Xbox Games

Although the console has always enjoyed strong third party support from the beginning, many early Xbox games did not take full advantage of its powerful hardware, with few additional graphical improvements or features to distinguish them from other consoles. The console launched with titles such as Project Gotham Racing and Dead or Alive 3, although the most popular and successful game by far was Halo, which remains one of the console's standout titles to this day. However, the failure of a number of Microsoft games such as Azurik: Rise of Perathia and Nighcaster II damaged the initial public reputation of the Xbox.

However, during the following years, several releases helped the Xbox to gain momentum and distinguish itself from the PlayStation 2. Several critically acclaimed and best-selling titles for the Xbox were published, such as LucasArts' Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell and Ninja Gaiden, along with the release of games that were previously exclusive to the PS2, such as Grand Theft Auto III and its sequels. In 2004, the sequel to Halo set records as the highest-grossing release in entertainment history, making over $100 million in its first day.

Games for the Xbox were further popularised by the launch of the Xbox Live online gaming service in November 2002, which enabled subscribers to download new content for their games to the system's hard drive and play online games with (or against) other players from around the world. By 2005, membership of Xbox Live (which worked by broadband connection only), had reached 2 million, with competitive leagues created that offered players prizes and sponsorships.

The following titles were some of the most critically acclaimed games released for the Xbox: