Xbox (console)

Before the Xbox, Microsoft had found success publishing video games for their Windows PCs, releasing popular titles such as Microsoft Flight Simulator and the massively successful Age of Empires. However, Microsoft had not delved into the home console market of video games, which was dominated at the time by Sony's PlayStation. Sony was working on their next video game console, the PlayStation 2, announced officially to the public on March 2, 1999, and intended for the system to act as a gateway for all types of home entertainment. Microsoft CEO Bill Gates saw the upcoming PS2 as a threat to Microsoft's line of Windows PCs, worrying that the all-encompassing system could eliminate consumer interests in PCs and drive them out of the market. With video games rapidly growing into a massive industry, Gates decided that Microsoft needed to venture into the console gaming market in order to compete with Sony. Previously, Sega had developed a version of Windows CE for its Dreamcast console to be used by game developers. Additionally, Gates had directly approached Sony CEO Nobuyuki Idei prior to the public announcement of the PS2 in regards to letting Microsoft develop programming software for the console, but the offer was declined by Idei in favor of having Sony create proprietary software.[14]

In 1998, four engineers from Microsoft's DirectX team - Kevin Bachus, Seamus Blackley, Ted Hase and DirectX team leader Otto Berkes[15]- began discussing ideas for a new console which would run off of Microsoft's DirectX technology.[16] Nat Brown, the Windows Software Architect at Microsoft, would also become a regular contributor to the project after meeting Hase in November 1998. The project was codenamed "Midway", in reference to the World War 2 Battle of Midway in which Japan was decisively defeated by American forces, as a representation of Microsoft's desire to surpass Sony in the console market.[14] The DirectX team held their first development meeting on March 30, 1999, in which they discussed issues such as getting a PC to boot at a quicker pace than usual.[14] The console would run off of Windows 2000 using DirectX 8.1, which would allow PC developers to easily transition into making games for the console, while also granting it a larger processing power than that of most other home consoles.[17] According to Blackley, using PC technology as the foundation for a video game console would eliminate the technological barriers of most home consoles, allowing game creators to expand further on their own creativity without having to worry about hardware limitations.[14][17][18]

The 4 DirectX team members encountered disagreements with the Silicon Valley engineering team behind WebTV, which joined Microsoft after they purchased the rights to the device. Microsoft executive Craig Mundie wanted the project to be led by the WebTV team, who believed the console should be built from the ground-up as an appliance running off of Windows CE; however, the DirectX team were adamant about the idea of repurposing PC hardware components, such as a hard disk drive, arguing that they were cheaply manufactured and could easily be updated every year. The 4 developers gained the support of Ed Fries, the head of Microsoft's gaming division, who believed the use of a hard drive in particular would give the console a technical edge among competitors despite its high manufacturing cost. The two opposing teams both pitched their arguments to Gates on May 5, 1999 at a meeting attended by over 20 different people. WebTV's team, among whom were Nick Baker, Dave Riola, Steve Perlman, and Tim Bucher as well as their sponsor, Craig Mundie, made the case that creating an appliance would be far cheaper, highlighting that most consoles were generally sold at around $300. They also wanted to use a custom-made graphics chip, the likes of which could be shared across several different home devices. Conversely, Fries, vouching for the DirectX team, argued that using a PC hard drive would and set Microsoft's console apart from competitors by allowing for the direct implementation of online access, an argument which Gates sided with. When Gates questioned if PC games could be effectively ported to the new console, Blackley explained that the machine would utilize DirectX hardware, meaning that they could be converted easily. Gates heavily favored this proposition over WebTV's, whose concept relied on Windows CE, a heavily stripped-down Windows variant that wasn't compatible with DirectX. As such, Gates sided with the DirectX concept, and gave Berkes' team the go-ahead to create a new video game console. Despite this, WebTV would still play a part in the Xbox's initial launch.[14]

The DirectX team began constructing prototype consoles, purchasing several Dell computers and using their internal parts.[19] Among the names considered for the new console were a number of acronyms, including "Windows Entertainment Project" (WEP), "Microsoft Total Gaming" (MTG), "Microsoft Interactive Network Device" (MIND), and "Microsoft Interactive Center" (MIC).[20][21] Also among the names considered was "DirectX Box", referring to the system's reliance on Direct X. At one point, Hase jokingly came up with the names "XXX-Box" and "DirectXXX-Box" as a nod to the system's higher volume of adult content compared to Sony or Nintendo's consoles.[22] "DirectX Box" was quickly shortened to "Xbox" through an e-mail conversation, and was ultimately favored by the development team, though a number of spelling variants were tossed around, such as xBox, XboX, and X-box.[20][22] Microsoft's marketing department didn't like this name, suggesting "11-X" or "Eleven-X" as alternatives.[20] During focus testing, the company put the name "Xbox" on the list of possible names during focus testing simply to prove how unpopular the Xbox name would be with consumers. However, "Xbox" proved to be the more popular name on the list during consumer testing, and was thus selected as the official name of the product.[23]

