Dragon Ball

Some ideas from Journey to the West are borrowed later in the series.
. There are many parallels between Journey to the West and Dragon Ball. As the architectures are entirely different between Xbox and Xbox 360, unlike other backward compatible consoles such as the PlayStation 2, software emulation is the only viable option for compatibility. Most notably, the character of Bardock (Gokū 's father) was originally an anime-creation. (Games in emulation add support for the Xbox 360's higher screen resolution and anti-aliasing abilities.) These emulators are periodically updated to add compatibility for older games; these updates are available for free on Xbox Live for those with the hard drive. Backstory added in the anime was accepted in the manga. When equipped with a removable hard drive add-on, the Xbox 360 supports a limited subset of the Xbox's library (more than 200 games at US launch) through emulation.

In a very small number of cases however, the inverse was true. [17]. There are many instances in the anime where back-story which was filled in by the anime writers was directly contradicted by backstory written later in the manga. NVIDIA ceased production of the Xbox's GPU in August of that year, which almost certainly marks the end of Xbox production and the quick release of the Xbox 360 featuring a new GPU from NVIDIA's rival ATI. While this led to getting the episodes released rapidly, the pacing resulted in a large amount of "filler" material needing to be added to the anime to flesh out the episodes to keep them from catching up. Microsoft's next generation Xbox, the Xbox 360, was released on November 22, 2005. Throughout most of the writing of the manga, the anime was being written and produced just behind the point where the manga was being concurrently published. To avoid frustrating early adopters, they offered a bundle containing two games and one controller for free to any purchaser who could provide a sales receipt showing the original higher price.

It is notable that the "Z" of Dragon Ball Z is pronounced "Zed" in the Japanese opening, WE GOTTA POWER.. Microsoft countered with a £100 price drop (and its equivalent in the rest of Europe) some scant months after launch. Another interpretation is that Toriyama hand-wrote its title as Dragon Ball 2 and somebody misread the figure 2 as a Z. With a price-dropped PlayStation 2 and a comparatively inexpensive GameCube as competition, many users were naturally reluctant to invest in the console. Other, fan-given "Z" theories include the naming of the ensemble group of main characters as the "Z Warriors" or "Z Fighters" in episode titles and promotional materials (they are never referred to that way in the anime itself) or based on the "Detekoi Tobikiri ZENKAI Power" theme song in the ending credits. Obviously, ignoring the GBP-USD exchange rate in the way gives the impression of a 100% mark-up for Europe. The official meaning, as stated by the author, is that the letter was chosen because it was at the end of the alphabet, echoing Toriyama's desire that the series soon end. As with many games consoles (for example, the PlayStation series), the Xbox was launched with a price in GBP equal to its US price in USD (in this case, $/£299), and this price then converted for the rest of Europe.

The "Z" in Dragon Ball Z is rumored to have many meanings. Of note is the high European launch price. In general, the translation of the manga is considered to be closer to the translation of the anime as factors such as mouth movement are not taken into consideration. Oceania. Similarly, the names of "Gokū" and "Gohan" lack the family name "Son" in the anime. Europe. For example, the character of "Lunch" in the manga is retranslated as "Launch" in the anime. North America.

There are additional differences between the US edition of the manga and the US edition of the anime, but those are primarily due to differences in translation. Recently, the firmware to the newer optical drives was edited to allow signed code to play. Dragon Ball GT is the sequel to DBZ but is not based on any manga (unlike Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z, Akira Toriyama was not directly involved with the production of Dragon Ball GT, though he did create many of the character designs and a few of the plot ideas in the series). Modding your Xbox in this manner will definitely void your warranty, since it requires you to disassemble the console. DBZ takes up the story 5 years after DB leaves off, with the introduction of Gokū's young son and the arrival of a new, more powerful foe. There are now sites that offer to modify the software on your Xbox for free. DB follows Gokū's adventures as a 12 year old up to his marriage as an 18 year old-- roughly the sagas that had the most fantasy and humor elements. Probably the most legal way of modding the Xbox is replacing the whole motherboard so that you can install Linux or any other operating system designed for PC without having to hack anything.

Both Dragon Ball (DB) and Dragon Ball Z (DBZ) anime are based on the same original Dragon Ball manga. One such successful use of Live to discourage modding was when the hit game Halo 2 was released, and many owners of modded consoles found out that they were permanently banned from the Xbox Live service, but was retaliated with On-Off switchable Modchips (or add-ons) and XBOX Live friendly softmods from XBOX hackers community. The Dragon Ball Z manga remains censored, although many volumes (prior to volume 17) are technically uncensored since they did not contain any objectionable material. As of November 2004, Microsoft has been taking new actions for banning Xboxes with hard drive modifications from the Xbox Live service. Popo's lips were removed), including rereleases of the previously censored volumes 1 through 3. Also, most internal hardware modifications will render an Xbox unable to participate in Xbox Live, which has forced many modders to use a switch that turns on and off their modifications. By the end of 2004, all Dragon Ball manga had been released almost uncensored (Mr. Modding an Xbox may require opening the Xbox case, and would certainly void the Xbox's warranty.

