As long as I can remember I've been playing video games. My first memories of them was playing Sonic on Sega Genesis. My fondest childhood memories were of Pokémon, Roller Coaster Tycoon and The Sims. Then Medal Of Honor and Call of Duty. But it wasn't until the late 2000s until I truly fell in love with gaming and that's thanks to the Xbox 360. With the 360 store closing today I thought it was only fitting to give the greatest Xbox a proper send off.

The Early Days

I admit I wasn't much of a console gamer when the Xbox 360 launched in 2005 and wasn't paying much attention to it. I was just graduating high school and moving out to live with my girlfriend at 17 (worst decision of my life? Probably). Most of my gaming was either playing Diablo 2 or The Sims Online.

Perhaps it was a bit of a blessing I missed out on the early days. While the games at that time were incredible and a lot of them were timed exclusive, there was also a little thing called the red ring of death. It was clear looking back that Xbox was in it to win it back then even with the red ring issues. Mass Effect, Oblivion, Bioshock. Launching ahead of the PlayStation 3 paid off in a big way. Their own exclusives like Gears Of War were truly killer apps from the jump.

As an Xbox fan I'm hoping perhaps Xbox will start the next gen early like the 360 days and really put some pressure on. I doubt it but time will tell.

Danno Gets An Xbox 360

It wasn't until Christmas 2007 that I finally got an Xbox 360. All of my buddies had just gotten one and were talking non stop about the latest Call Of Duty, which to this day is still the best Call Of Duty I might add. So I was convinced I needed one to join my buddies. And boy did we play Call Of Duty. We were all super competitive teenagers who were used to crushing Diablo 2 and Medal Of Honor so we got competitive with Modern Warefare and got damn good at it.

This is also why I've been an Xbox gamer. People constantly ask me why and why not PlayStation and accuse me of some brand loyalty. It was simply where my buddies at the time played and that's how I got into it and stuck with it. If they all bought PlayStation 3's instead I'd be a PlayStation gamer today. But back to the story...

We now sometimes joke about it, that if Esports were anything like they are today maybe we'd be rich by now. Of course we likely wern't THAT good, but in our minds we were. For the first couple years on the 360 I mostly kept to the newest Call Of Duty's and eventually Battlefield Bad Company.

But as my buddies stuck to the same 1-2 games like we always had done growing up I was slowly starting to branch out. I remember vividly walking into an EB Games and asking the guy that worked there if there was anything on Xbox like Diablo 2. The guy recommended Two Worlds. After playing Two Worlds for 5 minutes I was convinced either the guy had never played Diablo 2, or just saw Two Worlds was an rpg and went with it. Needless to say it was no Diablo 2, but I still weirdly enjoyed it.

The search for the Diablo 2 clone on my 360 continued for awhile. I'd continue to go to the store and look for anything that might give me those Diablo vibes. I'm convinced this is where my love of AA rough around the edges games comes from because boy did I try a lot of them.

The Sweet Sound Of An Unlocked Achievement

What really clicked for me in the 360 era was achievements, though it didn't start right away. While I had unlocked achievements with Modern Warfare most of my time was spent in the multi player so I didn't get many. It wasn't until I played Civilization Revolution that I started really paying attention to them.

At that point it wasn't the need to unlock the achievements so much as it was the achievements made me play the game in different ways and extended the life of the game. I had no idea at the time that focusing so much on getting the full 1000 gamerscore of a game would turn into a full blown way of gaming and lead to a decade long run of achievement contests and a milestone of over a million gamerscore but it did.

Speaking of achievements it wouldn't be fair to talk about them without mentioning that because of them I have met some amazing people. Without Civilization Revolution I'm not sure I ever get into achievements and join the achievement contests. And without those contests I'm not sure I ever meet that community. Thanks to that community I've met people like Jamie (you might know her as SnipedByAGir1) who I started this website with. Because of that I will forever be grateful for the Xbox 360 and the introduction of the achievement system.

The Shooter Box & Exclusives

Of course when we talk about the 360 we have to talk about the games. The generation really was the peak of gaming in my opinion. Seemingly every publisher was firing on all cylinders and Xbox was one of them.

