and Should You Use One?|accessdate=2007-07-18|author=Rybka, Jason|publisher=[[About.com]]}}</ref>
*[[Thin small-outline package|TSOP]] flashing: Re-flashing the onboard BIOS chip with a hacked BIOS to circumvent the security mechanisms. The Xbox BIOS is contained on a commodity [[EEPROM]] (the 'TSOP'), which can be made writable by the Xbox by bridging points on the motherboard.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.i-hacked.com/content/view/37/62/|title=Flashing TSOP With ANY Version XBOX V1.0-V1.5 For Noobs|accessdate=2007-07-18|author=SLuSHIE |date=[[2004-03-30]]|publisher=I-Hacked.com}}</ref> Flashing is usually carried out by using a specially-crafted gamesave (see 'Game save exploit', below) to flash the onboard TSOP, but the TSOP can also be de-soldered and re-written in a standard EEPROM programmer. This method only works on 1.0 to 1.5 Xboxes, as later versions replace the commodity TSOP with an LPC ROM contained within a proprietary chip.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/Xbox_Hardware_Overview#Xcalibur|title=Xbox Hardware Overview – Xcalibur|accessdate=2007-07-18| author=Steil, Michael|date=[[2007-02-07]]|publisher=[[Xbox Linux]]}}</ref>
*[[Softmod]]s: Installing additional software files to the Xbox hard drive, which exploit programming errors in the Dashboard to gain control of the system, and overwrite the in-memory copy of the BIOS.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.xbox-hq.com/html/modules.php?name=Xbox_Homebrew&op=view&gid=132|title=Phoenix Bios Loader|accessdate=2007-07-18|author=Phoenix| publisher=Xbox-HQ.com}}</ref> Soft modification is known to be safe for Xbox Live if the user enables multibooting with the Microsoft dashboard and an original game disc is used.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.productwiki.com/microsoft-xbox/article/how-to-go-from-xbox-to-xbox-media-center-in-30-minutes.html|title=How to Go from Xbox to Xbox Media Center in 30 minutes|accessdate=2007-07-18|author=Kalviainen, Erik|date=[[2006-02-15]]|publisher=ProductWiki}}</ref>
**Game save exploit: Using select official game releases to load game saves that exploit buffer overflows in the save game handling.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.news.com/2100-1043-994794.html|title=Hacker cracks Xbox challenge|accessdate=2007-07-18|author=Becker, David|date=[[2003-03-31]]|publisher=News.com}}</ref> When these special game saves are loaded, they access an interface with scripts for installing the necessary softmod files. Disassembly of the Xbox is not required when installing most game save exploits.
**[[Hot swap]]: Using a computer to change the data on the hard drive. This requires having the Xbox unlock the hard drive when it is turned on, then swapping the powered hard drive into a running computer. By using a Linux-based Live CD, data on the hard drive can be read, altered, and deleted. In most cases, an automated script will automatically install the softmod files directly to the Xbox hard drive. This technique has been used extensively to harbor cheating on many online games. Disassembly of the console is required to perform a hot swap.

Beyond gaming, a modded Xbox can be used as a media center with the [[Xbox Media Center]].<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.tomshardware.com/2004/05/11/modding_the_xbox_into_the_ultimate_multimedia_center/index.html|title=Modding The Xbox Into The Ultimate Multimedia Center|accessdate=2004-05-11|author=Patrick Schmid and Achim Roos|date=[[2007-07-18]]|publisher= [[Tom's Hardware]]}}</ref>

There are also distributions of Linux developed specifically for the Xbox, including those based on [https://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=gentoox Gentoo], [https://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/Xebian_HOWTO Debian] (see also [[Xebian]]), [https://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/XDSL_HOWTO Damn Small Linux], and [https://www.dynebolic.org/ Dyne:bolic].

Alternative operating systems: [[Xbox Linux]] is a project that ported [[Linux]] to the Xbox. [[FreeBSD]] has also been ported to Xbox.

One advantage over a regular, unmodded Xbox, is the ability to use a [[Trainer (games)|trainer]].

==UK advertising controversy==
In 2002 the [[Independent Television Commission]] (ITC) banned a television advertisement for the Xbox in the [[United Kingdom]] after responses from certain members of the public deemed it distasteful. It depicted a mother giving birth to a boy who is fired like a projectile through the hospital window and ages rapidly as he flies through the air screaming, before crashing into his own grave. The advertisement ended with the slogan ''Life is short. Play more.''<ref>{{cite web|url= https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/new_media/2028725.stm|title='Shocking' Xbox advert banned|accessdate=2007-07-18|date=[[2002-06-06]]|publisher=[[BBC News Online]]}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commonscat|Xbox}}
{{Portal|Microsoft}}
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*[https://www.xbox.com Xbox.com] Official Xbox/Xbox 360 website
*[https://xbox.mobi Xbox.mobi] Official Xbox mobile website
*{{dmoz|Games/Video_Games/Console_Platforms/Microsoft/Xbox/}}

{{Xbox}}
{{Microsoft}}
{{dedicated video game consoles}}

[[Category:2001 introductions]]
[[Category:Xbox]]
[[Category:Microsoft gaming consoles]]
[[Category:Sixth-generation video game consoles]]

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Revision as of 20:12, 7 November 2008

SUCK IT xbox owns so does PS3

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