Originally, both of these releases were censored for nudity and some graphic content. A modded Xbox can even be configured into a computer running Linux, FreeBSD, or Microsoft Windows CE operating systems. As previously mentioned, the Dragon Ball manga is published as both Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z in American editions. Beyond gaming, a modded Xbox can be used as a media center with the Xbox Media Center software (XBMC) allowing the playing of DVDs without the DVD dongle/remote and streaming of music and video files from the hard drive or from another computer over a network. Furthermore, the downfall of most of the antagonists is their own self-importance, their belief that because of their power, they are untouchable. This process does require a modded Xbox using one of the alternative dashboards, and is used by scrupulous users to eliminate load times or leave their games in storage, and by unscrupulous users to play illegally copied games. Son Gokū remains the very strongest martial artist, and he trains for no other reason than for self-improvement. This allows the user to spare game disks from scratching and allows for faster load times.

Throughout the series, the protagonists never cease in their martial arts training. Then Xbox games can be copied from the DVD to the hard disk with programs such as DVD2Xbox and PxHDDLoader, and then played directly from the hard drive. Dragon Ball is also significant in its theme of self-improvement and piety. The original hard drive can be replaced with a larger one. This style of redemption is not unique to Dragon Ball (it is often seen even in American comic books), but it is significant that it persisted even through other major shifts in style and tone. This is especially attractive as the Xbox is designed to output to TVs, and high-quality controllers and arcade sticks are available for it. Boo). This allows running an alternate dashboard such as UIX, Avalaunch, Evolution-X or UnleashX and in turn makes playing original (free) homebrew games or various older games through arcade and console game emulators possible.

This theme was evident from the beginning (with the conversion of Yamcha, Oolong, and Pu'erh) and continued even to the last saga (with the acceptance of Mr. Software modding is much less intrusive, and only involves running software exploits to trick the Xbox into running unsigned program code. Nearly every major character in the manga entered the series as a villain but was, through one method or another, converted to the side of good (often, this would entail a temporary team up to defeat a greater foe, but somehow the former enemies rarely found the motivation to begin fighting again). [15][16]. For all its martial arts bravado, the story of Dragon Ball centers primarily around a theme of redemption, generally through exposure to the "pure" ideals of Son Gokū and Son Gohan. He was sentenced to 140 hours community service, ordered to pay £750 costs at a court in Caerphilly, Wales, and his computer equipment was confiscated. The Majin Buu saga features more of the humor and fantastic plot elements that were present in the very early volumes of the manga. It is the first conviction since the Directive was enacted in October 2003 in the UK.

The Majin Buu saga (volumes 36-42) is the last arc of Dragon Ball manga. (The Directive makes it illegal to circumvent copy protection systems on hardware including video game consoles). It was between this series and the last series that creator Akira Toriyama stopped measuring characters' power levels in the stories, deciding that it limited the stories. This was the first conviction of its kind in the UK. The Cell Saga (volumes 29-35) introduced the Jinzôningen, a mysterious Saiyan called Trunks, and the enigmatic Cell. In July 2005, a 22 year old Cambridge University graduate was convicted under the EU Copyright Directive for modifying Xboxes and selling them with an upgraded 200 GB hard drive, which was pre-loaded with 80 games. After two subsequent transformations, he reveals that he is still at only 1% of his "full power.". Hardware modding can involve anything from simply replacing the console's green decorative "jewel" with a custom-designed one to opening up the case and installing a modchip.

He then transforms into a more powerful fighter, at which point his power level is over a million. The recent popularity of the Xbox has inspired efforts to circumvent the built-in hardware and software security mechanisms (sometimes in order to use the Xbox as a low cost web server), as well as to add customized design touches to the console's case (similar to PC case modding). humans are 5) of 500,000. The Xbox API is similar to DirectX version 8.1, but is non-updateable just like other console technologies. For example, the antagonist Freiza has a "power level" (the series' futuristic measure of a fighter's speed and strength, i.e. Microsoft's set of low-level APIs for game development and multimedia purposes, DirectX, was used as a basis for the Xbox's hardware programming. It also set the tone for more and more awesomely powerful characters. This output selectivity is made possible by the Xbox's SCART-like AVIP port.

