Goodbye Xbox 360
Microsoft announced last year that on July 29, 2024, the Xbox 360 Marketplace would be shut down for good. The Xbox 360 console would continue to operate normally, but the ability to purchase new games through the Xbox 360 Marketplace would be permanently removed (existing purchases would still work). It marks the end of an era for the Xbox 360, which was released in the fall of 2005, and was supported for almost 20 years. Microsoft supported the Xbox 360 for almost 8 years after the console was officially discontinued, which is impressive considering how the Xbox division has been doing in recent years. At the end of the day the Xbox 360 sold 84 million units worldwide, which is in the top 10, so not bad for a console. Despite the early hardware issues, it was a successful console with a great legacy.
Modern Vintage Gamer posted a video about the closure of the Xbox 360 Marketplace, which sums up a lot of how I feel about it. Even though I am not a developer, I find the information to be quite interesting, and Modern Vintage Gamer is one of the best channels on YouTube for information on console gaming. There are a lot of Xbox 360 videos on his channel, more than I can link to, but it is worth checking out if you are interested.
I have good memories of the Xbox 360, and it is the console that I have played the most over the years. I never really used Xbox Live that much with the original Xbox, but I spent a lot of time playing online with people with the Xbox 360. This was a combination of having actual reliable internet access in the late 2000’s, and the money to afford an Xbox Live subscription. I had the original Xbox when I was in high school, and I spent a lot of time playing with friends. I played many 8 player Halo CE games with 2 Xboxes over a crossover cable, which was a lot of fun at the time and is something that does not really seem to happen anymore.
With the backwards compatible options on my current Xbox Series X console, I still play a lot of Xbox 360 games on a regular basis. I also have a 100+ collection of physical Xbox 360 games that I have been collecting for the last few years. The closure of the Xbox 360 Marketplace got me to get a few games that I was missing, as I was uncertain of how the closure would affect things.
Anyways, since it was the end of the line for the Xbox 360, I took my Xbox 360 consoles out of storage and took a picture of them:
They all still work, even the original Xbox 360 that I purchased back in 2007. I replaced the front bezel for that original console at some point, but I can’t remember for certain. I never personally experienced the Red Ring of Death issue with the original console, but I encountered them through friends and colleagues.
Xbox 360, you will be missed.