It's been a long run for the Xbox, and an influential one at that. With Microsoft's follow-up hardware, the Xbox 360, currently gobbling up its share of an uncontested next-generation market, and looking at what Sony and Nintendo are touting with their consoles, it's obvious the original black box had a significant impact on the industry. Back in the fall of 2001 when the Xbox launched, prospects weren't so rosy. After all, Microsoft's new product had to contend with the near simultaneous launch of Nintendo's GameCube and the already entrenched PlayStation 2. It also had to deal with a skeptical consumer base that wasn't exactly receptive to new brands of consoles (3DO, Jaguar, CD-i anyone?). Despite the fierce competition from entrenched industry giants, the Xbox managed to survive and succeed, beating out Nintendo's purple box for units sold. How was the Xbox able to pull off such a success? It didn't hurt that Microsoft has and still has one of the most recognized brand names in the world and the financial muscle to back it up. Both of these were, of course, key factors. However, Microsoft also managed to grasp what gamers really want: games. Specifically, Halo: Combat Evolved. Without this piece of software, the Xbox could very well have joined the Sega 32X and Nintendo Virtual Boy as an utter commercial failure.