Gen Z Reacts To The Original Xbox, And It’s As Cringe-Inducing As You’d Expect

Goddamn youngsters don't know they're born...🤨

As a Gen Z-er, cringe

I work with a 20 year old gal and she's a big Xbox fan. It's so odd talking to her about gaming, because at moments I realize I'm old and she actually has no idea what I'm talking about. xD

The duke was comically big compared to other controllers when it came out, that isn’t a generational thing.

@aj102404 Yeah I got the re-release Duke update they gave us on the Xbox One, it's hooked up to my One X that I play a lot of X enhanced classics on. I simply like it for playing the original Xbox games to give them that real authentic feel. It's kinda funny going to that after gaming on the latest version of the Xbox controller for so long, it just feels so big and awkward in so many ways.

It's like you can tell why the controller S was considered a big deal back in the day. Looking back that was basically where the current Xbox controller design began, every Xbox controller since being an evolution of that design. The original Duke however, it was a one off thing, very distinctive but quickly abandoned.

I showed my nephew whose 17 Morrowind.

He laughed at the graphics.

Laughed!

Then he asked why can't I climb the buildings 😒

I feel old

@aj102404 I really hated the Duke, and I have average sized hands. But the D-pad was cumbersome, and the face buttons (A, B, X, Y, white, black) were small, oddly-shaped, and all scrunched altogether. When the controller S came out, I jumped on it.

@aj102404 as a person with stupidly large hands...i loved the Duke. this Series controller is SMALLER than the xbox one's, which is just...unfair really...

I love them trying to hook up the Xbox to the TV. I wanted to say at least it’s not the Nintendo RC switch hook up ;D

@armondo36 I honestly think platform holders need to commit to making more than one size of first party controller. I've found over the years there is no such thing as a one size fits all controller. I have pretty small hands and the XSX controller just feels perfect for me, but on the flipside, the PS5 controller feels so big I can't stand to use it. So I can relate to your frustrations here.

I can honestly say that when Xbox was new I had no inclination that graphics wouldn't improve. Idk why so many people seemed to think otherwise.

@IronMan30 To understand what made the Xbox a big deal you would have had to of experienced what came before it.

@JayJ I experienced the NES, SNES, Genesis, N64 and PS1 when they were new. None of that seemed like the pinnacle and neither did Xbox but I guess I was just weird like that.

Edit: FWIW, I still have this mindset about Series X/PC (which have the best visuals of any device, obviously just console-wise for the former). I feel like we're almost at photorealism but not there yet.

@JayJ Being a PC gamer at the time, my impression of Xbox was "oh, cool, a cheap budget PC without the hassle!"

Actually....that's my impression of Series X, too. I'm just not laughing anymore.

@FriendlyOctopus I played Morrowind on PC in 2002 and laughed at the graphics then. I played it on X1 BC and laughed again. If you can't laugh at Skyrim's graphics, you need new glasses, let alone Morrowind I love TES dearly, but Gamebryo/Creation is not kind to these games....

@mousieone Internet high five for the RF controller. Radio Shack A-B-C, spring-loaded 2 position switches. NES, SNES, Genesis. Those were the days! Oh, I want to play Sonic now (gets up, reaches behind TV, "K-THUNG" ok, now we're ready!)

But you now what? We had freaking instant input switching, zero latency, and 130hz refresh. Technology is moving, but not forward.....

@NEStalgia on Morrowind, I didn't "laugh" at the graphics but wasn't terribly impressed when the game was new. I kind of realized that most of those "bigger games" (as I used to call them) just never look that nice on consoles. I'm not heavily into PC but I do know that graphics there have always looked better than on consoles. Even if they are still not as realistic as I'd hoped they would be, by now.

@NEStalgia did you see the FF video where John got his hands on one of the best CTRs and made some comparisons! It was pretty good.

@NEStalgia Huh, graphics weren't a big deal to me back then, the game was impressive on its own merits and I loved the way it looked.

Why are we continually surprised when people born today are not immediately familiar with yesterday?

I'm Gen Z. 22 years old. I grew up with an Xbox and PS2. So, this is cringe, because plenty of the earlier gen z literally grew up with this and they're trying to make it out like no one in gen Z has ever seen it. Yeah, cringe.

@Benjamin Agreed. Personally I liked the video. There's plenty of nice moments in between the slightly cringey parts. It's always entertaining to see things from other people's perspective.

Bloomin’ young people haven’t got a piggin’ clue!

But enough about those smug, judgemental millennials, I found those Gen Zs very sweet and endearing.

What do they mean you couldn't play multiplayer then? Xbox Live came out a year after the original xbox, 19 years ago. I was so blown away playing Ghost Recon online, still remember the maps now. Glad I'm old enough to have experienced so many gaming 1st's from Atari to VR. Now playing Fortnite with my 8yr old nephew who likes to "teach me" how to play games haha.

The next generation of kids will have the same reaction to the Xbox Series X in 20 years, saying that it's "retro". I had a blast with my original Xbox, still have it and fire it up on occasion.

@IronMan30 What I meant by that is just that if you were a kid who grew up in the 90's, going from consoles like the PS1 and N64 to consoles like the PS2 and Xbox was a massive leap in technology. Graphics went from very rough looking early 3D to looking much smoother and more detailed. It's not as big of a leap as going from 16-bit to 32/64-bit, but it was the next biggest thing.