When the physical design of the controller began, circuit boards for the controller had already been manufactured. Microsoft had asked their supplier, Mitsumi Electric, for a similar folded and stacked circuit board design used in Sony's DualShock 2 controller, but the company refused to manufacture such a design for Microsoft. This led to the controller being bulky and nearly three times the size of Sony's controller. This initial controller design was never launched in Japan, where the console instead launched with a smaller, redesigned version named "Controller S" that did use the more compact circuit board design.[24][25]

Gates first publicly mentioned the Xbox in an interview in late 1999, stating that he wanted the system to become the best and most creative game developers in the world".[26] It was later announced officially by Gates in a keynote presentation at the Game Developers Conference on March 10, 2000, showing off an early prototype build of the system and a series of demos showcasing its hardware.[14][27] The presentation and the new system were well-received, impressing developers with both the hard drive and the Ethernet port and appealing to them with the notion of easy-to-use development tools.[14] At the time of Gates's announcement, Sega's Dreamcast sales were diminishing and Sony's PlayStation 2 was just going on sale in Japan.[28] Gates was in talks with Sega's late chairman Isao Okawa about the possibility of Xbox compatibility with Dreamcast games, but negotiations fell apart over whether or not the Dreamcast's SegaNet online service should be implemented.[29]

The Xbox was officially unveiled to the public by Gates and guest professional wrestler The Rock at CES 2001 in Las Vegas on January 3, 2001.[30] Microsoft announced Xbox's release dates and prices at E3 2001 in May.[31] Most Xbox launch titles were unveiled at E3, most notably Halo: Combat Evolved and Dead or Alive 3.[32]

In preparation for its launch, Microsoft acquired Bungie and used Halo: Combat Evolved as its launch title. At the time, GoldenEye 007 for the Nintendo 64 had been one of the few hit FPS games to appear on a console, as well as titles such as Perfect Dark and Medal of Honor. Halo: Combat Evolved proved a good application to drive the Xbox's sales.[28]

In 2002, the Independent Television Commission (ITC) banned a television advertisement for the Xbox in the United Kingdom after complaints that it was "offensive, shocking and in bad taste". It depicted a mother giving birth to a baby boy, who is fired like a projectile through a window aging rapidly as he flies through the air. The advertisement ends with an old man crash-landing into his own grave and the slogan, "Life is short. Play more."[33]

The Xbox's successor, the Xbox 360, was officially announced on May 12, 2005 on MTV. It was the first next generation system to be announced. It was released in North America on November 22, 2005. Nvidia ceased production of the Xbox's GPU in August 2005, which marked the end of brand-new Xbox production.[34] The last Xbox game in Europe was Xiaolin Showdown released in June 2007, and the last game in North America was Madden NFL 09 released in August 2008. Support for out-of-warranty Xbox consoles was discontinued on March 2, 2009.[35] Support for Xbox Live on the console ended on April 15, 2010.[36]

The Xbox 360 supports a limited number of the Xbox's game library if the player has an official Xbox 360 Hard Drive. Xbox games were added up until November 2007. Xbox game saves cannot be transferred to Xbox 360, and the ability to play Xbox games through Xbox LIVE has been discontinued since April 15, 2010. It is still possible to play Xbox games with System Link functionality online via both the original console and the Xbox 360 with tunneling software such as XLink Kai. It was announced at E3 2017 that the Xbox One would be gaining support for a limited number of the Xbox's game library.

Between 2005 and 2013, fans of the console referred to it as the Xbox 1; however, due to Microsoft releasing a console called the Xbox One in 2013, it has since become known as the original Xbox.

The Xbox CPU is a 32-bit 733 MHz, custom Intel Pentium III Coppermine-based processor. It has a 133 MHz 64-bit GTL+ front-side bus (FSB) with a 1.06 GB/s bandwidth. The system has 64 MB unified DDR SDRAM, with a 6.4 GB/s bandwidth, of which 1.06 GB/s is used by the CPU and 5.34 GB/s is shared by the rest of the system.[41]

Its GPU is Nvidia's 233 MHz NV2A. It has a floating-point performance of 7.3 GFLOPS, capable of geometry calculations for up to a theoretical 115 million vertices/second. It has a peak fillrate of 932 megapixels/second, capable of rendering a theoretical 29 million 32-pixel triangles/second. With bandwidth limitations, it has a realistic fillrate of 250–700 megapixels/second, with Z-buffering, fogging, alpha blending, and texture mapping,[42] giving it a real-world performance of 7.8–21 million 32-pixel triangles/second.

Original Xbox controller

The redesigned Xbox controller S

The Xbox controller features two analog sticks, a pressure-sensitive directional pad, two analog triggers, a Back button, a Start button, two accessory slots and six 8-bit analog action buttons (A/Green, B/Red, X/Blue, Y/Yellow, and Black and White buttons).[43] The standard Xbox controller (also nicknamed the "Fatty"[44] and later, the "Duke"[45]) was originally the controller bundled with Xbox systems for all territories except Japan. The controller has been criticized for being bulky compared to other video game controllers; it was awarded "Blunder of the Year" by Game Informer in 2001,[46] a Guinness World Record for the biggest controller in Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition 2008, and was ranked the second-worst video game controller ever by IGN editor Craig Harris.[47]

The "Controller S" (codenamed "Akebono"), a smaller, lighter Xbox controller, was originally the standard Xbox controller only in Japan,[48] designed for users with smaller hands.[49][50] The "Controller S" was later released in other territories by popular demand and by 2002 replaced the standard controller in the Xbox's retail package, with the larger original controller remaining available as an accessory.

