Back in the day, kids (and adults too) would go to arcades with a cup full of coins ready to dominate in the games. Gamers would spend hours in a booth playing classics like Pacman and Galaga, and then consoles gained traction. It revolutionized gaming, bringing it to the comfort of your own home. All you needed was a TV and a gaming unit, no coins needed. In the early 2000s, gaming consoles were a coveted item for a lot of children, with stacks upon stacks of games along with them.
The First Xbox
Granted, the Xbox was not the first console created. The Atari Video Computer System was released in the 70s, and the PlayStation was launched in the 90s. However, Xbox coming in late in the industry in 2001, did not hurt its chances to be one of the console brands used until now. Microsoft started thinking about developing its own gaming console in 1998. It was initially called DirectX Box, according to Digital Trends.
Three people pitched the idea of Microsoft's own gaming console to the tech billionaire, Bill Gates. Thus, making Kevin Bachus, Otto Berkes, and Ted Hase the first console team for the software giant. Their aim was to create a game system with the power of a PC, and its system would use the Windows 2000 OS. This makes it easier for PC software developers to work on the console, and provides it with more processing power than the other consoles at the time.
Bill Gates went public with the new Xbox console at a Game Developers Conference back in 2000. He introduced the console with promises of the possibility of online gaming and downloaded content. Around a year later, Gates finally introduced the Xbox to the world at the 2001 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Fun fact, he did it alongside Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, as mentioned in Goliath.
The Xbox officially launched for customers, bought through a Toys 'R' Us store in Times square. Even Bill Gates was present at the event. The console cost $299, which was pretty pricey at that time. Despite that, over one million units were sold in the span of three weeks. Although a year later, Microsoft cut the prices to $199 to encourage more people to buy it, and it succeeded in its goal.
The Evolution of the Console
In 2002, Microsoft made good on its promises and brought us online gaming. It was the first-ever console out there to do this, wherein they named the unit Xbox Live Starter Kit. Gamers were able to play with other people, even with their friends who also have the unit. The new release also featured the ability to download content. This helped the software giant to gain 150,000 subscribers in just one week.
After three years, the Xbox 360 was released, and it was packed with more processing power and better graphics. However, problems surfaced with the console, and Microsoft had to extend its warranty to three years. This did not stop the company from improving its console, releasing Xbox 360 S and Xbox 360 E after. The Xbox 360 S had a thinner structure, along with more USB ports and built-in WiFi, as mentioned in Yugatech.
In 2013, the Xbox One made its first appearance. It now had the ability to record and stream gameplay, as well as allow players to watch cable or satellite TV. Just a year later, Xbox One S was released, featuring a smaller unit body, with a better resolution of 4K video. The Xbox One X then came in 2017, and it packed a heavier punch with 12GB RAM and an AMD Jaguar Evolved CPU with 2.3 GHz.
Xbox continued to create consoles that matched the needs of more recent games. As the Xbox Series X was released in 2020, it had an octa-core AMD Zen 2 processor, an AMD RDNA2 graphics card, and an option between 6GB, 10GB, and 16GB of GDDR6 RAM. It featured a bigger storage space of 1TB, which is expandable. It supports gaming at 60 FPS up to 120 FPS.
After a few months, the Xbox Series X was launched. It has the same processor, but the choices for RAM were different, with options like 2GB, 8GB, and 10GB of GDDR6 RAM. It had a smaller storage space of 512GB but is expandable to 1TB. The Xbox Series S had the same render capabilities in terms of FPS. Safe to say that Xbox has come a long way from its initial unit, paving a way for things like online gaming and downloaded content.
