The release of Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S in 2020 coincides with the fifteenth anniversary of Microsoft’s best-selling console. Unforgettable.
Xbox 360 celebrates its fifteenth anniversary. This November 22 has been 15 years since the original premiere of what is undoubtedly the most successful Microsoft console of all time. Published on that date in North America, in Europe we had to wait until December 2 for the second desktop machine from the Redmond giant to land in stores; Spain included.
More than 84 million units sold worldwide
An innovative console in infrastructure, continuity in philosophy, which managed to fit in with everyone thanks to its commitment to all kinds of video games, to consolidate new intellectual properties and close large exclusive agreements that determined a catalog of titles that, seen in perspective, was sparkly.
Xbox 360 was also the console that laid the foundations of the digital market integrated into consoles, served as a cradle in home machines to the independent scene and led the online connection to a little by little established online multiplayer. Similarly, thanks to its comfortable architecture, it was postulated as “the multiplatform console”, ahead of its main competitor, PlayStation 3.
Although Microsoft began work on Xbox 360 back in 2002, with agreements with ATI and IBM for the development of the graphics processor and the core processor, it was not until 2005 that the race for its launch began. With the passage of time, different variants of the console were arriving at the stores, each one focused on responding to a specific type of audience.
Different models: improving the concept of home console
From the Xbox 360 “Core” that arrived in Spain for 299 euros (with its remembered tray), in 2007 Xbox 360 Arcade would arrive for 179.99 euros, which improved in performance, ports and comforts more adapted to the televisions of the moment. Also, Xbox 360 Premium opted for the hard drive, an aspect that would come to stay. This is how Microsoft would place its fourth version, Xbox 360 Elite, one of the most successful and versatile thanks to a hard drive of no less than 250 GB. In Spain, this model was one of the most widely used. Then came Xbox 360 S in 2010 and Xbox 360 E in 2013, both aimed at improving ventilation and solving the well-known problem of red lights.
Its 84 million units sold worldwide and a catalog of games with hits like Halo 3, 4 and Reach, Gears of War, Fable II, Kinect Sports, Forza Motorsport, Crackdown, BioShock, Mass Effect and the support of dozens of third party companies leave Xbox 360 in an indelible place in video game history.
