Xbox (console)

Xbox
	Xbox console with "Controller S"
Developer	Microsoft
Manufacturer	Flextronics
Product family	Xbox
Type	Home video game console
Generation	Sixth generation
Release date	November 15, 2001 JP;
Retail availability	2001–2009
Discontinued	June 4, 2006 EU;
Units sold	24+ million (as of May 10, 2006)
Media	DVD, CD, digital distribution
Operating system	Custom
CPU	Custom 733 MHz Intel Pentium III "Coppermine-based" processor
Memory	64 MB of DDR SDRAM @ 200 MHz
Storage	8 or 10 GB internal hard drive (formatted to 8 GB with allotted system reserve and MS Dash), 8 MB memory card
Graphics	233 MHz nVidia NV2A
Controller input	4× Xbox controller ports (proprietary USB interface), (Wireless controllers not supported directly - third-party wireless controllers require a wired base unit)
Connectivity	100 Mbit Ethernet
Online services	Xbox Live
Best-selling game	Halo 2, 8.46 million (as of November 2008)
Successor	Xbox 360

The Xbox is a video game console (a machine that plays video games and DVDs). It was made by Microsoft from November 2001 to October 2005. A person plays the games with a controller. The controllers were very large in the beginning, but were made smaller later. The Xbox video game console can play music, DVDs, and games. Microsoft discontinued the Xbox because they made the next version of the Xbox, the Xbox 360. The Xbox was first discontinued in 2006 in Japan, later in 2007 in Europe, then in 2009 in the USA.

History

In 1998, four engineers from Microsoft's DirectX team, Kevin Bachus, Seamus Blackley, Ted Hase and DirectX team leader Otto Berkes, took apart some Dell laptop computers to construct a prototype Microsoft Windows-based video game console. The team hoped to create a console to compete with Sony's upcoming PlayStation 2.

During development, the original DirectXbox name was shortened to Xbox. Microsoft's marketing department did not like the Xbox name, and suggested many alternatives.

Launch

Xbox was the first video game console by Microsoft. It was a very large video game console, and it had a cost of $299.99 in the United States. It was launched one year after the PlayStation 2 and at the same time as the Nintendo GameCube. Halo was the first very popular game for the Xbox.