The Freiza saga is noteworthy for introducing the first Super Saiyan, now a staple of the series. Numerous unofficial third-party cables and breakout boxes exist that provide combinations of outputs not found in these official video packages; however, with the exception of a few component-to-VGA transcoders and custom-built VGA boxes, the four official video packages represent all of the Xbox's possible outputs. This begins the Freiza saga (volumes 21-28). Included with the Hello Kitty Crystal console was a matching Crystal Controller S and a copy of Hello Kitty Mission Rescue. After the defeat of Vegeta and the conclusion of the Saiyan saga, the survivors of the vicious Saiyan assault head off to the Planet Namek to resurrect their friends who were killed by the Saiyans. A limited production run of 550 units was sold at a retail price of S$99 (US$61), if you purchase selected Samsung LCD TVs during a promotion. Space travel, alien threats, and powerful cyborgs take center stage instead of more fantastic villains. The special edition console was translucent with a pink and orange Hello Kitty picture covering the X on top of the case.

Many of the characters which previously had fantasy origins (Gokū, Piccolo, etc.) are recast as aliens from other planets. The Hello Kitty Crystal Xbox was released with Sanrio in Singapore, to commemorate the release of Hello Kitty Mission Rescue on the Xbox. Starting with introduction of Gokū's first son, things begin to take a much more serious and harder sci-fi approach. Included with the neon green console was one of two games: Project Gotham Racing 2 or Amped 2. Dragon Ball fully transformed into an action based shonen manga at the onset of the Saiyan saga (volumes 17-20). Dew logo under the Xbox name. This began the Piccolo Daimaô saga (volumes 13-17) in which the manga enters a darker tone compared to its earlier volumes. The Mountain Dew Limited Edition Xbox was neon-green colored and had a special jewel atop the Xbox that had the words "Limited Edition" and the Mt.

A subtle but significant change in mood began after Goku's best friend Krillin was killed. Production numbers are unknown. The overall mood of the title is light with very few deaths and an emphasis on adventure and humor. The sweepstakes spanned 5 months – from April to August – in 2004. Despite the fantasy elements, the world does contain advanced technology including space-saving capsules which are pocket sized but can expand into almost any object, flying cars, and similar "near future" trappings. The Mountain Dew Limited Edition Xbox was only available through a Mountain Dew sweepstakes requiring loyal Dew-drinking Xbox fans to amass 550 points in order to "buy" the Limited Edition Xbox. Notable fantasy elements include not only the monkey boy Gokū and the balls themselves, but also many talking animal characters, unlikely martial arts techniques, and characters identified as gods and demons. Included with the Ice Blue console was a matching Controller S, and a copy of Halo 2.

The earlier volumes of the manga (volumes 1-12) are primarily humorous fantasy stories, but containing some minor sci-fi elements. The console was translucent blue and retailed for approximately $249. During those years, the tone and the style of the stories gradually changed to reflect the tastes of the readers and the editors of Japanese Shonen Jump. On March 18, 2005, an Ice Blue Halo 2 Limited Edition Xbox was released in Canada and Asia. The story of Dragon Ball unfolded gradually over 11 years of publication. The original retail price was ¥22'800 yen ($215), and included the translucent blue console with a matching Controller S, a DVD Playback Kit, an Xbox Live Starter Kit with a free one-year membership, a copy of Dead or Alive Online, and a five-foot-long Kasumi body pillow. . The translucent blue case was based on the costume of Dead or Alive's main character, Kasumi, and had "Dead or Alive Online" written in white lettering in the lower left corner of the top of the case.

In the beginning of the story however, A 16 year old genius girl named Bulma has created a "Dragon Radar" to detect the balls and making the process far easier than it was intended to be. The system had a limited manufacturing run of 5,000 units, and was released simultaneously with Tecmo's fighting game, Dead or Alive Online. In times past, it would take generations to search the world and gather the balls. On March 25, 2004, a Kasumi-chan Blue Xbox console was released in Japan. After the wish is granted, the balls are scattered again across the landscape and become inert for a year. 200,000 of these Xboxes were produced. When assembled together, they can be used to summon the dragon Shen Long (Shenron) who will grant one wish (within limits). The version of Halo that came with this bundle was identical to other versions of Halo, with the exception of a "NOT FOR RESALE" notice placed on the front of the game case.

