The story of Xbox
by Jennie Lees 
{ Dec 22nd 2005 at 12:30PM }
The birth of the
Xbox almost seems like prehistory to us now, with the 360 the most coveted
console this Christmas. This chapter from book Smartbomb delves into the inside story of the Xbox's birth,
from Bill Gates' desire to dominate the living room, to Seamus Blackley's airborne epiphany: "Suddenly, Seamus wanted to jump out of his seat. Microsoft could, if it chose, make a console that would kill the PlayStation 2. It was all so painfully obvious. Of any technology company, Microsoft was uniquely suited to build a console that gamers and game developers would die for. All Microsoft had to do was design a reasonably powerful Windows-based PC that could be packaged and marketed as a videogame console."
It's an interesting read for anyone who wasn't there at the time, and sheds some light on Microsoft's motivations. Fear was a big part of it; fear of the Playstation and its impending dominance. As a valid business motivator, fear is right up there with profit, and fear may well have been the driver for the 360's early launch. Microsoft as scaredy-cats? It seems so.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
jc @ Dec 22nd 2005 1:19PM
man... that controller makes me cringe everytime I see it.
Barc @ Dec 22nd 2005 1:34PM
Suddenly, Seamus wanted to jump out of his seat. Microsoft could, if it chose, make a console that would kill the PlayStation 2.
So, er, why didn't they?
Martin @ Dec 22nd 2005 1:59PM
That book sucked. I didn't really need to read about every time Cliffy B scratched his ass.
Mitch @ Dec 22nd 2005 2:36PM
Well, the Xbox DID kill the PS2 in terms of performance and online multiplayer games, among other things. The Xbox version of every game that the two consoles shared was always more impressive. Nobody can deny the fact that the Xbox is a much better machine than the PS2. But, while they certainly made a dent with it, ultimately it was too late in the game (no pun intended) for Microsoft to grab as much of the market share as they had hoped.
Lite @ Dec 22nd 2005 3:21PM
anybody got a link to some concept artwork for the controllers?
Google is kinda thin on results..
Jeff @ Dec 22nd 2005 3:26PM
"Nobody can deny the fact that the Xbox is a much better machine than the PS2."
Nobody can deny that the Xbox is a more *powerful* machine than the PS2.
"Better" is a whole different ballgame. Because then you've got to include stuff like ergonomics, design, game selection, price, even packaging, image and whatnot into it. Generally speaking, the "better" system *always* wins in market share - but that doesn't mean the better system is always more powerful. It comes down to which system the public would rather have if they had to choose. And obviously, the public made their choice.
Don't confuse raw power with overall quality. That's the same mistake Sony is making right now in handhelds.
Joey Geraci @ Dec 23rd 2005 8:01AM
Overall quality? You are kidding me, right? We both now the only reason that the ps2 won out over the xbox was the huge head start on mindshare that Sony had cultivated with the original playstation. Because they had that mindshare, they had more and better games, at least in the beginning. That is the only reason they were more successful.
RocketPunch @ Dec 23rd 2005 11:25AM
that controller must some how in some indirect connected to Dr.Boll; Cause who else can screw something up this bad??
T.J. @ Dec 30th 2005 11:25PM
Can anyone explain to me why Seamus should have anything other than a middle finger next to his name in the history books? The Xbox still has yet to turn a profit for Microsoft, and is abyssmally received in most areas of the world. I love the Xbox and the online service, but I don't know why this guy deserves any credit whatsoever when all he did was convince the richest company in the world -- one with billions in cash sitting idly in the bank looking for alternative investments in other sectors to help their shrinking OS software returns -- to try video games. Not only have they not eaten much of Sony's marketshare, but they've lost BILLIONS on this venture, and might be in danger of losing even more with this bungled Xbox 360 launch.
So yes, Seamus, thank you for all your brilliance. It's nice to know that if I were able to convince Bill Gates into spending billions on my idea of a car that runs on manure and then continues to spend billions and billions more to keep it from being an embarrassing flop and a PR fiasco, that I will go down in history as a pioneer and a genius. This guy Seamus Blackley is a clown and people need to stop giving this guy any credit for anything other than blowing billions of dollars of shareholders money. And will somebody please give this guy some fashion advice? This guy is pathetic!