Hacking the original Xbox + x360 is what I credit as getting me "really into computers"

For OG xbox, I was a definition script kiddie but I learned how to use FTP, how to connect via crossover cable, how to solder, the basics of what exploits are and how they work, and a ton of other skills that I use daily.

X360 required me to take the damn thing apart (which was terrifying as a 14 year old who wouldn't get a replacement if I broke things). I learned about firmware, SATA connections, the bits (I forget the name) that specify whether something was retail or not, why the exploit wouldn't let you run unsigned code, etc.

I was just a broke kid who wanted to watch movies and play games I couldn't afford, but it literally got me into tinkering and hacking, even though what I was doing wasn't much more than "follow a guide, script kiddy"

Same here for the OG Xbox. Lots of TSOP flashes for friends over SSH after booting a saved game exploit for 007: Agent Under Fire. Reading lots of the forums on xbox-scene.com. Learned to solder with a soldering iron I picked up from the local Radioshack.

Xbox modding (and similarly with the Wii) was a huge entry-level introduction to so many computer concepts.

Ditto for me with the OG XBOX. I was in high school and had no clue what I was doing with static ip addresses and crossover cables. We didn't even have a router hence the static ip address. Each cool homebrew XBE I FTP'ed over to my XBOX was another exciting adventure!

My computing journey started earlier on DOS but XBOX kept me going through a period of post 9/11 depression where the excitement of childhood and an amazing future was slowly disappearing. I stopped even playing video games after the end of the XBOX lifecycle (despite continuing to buy new gen hardware just so I could take it apart and admire the internals).

Now living in the post ChatGPT days and wondering about my future, i'm looking back wishing I could live through those late nights one more time.

Microsoft actually just tricked an entire generation of us into learning C# and .NET.

They were playing the long-con game.

For me it was creating “gift card code generator” for games like Habbo Hotel and RuneScape in C# and distribute it among my friends to get into their accounts. 14 year old me was proud of my “hacking” skills.

A +1 for me too. The Xbox modding scene taught me the foundation of my systems knowledge despite already having a Windows PC.

> Gen Z trying out the original XBOX

Gen Z is a pretty wide group. I am Gen Z and played on an original xbox. However at the time the PS3 was already out, as it came out not much later.

And in my region, the PS2 was much more popular than the xbox.

My sister however, who is only a few years younger, is definitely part of the iPad generation.

Everybody played the Wii though, hell I still play the Wii.

You do raise a good point as Gen Z is around 1997-2012 (exact dates are always a little fuzzy)

So 97 would put you around 4-5 years old when the XBOX came out. The video made it look like the XBOX was some ancient artifact to the Gen Z people. I guess if you were born in 2012 it is an ancient artifact?

[1]:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJEzvijyNmw

If you were born in 2012 you'd be born around the time GTA V was released for PS4. So the original xbox would definitely be considered ancient.