The Dragon Balls are seven magical spheres which are scattered across the world. The console case featured the Halo logo and the words "Special Edition"; the controller had a jewel that had the Halo logo in place of the normal Xbox logo. The titular Dragon Balls are one component of the universe, but are not the focus of most of the plot lines of the title. This version was translucent green and came with a copy of Halo: Combat Evolved and a matching translucent green Controller S. He is not without help, however: the comic boasts a large ensemble cast of martial artist heroes and villains which provide the conflict that drives the story. On March 14, 2004, Microsoft released a special version of the Xbox in the United States, Australia and New Zealand. During his life, he fights many battles and eventually becomes (arguably) the strongest martial artist in the universe. A Crystal Controller S was also availible separately.

The story of Dragon Ball follows the life of Son Gokū, a monkey-tailed boy loosely based on the traditional Chinese folk tale Journey to the West (西遊記), from his life and adventures as a child all the way up to being a grandfather. The Crystal console was re-released on October 8, 2004 in a new bundle (but with only one controller) at the normal Xbox price of €149/£99. Viz titles the second part of the manga Dragon Ball Z to reduce confusion for American audiences. It is unknown how many Crystal Limited Editions were produced, however; later bundles were released pairing a re-released Crystal Xbox with different Xbox games and Xbox Live subscriptions. In parallel to these releases, VIZ Media is in the process of releasing the 42 volumes (nearly matching the first Japanese set) in English. With a price tag of €199/£139, the Crystal Limited Edition came with a transparent console and two matching Crystal Controller S. The Dragon Ball Z manga was transitioned into a launch title for the new US edition of the Shonen Jump anthology, starting in January 2003. On March 14, 2004, the Crystal Limited Edition Xbox was released in Europe to celebrate the Xbox's European birthday.

This style of release was unsuccessful due to its large size and expensive cost ($2.95 for an issue of 2, later 3, chapters), and both series were cancelled in 2002. Included with the Pure White console was a matching Controller S, a DVD Playback Kit, and an Xbox Live Starter Kit with a free one-year membership and voice communicator. See below). The original retail price for the Pure White Limited Xbox was ¥19'800 yen ($186) and was only available for purchase online at the Official Xbox Japan website between the dates of January 30 and February 6, 2004. In the US, the manga was first released as two American-style comic books: Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z starting in 2000 (the split corresponds to the two different anime series, though the original Japanese manga does not distinguish between them. The words "Limited Edition 2004" were also carved into the jewel of the console, and into the exclusive Controller S (right below the Xbox name). In 2004, the manga was re-released in a 34 volume collection (called Kanzenban) which included a slightly rewritten ending, all new original covers, and original color artwork from its Weekly Jump run. The system had a limited manufacturing run of 1,000 units and allowed purchasers to personalize their console with up to twenty letters (Japanese characters not allowed) engraved on the case.

Dragon Ball (ドラゴンボール) (Doragon Bōru) is a Japanese manga by Akira Toriyama serialized in the weekly anthology magazine, Weekly Shonen Jump, from 1984 to 1995 and originally collected into 42 individual books called Tankōbon. On February 22, 2004, a Pure White Limited Xbox Console was released in Japan, to commemorate the console's two-year anniversary in that country. So he vented his feelings in manga format. The Translucent Green Limited Edition Xbox was also released in Candada and came with one matching Controller S and two games, Crimson Skies and Project Gotham Racing 2. He recently found out that Tenma like Karasuma. The green Controller S was also sold separately. He was fighting Karasuma in a DBZ-like fight. The styling of the Translucent Green Xbox is identical to Debug Units used in game development; of course, the retail versions lacked the words "Debug Unit" on the front of the case.

In the anime School Rumble, an episode had Harima turn Super Saiyan in a manga he was writing. The console came with two matching Controller S and retailed for €229/£149. Also, Cosmo accidentally released two Kamehameha attacks from his hands. On May 2, 2003 a Translucent Green Limited Edition Xbox was released in Europe to celebrate Xbox's one-year European birthday. Also, the character's drawing style were a direct reference to Toriyama's early style, and while Timmy wears a white gi similar to Gokū 's orange gi, Vicky wears a black cape with shoulder protection, similar to Piccolo's. Included with the Special Edition console was a matching white Controller S, an Xbox Component A/V cable, an Xbox Component AV pack, a copy of Panzer Dragoon Orta with its soundtrack CD, and a dragon head necklace. The series was called Maho Mushi, and there, a Tenka-ichi Budōkai-like tournament was being held, with the announcer being almost the same as in Dragon Ball. The Panzer Dragoon Orta Special Edition was priced at ¥35'800 ($358) and could only be pre-ordered on November 1, 2002 through Sega Direct.

