The original Xbox was released 19 years ago this month on November 19, 2001, after being unveiled the year before by Bill Gates and The Rock, who was a WWF superstar and not the biggest movie star on the planet at the time.
Bill Gates wanted to dip his toes into the video game market because he predicted Sony and other gaming console manufacturers would soon rival personal computers and encroach on his market share. Gates even approached Sony about working together on the project but was quickly turned down. This fueled Gates and the Microsoft team, deepening their hunger to beat Sony at their own game.
Xbox co-creator Seamus Blackley originally called the console the DirectXbox before eventually shortening it to just Xbox. Other names considered for the Xbox were MIND (Microsoft Interactive Network Device), FACE (Full Action Centre), R&R (Reality and Revolution), E2 (Extreme Experience), O2 (Optimal Ozone/Optical Odyssey, MTG (Microsoft Total Gaming), and AIO (All In One).
Microsoft was already a dominant force in the software world but wasn’t as experienced in the hardware world. When it came to building a video game console, they went to the experts first, trying to work out deals with Nintendo and Sega to manufacture their consoles. Sega was interested but the deal fell apart, and Nintendo turned down Microsoft immediately. This prompted Bill Gates to consider buying Nintendo outright for roughly $25 Billion.
Xbox’s signature neon green color wasn’t something Microsoft focus-grouped or tested against other color options. Legend has it that Xbox designer Horace Luke had all his markers stolen by co-workers and the last one he had left was this bright shade of green.
Halo was originally unveiled not by Bill Gates and Microsoft but by Steve Jobs as an upcoming game for Macs. Then, in the Summer of 2000, Microsoft bought Halo developer Bungie and decided to scrap the PC and Mac versions of the game to instead make it an Xbox exclusive.
The Xbox was the first console to have an embedded hard drive, the first console with standard surround sound support, and the first console to allow users to rip music from CDs to the memory.
The original design of the Xbox was literally shaped like a letter X but was redesigned prior to launch to make it easier for Microsoft engineers to include all of the components they wanted inside the console.
