Xbox Live Starter Kit

Description

The Xbox Live Starter Kit packages the components required to enrol an original Xbox console on the Xbox Live network and begin play without additional purchases. The initial Xbox launch may have touted online play but this was a feature that remained under development for some time. The console required a software update to enable the feature, which required the setup starter disc. It installed the features, adding Xbox Live to the console’s dash.

The kit also included the communicator microphone for in‑game voice chat, which would become the distinctive feature of the Xbox online experience. The Japanese kit also included software to encourage uptake. A software suite of online-playable table games was provided in Zunou Taisen Live. The standout feature, which Microsoft hoped would help sell the kit and Xbox consoles, was a full copy of Phantasy Star Online Episodes I & II ported to the platform. The popular RPG had been highly successful moving from the Dreamcast to the Nintendo GameCube. As this game was rooted in text-chat, a USB keyboard adapter was provided—rather unusual for Xbox’s peripheral strategy. Later kits would include different titles, such as MotoGP 2 in set K97-00038.

The bundle is presented as a single retail unit to enhance adoption after the wait for the platform’s integrated online features to be enabled. Packaging and documentation are tailored to first‑time setup, with instructions and guides. The approach mirrors contemporary starter kits in other regions but adds locally relevant software to encourage adoption among players accustomed to lobby‑centric communities.

Contemporary reception focused on the new online features and the inclusion of a headline online RPG. At the same time, many in the Japanese Phantasy Star Online community had already moved to GameCube following the Dreamcast era, which reduced the incentive to migrate social circles onto the Xbox Live platform for that title. The early years of the Xbox Live platform would quite interesting as concepts were further developed. It wasn’t until Halo 2 that things really took off however. Meanwhile in Japan, just about every console since the 1980s had had some form of online or telephone connection. But the real problem was simply the extremely limited local market for the US console, given the relative lack of third party developer support left the majority of games people wanted to play not on the Xbox. Nonetheless, the Xbox Live release did continue the industry momentum toward online connectivity and established some norms that would be later embraced by the PlayStation’s online services.