The Fairly OddParents TV movie Channel Chasers featured a fictional series parodying Dragon Ball. The console's special features included a white case with the Panzer Dragoon Orta logo in top's the lower left hand corner, as well as some artwork from Orta surrounding the Xbox jewel. In an episode of Codename: Kids Next Door, Number 4 relates his fight with the delightful children from down the lane to Gokū 's fight with Freeza in a flashback. This Special Edition had a limited production of 999 units; however, it is rumored that there are actually 1,049 units in total. Many similarities to Dragon Ball can be seen in the One Piece manga. This quickly became the most sought-after Xbox to date. Toriyama is a self-professed fan of One Piece, which he was introduced to by his children. On December 19, 2002, a Panzer Dragoon Orta Special Edition Xbox was released in Japan to commemorate the release of Panzer Dragoon Orta on the Xbox.

He stated that it was Toriyama that influenced him and that he holds Dragon Ball in high-esteem. Included with the Clear Black console was a matching Clear Black Controller S, an Xbox Component AV pack, and a key chain that had Bill Gates' signature and the console's serial number engraved in it. Eiichiro Oda, the author of One Piece, stated in an interview that he was a big fan of Dragon Ball. The system had a limited manufacturing run of 50,000 units, and originally retailed for ¥35'800 yen. Also, in one volume of the manga, a mask resembling the face of the Dragon Ball character Chaozu can be seen in the background. In 2001, a Clear Black Limited Edition Xbox was released in Japan to commemorate the Xbox's Japanese release. This can also be seen in the fact that the titular character wears an orange gi (martial arts robe) similar to Goku's. Manufacturing photos can be found here..

Kishimoto included a picture of Arale he drew in elementary school. Microsoft extended the warranty on those first generation Xboxes that came with faulty drives and fixed them for free, unlike Sony and their first generation PS2s. Masashi Kishimoto states in his manga Naruto that he was influenced by Toriyama. Several internal hardware revisions have been made in an ongoing battle to discourage modding (hackers continually updated modchip designs in attempt to defeat them), cut manufacturing costs, and to provide a more reliable DVD-ROM drive (some of the early units' drives gave Disc Reading Errors). In another chapter of Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo, while facing Kanemaru, Bo-bobo states something about a high wind air-pressure technique, it turns out that Bo-bobo had a picture board of Kulilin, Gokū and Piccolo with Dragon Balls spread over the board. This Japanese controller (which was briefly imported by even mainstream video game store chains, such as GameStop) was subsequently released in other markets as the "Xbox Controller S", and currently all Xbox consoles come with a "Controller S", while the original controller (known as Controller "0" or "The Duke") was quietly discontinued. It had Jelly Jiggler (Tokoro Tennosuke) and Don Patch/Poppa Rocks (Don Patch) recreating the first battle between Son Gokū and Vegeta respectively, but the order and development is messed up. In response to these criticisms, a smaller controller was introduced for the Japanese Xbox launch.

The manga series Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo had many references to Dragon Ball and a one-off chapter making a parody of it. The original game controller design, which was particularly large, was similarly often criticized since it was ill-suited to those with small hands. In Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon, the hero Goemon after finishing a certain training, goes to the "Sudden Impact" state, in which his hair grows bigger and its color becomes yellow. However, the Xbox has also pioneered safety features, such as breakaway cables for the controllers to prevent the console from being yanked from the shelf. In The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, Mandy is shown to eat a Chicken Ball which makes her transform into a Super Saiyan. Because of this, the Xbox has found itself a target of mild derision, as gamers poke fun at it for things like a warning in the Xbox manual that a falling Xbox "could cause serious injury" to a small child or pet. Many people consider this to be a plagiarism of DBZ but it was actually suggested to Katsura by Toriyama himself. This is largely due to a bulky tray-loading DVD-ROM drive and the standard-size 3.5" hard drive.

In Masakazu Katsura's manga DNA², the main character can turn into a Super Saiyan-like state, gaining golden hair and the ability to use special abilities. The Xbox itself is much larger and heavier than its contemporaries. In an episode of Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi, Sasshi fights in a martial arts match while dressed as Bruce Lee, and near the end, transforms to a Super Saiyan and performs the Kamehameha. The Xbox does not use Windows CE due to Microsoft internal politics at the time, as well as limited support in Windows CE for DirectX. Also, in the anime version, there is a dragon ball shown on a poster. Therefore if the Xbox crashes, the only way to recover is to reboot the console as there is no multitasking support on Real Mode. In the manga, Yu-Gi-Oh!, the main character, Yûgi Mutô, relates the Millenium Puzzle's power with wishes granted by the dragon balls. That is why Xbox is running on Real Mode and not Protected Mode as seen on Windows 2000.

