The Box That Went Live

Microsoft's bold entry into gaming: a heavy black console with a built-in hard drive and Ethernet called Xbox, launched with Halo, reshaping online console play.

After the PlayStation 2 turned the console into a DVD player and a mass-market giant, the next serious challenger did not come from Nintendo or an old arcade name. It came from Microsoft, a company many players in the United States and Europe associated with Windows, Office, and beige PCs. The idea sounded unlikely until the machine arrived: heavy, black, confident.

The idea began inside Microsoft in the late nineteen-nineties, around DirectX, the Windows technology that helped PC games communicate with hardware. Engineers Seamus Blackley, Kevin Bachus, Ted Hase, and Otto Berkes pushed for a console built more like a PC, with tools developers already understood. The nickname was “DirectX Box,” soon shortened to “Xbox.”

There was strategy behind it. Sony talked about the PlayStation 2 as a home-entertainment hub, and Microsoft did not want the living room to become a computer space controlled by someone else. How dangerous that threat really was is still debated; what is certain is that Microsoft chose to enter the console market directly, and to spend accordingly.

The final Xbox was shown at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January two thousand one, with Bill Gates sharing the stage with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. In North America, it launched on November fifteenth, two thousand one, at two hundred ninety-nine dollars. Europe followed on March fourteenth, two thousand two, at two hundred ninety-nine pounds in the United Kingdom and four hundred seventy-nine euros in the eurozone. Those prices fell within weeks, a sign that Microsoft was willing to pay for momentum.

Physically, the Xbox made no apology. It weighed almost four kilograms, about eight and a half pounds, with a ridged black shell and a bright green jewel on top. Inside, it was unusually PC-like: a custom Intel Pentium III-class processor at seven hundred thirty-three megahertz, Nvidia graphics, sixty-four megabytes of memory, and a DVD drive. Two built-in features mattered most: an eight-gigabyte hard drive and an Ethernet port.

The hard drive made everyday play feel different. Saves no longer depended on memory cards, though small memory units existed for carrying files. Games could cache data, players could copy music from CDs, and developers could count on storage being present. The Ethernet jack pointed even further ahead: online console gaming through broadband, not dial-up.

Then came the controller. The original pad, later nicknamed “the Duke,” became famous for its size: broad, heavy, and unkind to smaller hands. Some players loved its triggers and tank-like feel; many laughed at it. A smaller Controller S, first used in Japan, later became standard in North America and Europe.

A console still needed a reason to exist, and Xbox had Halo: Combat Evolved. Bungie, known for Mac and PC games, had been acquired by Microsoft in two thousand. Halo was not the first console shooter, but it made the genre feel natural on a gamepad, with twin-stick control, recharging shields, vehicles, co-op, and System Link matches across connected consoles. In dorm rooms, living rooms, and game shops, Halo gave the Xbox an identity almost overnight.

The library widened quickly. Project Gotham Racing brought stylish city driving. Dead or Alive 3 supplied a glossy fighting showcase. Sega, newly out of the hardware race, backed Xbox with Jet Set Radio Future and Panzer Dragoon Orta. Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell became a stealth showpiece, while Morrowind, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Ninja Gaiden, Fable, and Forza Motorsport gave the system a strong Western flavor.

The defining service was Xbox Live, launched in North America in November two thousand two and in Europe in March two thousand three. The starter kit cost about fifty dollars in the United States and around forty pounds in the United Kingdom, with a headset and subscription. Online console play already existed, especially on Dreamcast and on PCs, but Microsoft standardized it: one gamertag, friends list, voice chat, and network. Halo 2, released in November two thousand four, proved the model with matchmaking, clans, rivalries, and late nights.

It was costly. Microsoft sold hardware at a loss and spent heavily on marketing and infrastructure. The original Xbox sold about twenty-four million units worldwide, far behind the PlayStation 2, and the division lost billions by most estimates. But Microsoft had bought a seat at the table. The first Xbox did not win its generation; it left an Ethernet port, a hard drive, and a headset waiting for the next one.