The Xbox runs a custom operating system which is based on the Windows architecture kernel.[51] It exposes APIs similar to APIs found in Microsoft Windows, such as Direct3D 8.1. The system software may have been partially based on the Windows NT kernel, but it has modified log files.[52]

The user interface for the Xbox is called the Xbox Dashboard. It features a media player that can be used to play music CDs, rip CDs to the Xbox's built-in hard drive and play music that has been ripped to the hard drive; it also lets users manage game saves, music, and downloaded content from Xbox Live, and lets Xbox Live users sign in, customize, and manage their account. The dashboard is only available when the user is not watching a movie or playing a game. It uses many shades of green and black for the user interface, to be consistent with the physical Xbox color scheme. When the Xbox was released in 2001, the Live service was not online so the dashboard's Live sections, as well as the network settings sub-menu, were not present yet.[53][54]

Xbox Live was released in November 2002, but in order to access it, users had to buy the Xbox Live starter kit containing a headset and a subscription.[55][56] While the Xbox was still being supported by Microsoft, the Xbox Dashboard was updated via Live several times to reduce cheating and add features.[57]

The Xbox launched in North America on November 15, 2001. Popular launch games included Halo: Combat Evolved, Project Gotham Racing, and Dead or Alive 3. All three of these games would go on to sell over a million copies in the US.[58]

Although the console gained strong third party support from its inception, many early Xbox games did not fully use its powerful hardware until a full year after its release. Xbox versions of cross-platform games sometimes came with a few additional features and/or graphical improvements to distinguish them from the PS2 and GameCube versions of the same game, thus negating one of the Xbox's main selling points. Sony countered the Xbox for a short time by temporarily securing PlayStation 2 exclusives for highly anticipated games such as the Grand Theft Auto series and the Metal Gear Solid series as well as Nintendo for the Resident Evil series. Notable 3rd party support came from Sega, who announced an 11-game exclusivity deal at Tokyo Game Show.[59] Sega released exclusives such as Panzer Dragoon Orta and Jet Set Radio Future, which met with a strong reception among critics.[60][61]

In 2002 and 2003, several high-profile releases helped the Xbox gain momentum and distinguish itself from the PS2. Microsoft purchased Rare, responsible for many Nintendo 64 hit games, to expand their 1st party portfolio.[62] The Xbox Live online service was launched in late 2002 alongside pilot titles MotoGP, MechAssault and Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon. Several best-selling and critically acclaimed titles for the Xbox soon followed, such as Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell, and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. Take-Two Interactive's exclusivity deal with Sony was amended to allow Grand Theft Auto III and its sequels to be published for the Xbox. Many other publishers got into the trend of releasing the Xbox version alongside the PS2 version, instead of delaying it for months.

2004 saw the release of highly rated exclusives Fable[63] and Ninja Gaiden,[64] both of these games would become big hits for the Xbox.[65] Later that year, Halo 2 was released and became the highest-grossing release in entertainment history, making over $125 million in its first day[66] and became the best-selling Xbox game worldwide.[6] Halo 2 became Xbox Live's third killer app after MechAssault & Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3. That year Microsoft made a deal to put Electronic Arts's popular titles on Xbox Live to boost the popularity of their service.

By 2005, despite notable first party releases in Conker: Live & Reloaded and Forza Motorsport, Microsoft began phasing out the Xbox in favor of their next console, the Xbox 360. Games such as Kameo: Elements of Power and Perfect Dark Zero, which were originally to be developed for the Xbox,[62] became Xbox 360 launch titles instead. The last game released on the Xbox was Madden NFL 09, on August 12, 2008.

Prior to its Japanese launch in February 2002, many analysts estimated that the Xbox would have trouble competing with the PS2 and the GameCube, its local counterparts in the region, noting its comparatively high price tag, lack of exclusives, and larger size which wouldn't fit as well in living spaces.[80] Microsoft hoped to ship 6 million Japanese Xbox consoles by June 2002; however, the system had only sold a total of 190,000 units in the region by April of that year, 2 months after the system's launch in February.[81] For the week ending April 14, 2002, the Xbox sold only 1,800 units, considerably less than the PS2 and GameCube, and failed to see a single title reach the top 50 best-selling video games in Japan.[82] In November 2002, the Xbox chief in Japan stepped down, leading to further consultations about Xbox's future, which by that point had only sold 278,860 units in the country since its February launch.[83][84] For the week ending July 18, 2004, the Xbox sold just 272 units, even less than the PSOne had sold in the same week.[85] The Xbox did, however, outsell the GameCube for the week ending May 26, 2002.[86] Ultimately, the Xbox had only sold 450,000 units as of November 2011.[18] Factors believed to have contributed to the console's poor market presence included its large physical size, which contrasted the country's emphasis on more compact designs, and a lack of Japanese-developed games to aid consumer interest.[18]