In the OVA, Puni Puni Poemy, Poemi is shown with a collection of Dragon Balls. Although the Xbox is based on commodity PC hardware and runs a stripped-down version of the Windows 2000 kernel using APIs based largely on DirectX 8.1, it incorporates changes optimized for gaming uses as well as restrictions designed to prevent uses not approved by Microsoft. In the manga, Eyeshield 21, Yukimitsu performs the Taiyō-ken while dressed as Tenshinhan. An Xbox owner can rip music from standard Audio CDs to the hard drive so players can use their custom soundtrack in addition to the original soundtrack of Xbox games that support such feature. They also must use a technique called the Nabehameha, a direct parody of Muten Rōshi's Kamehameha. Some games support "Custom soundtracks," another particularly unusual feature allowed by the hard drive. In the anime, Excel Saga, Nabeshin teaches Pedro and Sandora to reach a certain powerful afro level, similar to the level of Super Saiyan in Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball GT. Most of the games also use it as a disk cache, for faster game loading times.

In the Sonic the Hedgehog series, both the Chaos Emeralds, and Super Sonic are nods to Toriyama's work. The Xbox was the first console to incorporate a hard disk drive, used primarily for storing game saves (eliminating the need for separate memory cards) and content downloaded from Xbox Live. Gokū finds himself in a place reminiscent of the pillars of Buddha’s palm, the location which Sun Wukong's rampage was finally put to an end. Nonetheless, most of these features were not fully exploited in its first year of launch, notably the lack of Xbox Live online multiplayer. Son Gokū's Nyoi-bô (or Power Pole) comes from Sun Wukong's magic staff that can change to any size anytime he sees fit. Also, the console cost as much as the high-end GeForce 3 video card alone in 2001, while having comparable graphics processing power (the Xbox's NV2A graphics chipset is a derivative of the GeForce 3). The equivalent to Niu Mo Wang of the original texts is Gyuumao in Dragon Ball. At the time of its introduction, the Xbox was the only game console to do so.

The equivalent to Sha Wujing of the original texts is Yamcha in Dragon Ball. The Xbox was designed to take advantage of a slowdown in the saturated PC gaming market and incorporates a built-in Ethernet adapter. The equivalent to Zhu Wuneng of the original texts is Oolong in Dragon Ball. This prediction turned out to be correct; Microsoft Game Studios, Microsoft's game division in charge of Xbox development, had its first profitable quarter reported in January 2005, thanks largely to the success of Halo 2[14]. The equivalent to Xuanzang of the original texts is Bulma in Dragon Ball (though later, it can be argued to be the role of Kulilin). Microsoft predicted that it would not make a profit on the Xbox for at least three years. The equivalent to Sun Wukong of the original texts is Son Gokū in Dragon Ball. The losses deepened when sales of the Xbox increased and when the price was reduced successive times to compete with PlayStation 2 [13].

In Dragon Ball, Bulma and her company search for the legendary dragon balls. [12] In particular, the Xbox hardware itself is a loss leader, since the console was sold at a loss even at its debut price. In the original story, the priest, Xuanzang and his company search for the legendary Buddhist scriptures in the West. Internal documents show that the Xbox division had invested $4 billion from 2000 to 2005. The large size of the hardware itself did not endear itself to the size-sensitive Japanese consumers. The Xbox has sold poorly in Japan mainly because Microsoft was unable to enlist enough local developers to cater to Japanese interests.

In Europe, the Xbox's market share is currently ahead of the GameCube, but is still behind the PlayStation 2. The Xbox has enjoyed its greatest success in North America, where an estimated 13.5 million units have been sold and where it managed for a time to outsell the PS2[11]. Although ahead of the GameCube's 18.5 million, this was far behind the PlayStation 2's 90 million (after the Xbox was discontinued in favour of the Xbox 360, the GameCube and PlayStation 2 have reached 19.8 million[9] and 100 million[10], respectively). According to company documents, Microsoft has shipped 25 million consoles to retailers worldwide at the end of 2005[8].

However, as of February 2005, estimates show the Xbox's share of the worldwide console market is only moderately ahead of the Nintendo GameCube and far behind the PlayStation 2. Some critics were initially concerned that the Xbox would allow Microsoft to extend its dominance of the PC software market to consoles. In July 2004, Microsoft announced that Xbox Live reached 1 million subscribers, and announced in July 2005 that Live had reached 2 million. 250,000 subscribers had signed on in 2 months since Live was launched [7].

