20 years ago on May 12, 2005, the Xbox 360 and the future of video games was unveiled on MTV, and it was hosted by Elijah Wood. And while going back to this 20 minute show is a bit embarrassing now, it’s wild how Microsoft and Xbox really did see the future coming before the rest of the industry.
But before we praise Xbox for predicting the online future of games and get really sad at how cosmetic microtransactions were already part of the plan in 2005, let’s make fun of this weird 20 minute infomercial that is the most ‘00s thing ever created. Here’s the full special if you’ve not seen it:
“Fact: Gaming isn’t just a hobby. It is a lifestyle,” says an unnamed narrator during a short video at the front of the special. It explains video gaming started with Pong and Atari, some other stuff happened, then the original Xbox launched and don’t worry about that thing called the PlayStation.
After that, the funniest moment in the entire special happens. Remember, up until this point we didn’t know the console was to be called the Xbox 360. It was just the “Next Gen Xbox.” So young Zack, who watched this MTV special back in 2005, was excited to learn more about the next Xbox. Elijah Wood yells, “The future of gaming!” and points off screen. The camera cuts to a…woman carrying a gray bag. Can you imagine the online chuds today watching this? Their heads might explode.
In reality, the woman is carrying the Xbox 360 in her shoulder bag. She saunters up to a podium and pulls out the console. Sets it up. Hits a button. Green lights turn on. And the console’s name is revealed.
The rest of special is mostly MTV nonsense, celebrities, and The Killers performing music. The only segment that is actually somewhat interesting happens about 11 minutes into the show: Sway from MTV is invited to talk to the designers behind the Xbox 360 and J Allard (one of the OG Microsoft execs behind the Xbox project.) It’s during this segment that we see a bunch of 360 prototypes and learn about why it looks the way it does. And then Allard walks Sway through the idea of buying digital content on a video game console using the internet.
Today, this is something every device can do. Back in 2005, this was the future. It was hard for young Zack to believe that one day we’d buy games digitally on a console. 20 years later, it’s clear Microsoft was on to something with Xbox Live, the marketplace, a single username that follows you from game to game, and hanging out online with friends in voice chat. Though, the moment when Allard mentions buying clothes for your digital character, I realized microtransactions were being invented in front of my eyes and got sad.
At the end of the event, Wood got on stage and signed off by saying: “I think we can all agree on one thing tonight: Xbox 360 is going to be amazing and I look forward to meeting all of you in the Xbox 360 universe.” I never met Elijah Wood online. But I do agree, the Xbox 360 was amazing and will likely be the one and only time Microsoft was at the top of the console gaming market.
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