I was thinking about blog ideas and it got me looking at my collection. I sorted through my demo discs which I've kept all these years, and it led me on a quest to revisit the Original Xbox. It will be 20 years in November since its release. That will make it like a classic car. I'm going to start with the demo discs of a particular year (the ones I have) and then play a game or two. I've even acquired a few new ones I haven't played before. Should be fun for my weekday gaming. So here's a demo disc I have from around the launch day, I believe, November 2001.
This is apparently a kiosk demo disc that a friend got for me. I was really looking for Official Xbox Magazine's first demo disc, but this is kind of neat too. I think this was used at conventions or industry events, maybe at Gamestop. When you load it and leave it be, it will autoplay all the trailers in the menu. It has one playable demo too. I'll just go down the list.
Playable Demo:
Oddworld Munch's Oddysee: This was fun but very short. It just shows you the basic controls as you run around a kind of obstacle course created, it seems, just for this demo.
Trailers:
Amped: Seems cool but I never played it, or maybe I did, who can remember that far back.
Blood Wake: Water effects are pretty great but I remember not enjoying it. Maybe they did the wave effects too well because it was hard to target. It's basically Twisted Metal with boats.
Cel Damage: It's a cel-shaded Car Wars or Twisted Metal. I love cel-shaded games but I never played this, probably.
Dead or Alive 3: I liked all the different locations in this fighting game.
Halo: Combat Evolved: This is an interesting demo because it has a narrator I can't identify. He sounds like a generic instructional narrator who tells you all the features of the game as they are demonstrated. Cheesy but I like anything Halo.
Madden NFL 2002: I saw lots of Green Bay featured; a few shots of my Eagles too. It was probably the best-looking football game at the time.
Mad Dash Racing: I remember not enjoying this. I think it's a bit strange to have a racing game all on foot and it not be Sonic. It's by Crystal Dynamics though. I had played their Project Snowblind which I liked.
NASCAR Thunder 2002: Turn left. But I like those stock car designs.
NFL Fever 2002: I actually like the action in this game better than Madden, at least in the trailer.
NHL Hitz 2002: I'm excited to play this because it seems grittier (not a reference to the Flyers mascot) and potentially easier to get into control-wise than a recent hockey game I played.
Nightcaster: I think this is a terrible trailer because it hardly shows any gameplay. I imagine it's a hack-n-slash with a strong emphasis on magic, but the trailer doesn't help me get excited about that.
Project Gotham Racing: Skillful racing ala Gran Turismo on Xbox. I remember wanting to like this back then but found it too nit-picky about precise drifts and hitting corners just right. I like my racers sloppy with lots of bump-and-grind ala Burnout.
Shrek: Open world action always seems a good choice for movie tie-in games. Maybe this is good. I think I actually played it way back when but I don't remember much about it. Maybe it's just stupid fun.
4x4 EVO 2: Offroad racing with trucks. I tried to get a copy but apparently, it's sort of rare and now too pricey for me. Looks fine though.
I was initially thinking of starting a complete OG Xbox collection but the total games amount to 997 or something like that. I have had at one time or another probably a hundred OG Xbox games but now it's down to a mere 22. I started picking up some of the cheaper ones to try out. I'll play them in between my OXM demo discs as I go through the years 2001-2006. I have a few games digitally but I'm keen to acquire complete physical games in the original cases.
So after this demo disc, I'll play the launch game Halo: Combat Evolved.
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