This online service works exclusively with broadband. In November 2002 Microsoft released the Xbox Live online gaming service, allowing subscribers to play online Xbox games with (or against) other subscribers all around the world and download new content for their games to the hard drive. In 2005, the long-awaited Xbox-exclusive Doom 3, Half-Life 2, and Far Cry Instincts were released. That year, Microsoft and Electronic Arts reached a deal which would see the latter's popular titles enabled on Xbox Live.

In 2004, Halo 2 set records as highest grossing release in entertainment history [6] as well as being a successful killer app for the online service. In addition, many other publishers got into the trend of releasing the the Xbox version alongside the PS2 version, instead of delaying it for months. Take-Two Interactive's exclusivity deal with Sony was amended to allow Grand Theft Auto III, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and its sequels to be published on the Xbox. Several best-selling and critically-acclaimed titles for the Xbox were published, such as Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell, Ninja Gaiden, and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.

The Xbox Live online service was launched with a strong lineup including MotoGP, MechAssault and Ghost Recon. In 2002 and 2003, several releases helped the Xbox to gain momentum and distinguish itself from the PS2. Lastly, Sony countered the Xbox by making exclusivity deals for highly anticipated games such as the Grand Theft Auto series and Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. Although it enjoyed strong third-party support from its inception, many early Xbox games did not take full advantage of its powerful hardware, with few additional features or graphical improvements to distinguish themselves from the PS2 version, and this negated one of the Xbox's main selling points.

However, the failure of several first-party games (including Fuzion Frenzy [4] and Azurik: Rise of Perathia [5]) damaged the initial public reputation of the Xbox. Other successful launch titles included NFL Fever 2002, Project Gotham Racing[2] and Dead or Alive 3 [3]). Halo still remains the console's standout title. The greatest success of the Xbox's launch games was Halo: Combat Evolved, which was critically well-received [1] and one of the best-selling games of the year.

The Xbox launched in North America on November 15, 2001. The Xbox even brought high-end gaming technology to the mainstream, sporting a top of the line GeForce 3 equivalent graphics processor, a built-in Ethernet adapter, and Dolby Digital 5.1 sound. The Xbox also presented a standardized alternative to the near-endless variety of end-user configurations on the PC. Being based upon Windows and standard PC hardware, the Xbox was more familiar to developers and as a result was significantly easier to develop for in contrast to PlayStation 2's proprietary processor and operating system.

The authors concluded that the Xbox project as a direct response to the upcoming PlayStation 2. As well, a venture into the gaming console market would also diversify Microsoft's product line, which up to that time had been heavily concentrated into software. The growing video game market seemed to threaten the PC market which Microsoft had dominated and relied upon for most of its revenues. According to the book Smartbomb, by Heather Chaplin and Aaron Ruby, the remarkable success of the upstart Sony PlayStation worried Microsoft in late 1990s.

Some see the Xbox as a way to capitalize on the growing video game market, noting that the PC market growth was stagnating after the dot-com bust. In May 2000 the "Xbox Project" was officially confirmed by Microsoft. Gates said that a gaming/multimedia device was essential for multimedia convergence in the new times of digital entertainment. The rumors of a video game console being developed by Microsoft first emerged at the end of 1999 following interviews of Bill Gates.

The Xbox was initially developed within Microsoft by a small team which included Seamus Blackley, a game developer and high energy physicist. . Notable launch titles for the console include Amped, Dead or Alive 3, Halo: Combat Evolved, Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee, and Project Gotham Racing. The Xbox was Microsoft's first independent venture into the video game console arena, after having developed the operating system and development tools for the MSX, and having collaborated with Sega in porting Windows CE to the Sega Dreamcast console.

The Microsoft Xbox is a sixth generation era video game console first released on November 15, 2001 in North America and Puerto Rico, then released on February 22, 2002 in Japan, and later on March 14, 2002 in Europe. Xbox: Part Deux (Xbox XGPU Basics)" by Dave Salvator, ExtremeTech.Com, November 30, 2001, retrieved January 30, 2006. "GameCube vs. NZ$249 (2004 Q4, 2005).

NZ$299 (2004 Q2). AU$249 (2004, 2005). NZ$349 (2004). AU$299 (2004).

NZ$399 (2003). AU$349 (2003). NZ$499 NZD (3 October, 2002, Launch Price). AU$299 AUD (2005).

AU$399 AUD (2004). AU$699 AUD (26 April, 2002, Launch Price) (Quickly dropped to $399 to compete with launch of Nintendo GameCube). €99 (Spain, January 2006 promotional price). €99 (Ireland; Christmas 2005 promotional price).

£99 (August 27, 2004). €149 (August 27, 2004). £130 (2003). €199 (2003).

