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How SEGA Influenced the Original Xbox

Last November, Microsoft celebrated the tenth anniversary of the original Xbox. Launched across the US in 2001 and UK in March 2002, many believed that Microsoft would not be able to compete with Nintendo and Sony, yet their success has secured a place for the Xbox brand today. But SEGA also played their part in influencing Microsoft and the Xbox. How? Read on to find out!

Back then was a fascinating time in the games industry. Microsoft entered the hardware market just as SEGA were leaving, yet the Xbox brought with it many influences from SEGA's last console. To many older SEGA fans, the Xbox felt like the spiritual successor to the Dreamcast and was the closest console to SEGA's own heart. Die hard SEGA fans could not bear to look at Nintendo, or even Sony, as many believed that the PlayStation's success was somewhat related to the Dreamcast's demise.

Looking back at the release of the original Xbox, it's easy to spot where SEGA's influence touched the chunky black console.

The Technology

There were a few similarities between the Dreamcast and original Xbox. Both consoles ran a modified Windows CE operating system within their hardware, thus Microsoft were already pretty familiar with SEGA's console and how it worked when developing their own.

Even that rather infamous Xbox control pad looked like a cross between the SEGA Saturn analogue pad and Dreamcast controller.

Birth of the Xbox Controller

It is possible that SEGA had direct input during the development of the Xbox, as ex-SEGA employees in the US could have been taken on by the computing giant, plus SEGA were actively looking for buyers of the company at the time, with Microsoft as a potential buyer. There were also many rumours of the Xbox being able to play Dreamcast games, although this never came to pass.

Microsoft also continued on the trend of online gaming within their well known Xbox Live service and the Xbox featured a built-in ethernet port, just as the Dreamcast held a modem. It was of course SEGA who initially experimented with online gaming for home consoles, introducing match making and online lobbies. The original Xbox took these ideas and expanded upon it, effectively bringing online gaming to consoles at the right time, an experience which now safely rivals PC gaming.

The Games

When SEGA entered the world of software publishing, their first set of games were made primarily for the Xbox. These included the odd game from the Dreamcast's back catalogue, including Shenmue 2 and Phantasy Star Online Episode 1 & 2, but there were many unique games which appeared exclusively on the Xbox as well, including Jet Set Radio Future, Panzer Dragoon Orta, OutRun 2, Crazy Taxi 3, The House of the Dead 3, Gunvalkyrie, Otogi and more.

Jet Set Radio Future

One of the best racing games on the Dreamcast also helped to define Microsoft's new console when Metropolis Street Racer became Project Gotham Racing. There were other remnants of SEGA's history scattered across the console's games library as well, such as ex-Sonic Team staff forming Artoon and developing Blinx: The Time Sweeper for the Xbox, a platformer with obvious inspiration from Sonic and NiGHTS into Dreams.

The Dreamcast's first attempts at online gaming had an obvious impact on the online games available for home consoles today. Phantasy Star Online proved that an online RPG for consoles could work, whereas games such as Quake 3 Arena may well have lead to the popularity of the many FPS titles available now, from Halo to Call of Duty.

The Legacy

Microsoft are still going strong. Whilst the Xbox 360 may be nearing retirement, there is no doubt that the Xbox brand will continue to rival both Sony and Nintendo for quite some time, and the legacy of the Dreamcast continues to influence the games industry to this day.

The Dreamcast introduced a whole host of motion control-inspiring peripherals to the market, from the maracas of Samba de Amigo to the microphone used within that weird virtual pet sim, Seaman. Seaman itself pre-dates the voice recognition found in Kinect, and offered some rudimentary interaction, paving the way for future possibilities, such as the Milo & Kate Kinect demo. Even some of the original Panzer Dragoon team are making a Kinect-powered title, Crimson Dragon, inspired by the original Panzer Dragoon legacy.

Seaman

There are even more similarities between the Dreamcast and Xbox 360, and only within the past year have SEGA been re-releasing some of their older Dreamcast classics on Xbox Live Arcade, hopefully with more to follow in the future.

The greatest tribute to both SEGA and the original Xbox would be a HD remake or sequel to some of those amazing games which made the Xbox so great. With rumours of a HD Shenmue 1 & 2 making their way across, and the original Jet Set Radio due for re-release this year, then soon the circle will be complete.

27th March, 2012 - 19:21 GMT Tru Article viewed 7661 times 0 Comments

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