Essay title: Xbox
The Xbox was initially developed within Microsoft by a small team which included game developer Seamus Blackley. Microsoft repeatedly delayed the console, which finally emerged at the end of 1999 following interviews of Bill Gates. Gates said that a gaming/multimedia device was essential for multimedia convergence in the new times of digital entertainment. On March 10, 2000 the “X-box Project” was officially confirmed by Microsoft with a press release.
According to the book Smartbomb, by Heather Chaplin and Aaron Ruby, the remarkable success of the upstart Sony PlayStation worried Microsoft in late 1990s. The growing video game market seemed to threaten the PC market which Microsoft had dominated and relied upon for most of its revenues. Additionally, a venture into the gaming console market would also diversify Microsofts product line, which up to that time had been heavily concentrated into software.
According to Dean Takahashis book, Opening the Xbox, the Xbox was originally going to be called “DirectX-box”, to show the extensive use of DirectX within the consoles