€249 (August 30, 2002). €299 (Launch Price (Rest of Europe) and Ireland April 26, 2002). £299 GBP (Launch Price March 14, 2002),. €479 (Launch Price (Ireland) 14 March, 2002),.

US$179 (February 6, 2006, Bundled with Forza). CAD$199 (March 29, 2004). US$149 (March 29, 2004). US$179 (May 14, (2003).

US$199 (May 15, (2002). US$299 (November 15, 2001, Launch Price). Approved by Microsoft for wireless gameplay with Xbox. Logitech 2.4 GHz wireless controller.

This system has been defeated by the Xbox hacking community, who have developed tools to modify gamesaves to work in a different console, though some unique technical information concerning the recipient Xbox must be known. Ninja Gaiden and Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball) do not support this accessory as a cheat prevention measure. Note that some recent games (e.g. Memory Unit: An 8 MB removable solid-state memory card onto which game saves can either be copied from the hard drive when in the Xbox Dashboard's memory manager or saved during a game.

The precise layout of the controls differs between the two variations of controller.

Xbox Music Mixer: A utility software bundled with a microphone that connects to an adapter that plugs into the top expansion slot of a controller. Later, as the price of the Xbox dropped, the DVD remote was bundled. Although there is nothing to prevent the Xbox from acting as a progressive-scan DVD player, Microsoft chose not to enable this feature in the Xbox DVD kit in order to avoid royalty payments to the patent-holder of progressive scan DVD playback. By selling a DVD remote separately, Microsoft was able to bundle the cost of the DVD licensing fee with it.

DVD playback was not included as a standard feature of the Xbox due to licensing issues with the DVD format that would have added extra cost to the console's base price. DVD Playback Kit: Required in order to play DVD movies, the kit includes an infrared remote control and receiver. It can also be used for DVD playback. Xbox Media Center Extender: A kit that allows Xbox to act as a Media Center Extender to stream content from a Windows XP Media Center Edition PC.

This functionality is similar to Sega's DirectLink for Sega Saturn. System Link Cable: A Cat 5 crossover cable for connecting together two consoles or a Cat 5 straight through cable used in conjunction with an ethernet hub for connecting up to four consoles, for up to 16 total players. The headset can in fact be replaced with most standard earpiece-and-microphone headsets; headset specialist Plantronics produce various officially-licensed headsets, including a special-edition headset for Halo 2. Xbox Live Starter Kit: A subscription and installation pack for the Xbox Live service, as well as a headset (with monaural earpiece and microphone) that connects to a control box that plugs into the top expansion slot of a controller.

While the official Wireless Adapter guarantees compatibility with the Xbox, almost any wireless bridge can be used. Xbox Wireless Adapter: a wireless bridge which converts data running through an ethernet cable to a wireless (802.11b or 802.11g) signal to connect to a wireless LAN. Note that while there is an "official" Xbox 'System Link' cable (a crossover cat5e cable), any PC ethernet cable can be used in the normal way treating the xbox as an NIC, eg an Xbox-Xbox connection requires a crossover cable, whereas an xbox-switch connection requires a straight-through cable. Ethernet (Xbox Live) Cable: A Cat 5 cable for connecting the Xbox to a broadband modem or router.

As Europe has no HDTV standard, no High Definition cable is currently provided in those markets. Advanced SCART Cable: The European equivalent to the Advanced AV Pack, providing a full RGB video SCART connection in place of S-Video, RCA composite and stereo audio connections (composite video and stereo are still provided by the cable, through the SCART connector, in addition to the RGB signal), while retaining the TOSLINK audio connector. Also provides analog RCA and digital TOSLINK audio outputs. High Definition AV Pack: A breakout box, intended for HDTVs, that provides a YPrPb component video signal over three RCA connectors.

Advanced AV Pack: A breakout box that provides S-Video and TOSLINK audio in addition to the RCA composite video and stereo audio of the Standard AV Cable. RF Adapter: Provides a combined audio and video signal on an RF connector. European systems come with a RCA jack to SCART converter block in addition to the cable. Comes with the system.

Standard AV Cable: Provides composite video and monaural or stereo audio to TVs equipped with RCA inputs. Dimensions: 320 × 100 × 260 mm (12.5 × 4 × 10.5 inches). Weight: 3.86 kg. Controller Ports: 4 proprietary USB ports.

EDTV and HDTV Support: 480p/720p/1080i (see game boxes for supported resolutions). PAL TV's have less than 600 horizontal lines. Note: NTSC (Non-HD) TV's have less than 500 horizontal lines. Maximum Resolution (2x32bpp frame buffers +Z): 1920(vert.)x1080(horiz)