Power On: The Story of Xbox (six-part documentary)

They got Don Mattrick huh :phil_unsure:

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:matrick_emote:

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I was always under the impression that Microsoft entered the gaming console space just to “bother Sony” and get a piece of that cake. What seems to have been the case is that it was out of fear of Sony’s PS2 threat to PC. There was legitimate fear that Sony will take over the living room space and PC.

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You can say, fate has always brought them as rivals.

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Totally forgot about this. Thanks for the reminder.

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I’ve only watched the first three parts so far, but this series is great and well worth a watch. I’ve already written my initial impressions elsewhere, but I’ll copy/paste them here:

I loved the first three episodes of this doc. They were about 40 minutes in length each, and took us from the beginning with the DirectX team to the day of launch of the original Xbox. They seem to have gotten the majority of the who’s-who to speak on camera (save for Gates and Ballmer) and even this guy has a few lines.

One of the more ingenious and entertaining parts is using videogame footage as b-roll. Like most docs, they do use archival footage where they can, and stills, and even some animated reconstructions, but the inventive use of gameplay footage really stood out as something special.

Sometimes it’s just footage that fits what they’re talking about (like Robbie Bach discussing the E3 presentation and using words like “crash and burn” and them using footage of a videogame plane crashing and burning) but sometimes they’re going the extra mile, like illustrating the Windows CE / DirectX face-off with Mortal Kombat characters adorned with those respective logos.

It sounds kinda hokey when I describe it like that, but it really worked for me. Obviously it’s the factual content that’s the main star of the show, and I really like how candid and forthcoming everyone seemed, and it was all put together in an entertaining package. The two hours just flew by, so I heartily recommend it to anyone interested in the topic.

Can’t wait to check out parts 4-6, which will take us to present day.

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Holy shit, these are long

Just watched the first episode. Really well made, lots of historic context about how the project came to be. The Mortal Kombat scenes are awesome and funny. Would have been cool if Bill or Steve could have been interviewed.

At first i thought the narrator is an AI. Why does Laura Bailey sound like a robot here?

The legend.

I guess one of the big mistakes MS has made is not preserving the idea of just going with the codename every time, like they did with the box itself.

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Bill and Steve are absolutely insane :skull:

excited lets go GIF by LA Clippers

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On episode 5

Absolutely insane that the og xbox got made and just how important xbox is to the history of gaming.

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I’m at part 3 and I have to say : it’s really well done. And wow, those behind the scenes are crazier than I thought.

I kept thinking that launching the Xbox today would not be possible or would be very very different and that’s why it has been a success in the first place. They were bold and just took the market by storm. What a bunch of nerds accomplished back then is still unbelievable.

And that they convinced Gates and Ballmer to make this thing…Wow !

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Just got one episode left which is probably gonna be the most interesting one seeing the empire of rome collapse.

Just finished binging this.

I like the honesty and transparency of talking about their failures with the RRoD, and especially the Xbox One, it’s actually surprising they went deep and back into it.

The documentary was really well made in transitioning from each generation and era, with each one having its key people, talking through and about comprehensive development and and key moments timeline.

The last episode started with the Xbox One disaster that almost killed Xbox, and “ended” in an open-ended outlook signaling that Xbox’s story is not done yet…

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Man last gen was dark days for Xbox but great documentary I was surprised how they had asked angry joe to use footage from that era considering how he really lambasted them over it but he was in the right tho with how terrible those policies were but bright future ahead it also speaks volumes that each gen one of the big 3 screws up hard

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:eyes: I’d love 6 more parts i still think there’s alot more info they havent told us. I personally would like to see a more detailed talk about the lack of 1st party content during the mid xbox one period and the shift to PC.

I would’ve loved to be a fly on the wall for that Valentine’s Day meeting.

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Still not fully watched all the eps. But lemme guess, no Molyneux interview in there?..

Can’t believe they actually got :matrick_emote: back.