00:00The original Xbox launched in Europe on March 14, 2002.
00:04So to celebrate its 14th birthday,
00:06we've got our hands on a super rare, box-fresh, crystal-clear classic.
00:11Let's unbox!
00:14Well, here we are folks.
00:15Here is the box for the Crystal Edition original Xbox.
00:19You can see on the front, we've got that massive original Xbox logo.
00:24You can see the Crystal box here itself
00:26and the Crystal S controller there as well.
00:30I love this kind of crystal-y, icy effect.
00:33This is where things get quite interesting, right?
00:35Because we've got, you know, a selection of original Xbox games on the back here.
00:40Halo 2, you'll have played that.
00:42The very first Forza Motorsport there.
00:45FIFA Football 2005 with Freddie Lundberg playing for Arsenal
00:49and that is actually a young Wayne Rooney playing for Everton there.
00:52So that's pretty cool.
00:53We've got Star Wars Battlefront, obviously the original back in the day.
00:57Fables in there, Pro Evo Soccer 4.
01:00And the thing I think is really interesting about this
01:01is there is a screenshot of Cameo Elements of Power
01:05which was originally slated for the original Xbox, you know, from Rare
01:09but actually didn't turn up until it became a launch title for the Xbox 360.
01:14Now, I'm kind of feeling a bit weird about opening this up.
01:17It's been in storage in a secret Xbox UK bunker for 14 years
01:21so taking it out of the box feels a bit like the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark
01:24but hopefully I'm not going to get my face melted off.
01:29But before we do that, here's a quick history lesson.
01:36The original Xbox launched in the US on November the 15th, 2001
01:40complete with a relatively unknown game called Halo
01:43and a controller so big that it was visible from space.
01:47A Japanese launch followed in February 2002
01:49with the European launch landing on March the 14th, 2002.
01:54The original Xbox came in a black and green finish and sold.
01:57Well, let's just say it didn't worry the hotcakes too much.
02:01To try and stimulate sales in Europe, 20,000 translucent green Xboxes
02:05were unleashed on the console's first birthday
02:07bundled with two of the new and smaller S controllers.
02:10Again, sales were pretty slow
02:11so on the console's second birthday in 2004
02:14the European Xbox team had another pop with a crystal Xbox
02:18which brings us to...
02:21this.
02:22Right, let's get this open because I've waited long enough.
02:25Now, bear in mind this came out in March 2004.
02:28Starsky and Hutch was the number one film in the UK
02:30and Yeah by Usher was the number one song in the chart
02:34so I'm hoping that the air inside here still smells a bit like that.
02:39And yes, there's definite hints of 2004 in here.
02:43Right, let's have a look.
02:44Got some nice blue wrapped up stuff in here.
02:47Let's pull this all out.
02:49Here, there is your still wrapped power cable.
02:52You always need one of them.
02:54There is a SCART adapter
02:56if you remember when SCART cables went into your television.
02:59and more component audio and video cables there.
03:03And here is the crystal Xbox S controller.
03:09And I'll tell you what, that is a good looking controller.
03:16So you get the translucent sense there, you can actually see the circuit boards and the switches inside
03:21which is a really nice touch.
03:23Now, the original Xbox launched with the Duke controller.
03:27The S controller was a redesign that came out about six to nine months afterwards.
03:32A lot smaller and actually looking at it now and feeling it feels actually really similar
03:37to the Xbox 360 controller and the Xbox One controller that you'll be used to now.
03:42It doesn't actually feel that different.
03:44There are a few differences though.
03:46Obviously, the feel of it slightly changed, slightly different on the sides here.
03:51Instead of bumper buttons at the top, it's got this white and black button underneath the face buttons here.
03:57The analog sticks are in the same place.
03:59D-pads in the same place.
04:00Your start and select buttons have been moved over here instead of in the center of the controller.
04:05And then if we look at the back,
04:06you'll see that the trigger buttons are actually a little bit recessed into the back of the controller.
04:14So that feels quite different as well.
04:16But in terms of the dimensions and the feel in the hand,
04:18not that different to what we're used to today, so that's pretty impressive.
04:22These big holes on the top were actually for memory units.