While we sometimes joke about the 360 being the Gears, Forza and Halo console it was much more than that. Those franchises were front and centre but Xbox had more than that. Fable was a big part of gaming during that time. Crackdown was another. They also had some great one offs like Lost Odyssey and Blue Dragon. Not to mention the third party exclusives such as Ace Combat 6, Dead Rising and more.

But what really shaped my memories of the 360 were all the great multi platform games. Obviously you could get them elsewhere but they were my memories on the 360. The 360 was known as the shooter box and for good reason. Beyond Halo and Gears the memories of Army Of Two co-op and Mercenaries 2 will be ingrained in my memory. Homefront for all its flaws will be forever remembered (fyi if you haven't read the Homefront book I HIGHLY recommend it).

The Medal of Honor's and Tom Clancy games as well. We probably all have memories of terrorist hunt in Rainbow Six Vegas 1 and 2. And of course the kings of shooters Call of Duty and Battlefield. I'll always remember the first time seeing the Bad Company 2 physics as I collapsed a building and killed multiple enemies. Man the memories just keep flooding in. Also special shout out to Spec Ops: The Line. That might be the best shooter campaign ever and it deserves more love.

I've also gotta give love to one of my favourite franchises ever, Lost Planet. I know I'm in the minority but I'd do anything for a new Lost Planet. It was just such a fun, refreshing series. I think if capcom really put their heads down and revamped it like they did with Monster Hunter Worlds they'd have....well a monster hit.

Warhammer Space Marine was another. I can't wait for next months sequel but the original? Just one of the best out there. Vanquish, Binary Domain and Red Faction....ok ok let's move on before I ramble too much.

The Other Greats

It wasn't just the shooters though that made the 360 so memorable. As I moved into a more single player mindset as I got older the games just got more and more amazing.

From Portal 2 and the Saints Row series to Far Cry 3. Man what can I say about Far Cry 3 and Vaas. Greatest villain in a game? Maybe. How about The Saboteur. Another under rated gem that deserves more love. The 360 also introduced me to strategy games and city builders that have become my favourite types of games. I'm now a Tropico junkie thanks to the 360. Not to mention games like XCOM.

Last but not least I need to talk about 2 last franchises as I know this is getting long winded. The first is Assassin's Creed. While the first may have played it safe a bit it was still great and laid the foundation for what is maybe one of the greatest single player games ever in Assassin's Creed 2. The rest of the series was great but that still to me is the top of the food chain.

And finally I have to mention the Tomb Raider reboot. People wanted to dismiss it as an Uncharted clone but it was just so good. The way they made Lara feel so relatable and real. Remember going through the motions with her as she killed her first human? Or when you experienced your first gruesome death. You almost felt bad for letting it happen.

Like I said I could go on and on about all the great experiences but this is already long enough.

My Collecting Continued

Lastly I'd be remised if I didn't talk about my collection to wrap this up. Growing up I collected cards, specifically hockey cards and Pokémon cards. I still have them all though it's been years since I've bought one. Then my teenage years was all about collecting hip-hop CDs. Still have all 300+ of those sitting around too. Needless to say collecting has been a part of my life forever.

The Xbox 360 was a way for me to continue that. The one good thing about being a physical collector is this store closing doesn't affect me as much. In many ways it helps me as my collection has just grown in value and will continue to do so. But it's never really been about the money.

It's been about owning a piece of history. Gaming is an art form. I look say these games as a piece of art collecting. It may sound dumb but I want these for my kids to one day look at and see (and who am I kidding, they will likely sell them). Gaming has become my passion thanks to the 360 and the collection is a huge part of that. Now I may have to quite literally beat my 360 to open the tray and put the games in, but that's a different issue.

If You've Made It This Far....

I'm sure many of you checked out by now as this is quite long, but if you are still here it's clear by now how much of a passion I have for gaming and what the 360 means to me. It likely means the same to you.

So as we say goodbye to the 360 store I hope you all take a moment to reflect on the console and the games itself of one of the best consoles in history.

Thank you Xbox 360 for the memories.