With the 20th anniversary of Xbox at the end of 2021, the folks at Microsoft decided to really embrace the brand’s history in a number of interesting ways. I figured this thread could function as a way to not only catalogue the official Xbox history celebrations, but also showcase other interesting pieces of Xbox history or related content.
20th ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION
On November 15th, 2021 Xbox had a 20th anniversary stream, where they celebrated the past 20 years:
XBOX HISTORY ROUNDTABLE
On November 22nd, 2021 the Microsoft Alumni Network posted a roundtable about the history of Xbox and other interesting related topics. The discussion was lead by Reggie Fils-Aimé of former Nintendo-fame, and aside from him it features Ed Fries, Robbie Bach, Peter Moore, and Bonnie Ross:
THE XBOX MUSEUM
On November 23rd, 2021 Microsoft launched the Xbox Museum website, which contained exhibits all about the corporate history of Xbox, but also your own personal Xbox gaming history. We have a thread here on Xboxera about it, but the museum was located at museum.xbox.com. As of mid-2023 the site no longer loads however.
DOCUMENTARIES
On December 13th, 2021 Xbox launched an excellent and Emmy award-winning documentary series called Power On: The Story of Xbox. There are six episodes, each of which is is about 40 minutes in length. It’s available in 30 languages on five different streaming platforms. Visit the link above for more info and a trailer.
Here’s episode one:
And here are individual links to parts one, two, three, four, five, and six. There’s also a playlist, which will play each episode in order.
And then in 2023 it was the 10-year anniversary of the ID@Xbox program, and to celebrate they released this nice little 11-minute documentary short:
COMMERCIALS
On December 22nd, 2021 Xbox shared what amounts to a commercial, but which leans heavily into the history of the console, so I think it belongs here. My favourite part isn’t actually seeing the evolution of the consoles and controllers, but how the TVs are growing ever larger.
And the previous year, in time for the Series X|S launch, Xbox partnered with Walmart to create this ad that also celebrates the history of the brand:
BOOKS
For deeper dives into the history of Xbox, there are some books available. Below you’ll find four of them. If you know of any other ones, please post in this thread and I’ll update this post accordingly.
- Tech journalist Dean Takahashi has written two so far:
- Opening the Xbox (about the creation of the original Xbox)
- The Xbox 360 Uncloaked (obviously about the creation of the Xbox 360)
Both of the above book links are to Archive.org, where you can either read them directly in your browser, or get a free account and download PDF copies. They’re also available on Amazon and other places, but are out of print and can be pricey.
I recommend viewing the videos in this post if you plan on reading Opening the Xbox.
- Videogame focused author Rusel DeMaria has two books with almost the same title: Game of X, but only volume 1 (Game of X v.1) is directly related to Xbox and its history. The second book in this series (Game of X v.2) is only tangentially related to Xbox, in that it focuses on technological developments in the time leading up to the Xbox, including DOS and DirectX.
- And last but not least, you may also be interested in checking out Celebrating 20 Years of Xbox by the good folks here at Xboxera.
ARTICLES, INTERVIEWS, ETC.
Bloomberg – 6 Jan 21
Xbox: The Oral History of an American Video Game Empire
The original product was ungainly, over-budget and nearly canceled. Here’s how it became a hit and reshaped an industry.
Geek Wire – 21 Nov 21
Ed Fries shares behind-the-scenes stories from the original Xbox project
Ed Fries, one of the original team members at Microsoft that co-created the Xbox, shared his behind-the-scenes stories from his time at the tech giant as part of a celebration of the Xbox project’s 20th anniversary.
Podcast Unlocked – 17 Nov 21
Xbox Creator Seamus Blackley Talks 20 Years of Xbox
Xbox creator Seamus Blackley joins us for a special episode commemorating the 20th anniversary of Xbox. He shares stories from the early days of building the Xbox at Microsoft, discusses what he thinks of Xbox and the gaming industry now, and much more!