04:24So for all your save games, things like that, you would plug them into your controller
04:28and that would let you access that stuff.
04:30And of course, back in the day, all the controllers were wired as standard.
04:36So that's the controller. I love it.
04:41Let's get into the main event, the console itself.
04:45Now, you'll have heard that original Xboxes are pretty heavy.
04:51You'll remember that yourself as well.
04:53Oh, look at this. We've got the original documentation in here as well.
04:56There's all your manuals and all that kind of stuff.
04:59And here is the console itself.
05:01Let's pull it out.
05:02Now, actually, it doesn't feel as heavy as I kind of remember.
05:06I suppose probably not that much difference to a Xbox One these days.
05:13This is nice. Look, it's still got the protective film on top as well.
05:16This is going to make a nice noise when we pull this off.
05:22Like taking a plaster off. That is absolutely brilliant.
05:25And check that out. That is a good-looking console, is it not?
05:30It is a classic.
05:32Big and meaty, but an absolute beaut.
05:35So let's have a look around.
05:36You've probably seen the translucent green original Xbox.
05:41As I say, this is the Crystal Edition.
05:43Now, a bit of a fun fact about that.
05:45There was a lot of debate in the European Xbox team at the time
05:48about what to call this edition of the console.
05:51The two front-running names were Ice and Crystal.
05:54And after about four weeks of debate, I'm told they settled on Crystal
05:58because it was the name that meant more in all of the European markets
06:01that the original Xbox was launched in at the time.
06:05Right, so let's have a look at some of these differences here.
06:07You've got your eject button and power button on the front of the console.
06:10There's still actually a bit of protective film on there.
06:13Oh, it feels like sacrilege pulling this off, but I'm going to do it anyway.
06:18Yes! Look at that. Fantastic.
06:20And you can see through into the back some of the switches there.
06:23You've got your four controller ports on the front of the console,
06:27so no wireless controllers.
06:28You actually had to plug them in at the front there, so that's pretty cool.
06:32You've got your disc drive on the front, it plays compact discs.
06:36How about that, if you remember them?
06:38Let's have a look around the side.
06:40You've got your venting there, and then the back of the console looks a lot cleaner
06:45and a lot less going on than like an Xbox One or other consoles that you'll be used to today.
06:51So power cord goes in over here.
06:54Here is your audio and video input and output, and this, we're totally used to seeing this now,
07:02an Ethernet port, but at the time when the original Xbox was launched,
07:06people thought Microsoft was a bit mad for putting this in the console.
07:10Dreamcast had had one already and didn't necessarily do very well.
07:14And at the time that this was on, in the UK, only about 25% of internet users had even
07:19had access to broadband.
07:20So that was a pretty forward-looking thing for Microsoft and Xbox to do at the time.
07:25But as we know, broadband is pretty much everywhere now, and Xbox Live launched, and the rest is history.
07:36Okay, so on the inside, with the CPU, you've got a 733MHz x86 Intel Celeron Pentium 3 with a custom
07:45hybrid CPU.
07:47And on the GPU is a 233MHz NVIDIA custom GeForce 3 NV2A DirectX 8.0-based GPU. Look at that.
07:57In terms of memory, you've got 64MB DDR-SDRAM at 200MHz in dual-channel 128-bit configuration.
08:06giving 6400Mbps. Now, none of that meant anything to me, but in layman's terms, your Xbox One has a lot
08:14more than all of that.
08:18Well, there it is, folks. This is now heading to be a museum piece behind glass at Xbox UK headquarters.
08:25It's been a real pleasure and actually quite a privilege for me to open it up.
08:29For me, it's a reminder of how far we've come in the last 14 years.
08:33But I've also found it quite fascinating to see how close the Xbox One controller stays to the S controller,
08:39and how the special edition consoles and controllers that I really love have always been part of Xbox's DNA.
08:46Now, if you want to see more ultra-rare Xbox console special editions, you can check out my Top 9
08:51of All Time video.
08:53Leave us a like if you enjoyed this. Comment below to share your own memories of this gorgeous console.
08:58And if you haven't done it already, you should totally subscribe to Xbox One on YouTube.
09:02Seriously, I'm not getting a pay rise until you've done it, so please.
09:06Thank you!
Commenti