Happy 2nd Birthday, Xbox 360!

Everyone had a blast last week when Microsoft celebrated its Xbox Live online service’s fifth anniversary with its “Live is 5ive” bash. This week, we’ve got an even bigger birthday than that because the world’s first seventh-generation console is turning two. That’s right, it’s the Microsoft Xbox 360’s second anniversary! We’ll take you on a brief look back at the console that brought us such masterpieces as Gears of War, Dead Rising, Halo 3, and BioShock.

Everyone had a blast last week when Microsoft celebrated its Xbox Live online service’s fifth anniversary with its “Live is 5ive” bash. This week, we’ve got an even bigger birthday than that because the world’s first seventh-generation console is turning two. That’s right, it’s the Microsoft Xbox 360’s second anniversary!

Bill Gates and his boys shocked the world in May 12, 2005 when they unveiled the first seventh-generation game console on the planet. The first official sighting left the Xbox faithful drooling, prompting everyone to turn all their eyes on E3 that same month. In E3 2005, details concerning the Xbox 360 launch and games to come were revealed to the adoring crowd, setting the countdown to November 22 in Europe, Japan, and North America.

While the first Xbox did relatively well in terms of sales and critical reception during the last console cycle, Microsoft’s gaming division was intent on creating the machine to take over the industry in the next console war. As early as 2003, preparations have been made to develop the Xbox 360 headed by Microsoft VP J. Allard. Former Sega of America President Peter Moore was also taken in to spearhead the Xbox 360 project’s administrative front.

Several codenames were reported during the Xbox 360’s development, the most popular ones being NextBox, Xenon, Xbox 2, and Xbox FS. Whatever the official one was, we may never know, but one thing’s for sure – Microsoft had learned from its mistakes in the last console era.

Comparing the old Xbox to the comic book character Incredible Hulk, the Xbox 360 development team realized that a console with the biggest hardware chops isn’t necessarily one that will dominate all others. Ease in development and knowing the nature of your target audience was deemed more essential. With that in mind, Microsoft found another poster boy in legendary martial artist Bruce Lee -slick, hard-hitting, and totally relentless.

Key alliances with IBM and ATI were soon forged with IBM taking charge of producing the new triple core processors to drive the intense math needed for Xbox 360 games and ATI taking care of graphics cards capable of delivering high-definition visuals. Game developers soon gathered in Bellevue, Washington to have a peek at the looking glass of gaming.

The development of the Microsoft Xbox 360 was wrapped up a mere 69 days shy of the November 22 release date. With that span of time, Microsoft fast-tracked the manufacture of 400,000 Xbox 360 units which would later prove far short of consumer demand in North America and Europe.

Several reports of violence related to the Xbox 360 launch were documented as campers piled outside stores waiting for the console’s release. Due to the scarcity of these units, around 40,000 Xbox 360 units were spotted in eBay. Most were carrying inflated price tags, with some fetching rates of as much as US$ 6,000.

Realizing the high consumer demand in Europe and North America, Microsoft stepped up production with 1.5 million units shipped during 2005’s holiday season. Allocated for the U.S. were 900,000 Xbox 360s, while Europe and Japan got 500,000 and 100,000 respectively.

Good games have been in steady supply for the Microsoft platform throughout its run so far. Driven mostly by AAA titles like Gears of War, Dead Rising, Halo 3, BioShock, and many others. The Xbox 360 has the widest and most high-quality game library of any next-gen platform to date with the promise of more to come in 2008.

Not all, however, has been rainbows and butterflies with the Xbox 360. As it stands, The Xbox 360 is battling it out neck and neck against Nintendo’s casual-gaming, fast-selling Wii. On September 12, 2007 the Financial Times reported that the Nintendo Wii had surpassed the Xbox 360 in overall sales, but Microsoft says that Xbox 360 sales have more than doubled after the release of Halo 3.

Reports show that up to 2005, Microsoft’s Xbox division had lost some US$ 4 billion and counting. Microsoft explains that this is due to the strategy of selling consoles at prices lower than manufacturing costs in order to gain a market share that would support big software sales. Once this is in place, profits are expected to flow in from game sales and licensing. Microsoft expects this to happen sometime in 2008.

Hardware issues have also plagued the system. The Xbox 360’s infamous “three red lights” has created a stigma of skepticism among prospective buyers planning to get the console. Replacements and repairs from warranty returns have also cost Microsoft big, citing astronomical figures required to compensate for systems that failed.

Hardware issues, however, were minimized with work-around in Xbox 360 engineering made by Microsoft. The introduction of the Zephyr and Falcon motherboards, according to Microsoft has corrected an engineering flaw in the Xbox 360.

At the end of the day, Microsoft’s Xbox 360 is running high, remaining as the console of choice for most hardcore gamers in Europe and in the U.S. Its Xbox Live service is unparalleled in terms of depth and features, becoming a prime asset for the platform. Developers continually give it high regard when it comes to the usability of the architecture, allowing them to create better games than ever before.

Happy birthday, Microsoft Xbox 360! It’s been a great two years with you and may the good times keep on rolling!