With the sleek, portable video game consoles we now have today, it’s hard to believe there was a time when clunky technology was the norm, and the original Xbox prototype is certainly not subtle.
Shaped like a large X, the Xbox prototype was first presented to the public by Bill Gates, the former Microsoft CEO, and Seamus Blackley, the Xbox project lead, at the Games Developers Conference back in 2000. Being out of the public eye for years, the original prototype is now being exhibited at the Microsoft Visitor Center.
In honor of the latest addition to the Microsoft Visitor Center located in Redmond, Washington, Graeme Boyd, the Xbox social marketing manager, shared a picture of the original Xbox on display through his Twitter account, celebrating the Xbox console's beginnings.
While the massive console is far from practical, it went on to launch the demos that would later become the first Xbox games. Blackley was behind the design of the aluminum X, ensuring the console had gills for cooling and that it could tolerate general wear and tear. A lot of hours and money went into making the prototype, since it was difficult squashing the technology of a computer down to a smaller size and each X-shaped box had to be cut out of solid blocks of aluminum. The final result of fabricating each individual aluminum Xbox ended up costing $18,000 to make.
Many changes were made to the prototype before the first Xbox console was sold in stores, but it still holds the title of the largest console in existence due to its dimensions.
Nostalgia for Xbox origins has recently become a popular trend since the impractical and bulky “Duke” controller has been revamped and will once again be sold in stores.