It's actually incredible to look at some X enhanced Xbox originals and realize how you are looking at games that were released the same time as PS2 versions. I say that because if you were to play an original PS2 today you would probably be amazed at how bad it looks on a modern TV, while a lot of these X enhanced originals are still good to look at today.

@JayJ I did remember a lot of people talking about Xbox and PS as if they had realistic graphics, which always felt off to me. The improvements from PS1/N64 to PS2/GCN/Xbox were massive, though. Even if, as you said, not as big as NES to SNES and Genesis. I will also agree that games from that era still look fairly nice in the right context.

@SplooshDmg I’m surprised to not see more people complaining about the size of the Dual sense. I have average size hands , but the placement of the thumb sticks and the over sized rarely used touchpad make it very awkward to hold and use for long play runs. The series X and Xbox one controllers are about as close to perfect as I could get. Even the Switch Pro controller feels pretty good.

@Rural-Bandit It was such a terrible experience for me that it resulted in me just selling the console, because there was no other option for a controller in a PS5 game. It felt like the grips were just way too thick. I couldn't grip the controller and reach the shoulder buttons without having to constantly readjust my grip on the controller. It honestly made playing a game like Demon's Souls really hard because I couldn't react as quickly as needed because I felt like I was wrestling the controller the entire time and losing. It was really, really disappointing that they wouldn't let me just use a DS4 for a PS5 game.

@SplooshDmg I mean you are spot on buddy. I was playing Ratchet and Clank and reaching the triggers and shoulder buttons felt odd. Almost like it was taking my thumbs off the sticks. It’s a neat controller and it’s an obvious sign Sony is focused on USA gamers and not as much Japan players. But I’m just surprised more gamers aren’t having placement issues like we had. Then again it’s PlayStation and they do no wrong to most. I’ve had every PlayStation ever made and I enjoy the brand for a few of their exclusives. But I’ve never loved their controllers, mostly cause of the in-line thumb sticks vs offset , their online service don’t win me over as much as Xbox’s offering. And I know non Xbox and non Nintendo fans say all those platforms have is Halo Gears and Forza or Mario and Zelda, but truth is those are my favorites outside of God of War.

@NEStalgia https://youtu.be/wvYBo7CM_Uc

I got mine for my birthday

@Rural-Bandit I've spent a little time looking online and I've found some threads and sub-reddit's with people reporting similar issues, so we definitely aren't alone, but it's not been really reported as a widespread grievance. It's a neat controller, sure. But I feel like the new features also caused the controller to bloat in size. I'd sincerely like to have a Dualsense with the same form factor as the DS4. I didn't have an Xbox last gen, but I have grown to prefer the offset thumb sticks. I think it just makes more sense for most games. There's definitely no question that Xbox has put in a lot of work to get back to where they are now, but that's business. Example, In 1997 Apple was on the verge of going completely bust, and in 2021 they're the second most valuable company in the world. So you just never really know what's going to happen. But either way, we have three platform holders all selling record numbers of their respective products and all promising a strong lineup of exclusive titles. But people on the internet still act like every company is just one missed exclusive away from bankruptcy. People are weird.

@mousieone OMG, Doogie Howser is old and gray. I need to lie down.....

@SplooshDmg I agree. I’ve been a Apple fan for 20 years I just turned 40, I remember the days of them getting money from Microsoft, issued from a federal court about Microsoft being a monopoly. Things can change for better or worse quickly. But the big 3 are moving units and games like you mentioned and are poised to have a great Gen. Microsoft did do a lot to make Xbox a force again and personally I think they are just getting started. When a company worth a trillion dollars gets some good ideas and they smell blood in the water so to say, I look for them to continue to push and gain more titles and market share. I just want a switch 2 so it will look better on the LG oled I just bought last month.

@Rural-Bandit Lol yep. I don't think when that first iPod rolled off the line that anyone saw what Apple would be two decades later. People neglect to realize that Microsoft isn't performing better with just Xbox, but most all of their products and services really. They've always been a huge company, but it's pretty much undebatable that Nadella is a leader that Ballmer just never was. Nadella see's the benefit of how each division of Microsoft can work with and aid other divisions, and that strongly includes gaming. It's been a solid first year for Xbox, but I'm with you, this has only just begun.

Oh, the Switch. I respect it, and Nintendo makes fabulous games, but god that hardware kills me. I just have no desire to play a handheld, and I just do not like the experience the Switch offers as an actual home console.

Yeah that’s for sure. I bought all the iPods and a Mac before the iPhone came out. Then Apple exploded in success I don’t think their biggest fan would have dreamed off. For sure Microsoft upper management is clicking. They are the leader in cloud storage , building great hardware with Xbox and surface. I think Microsoft is in great hands. Sure they don’t have a phone to compete with Apple or Samsung , no watch etc etc. but Sony and Sega are using azure and I think that list will continue to grow. I just want Xbox to be the premier place for great games and services and I think that’s well on its way in just year one. Nintendo who knows. I mostly agree with you on them. But me and my girl love to drink beers and play Mario kart.