Yep, you read that right. Microsoft actually had a bit of an argument over the idea of giving you an original Xbox for free.
During those early early days of product development, market analysis and all that other crazy business malarkey that surrounds every product that hits the market, Microsoft debated whether it should make the original Xbox available to the gaming masses for free.
Seamus Blackley co-wrote the proposal that got the Xbox project rolling and was also one of the fine people at Microsoft who crafted the design of the black and green box.
During the interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Blackley said “everyone and their brother who saw the new project starting tried to come in and say it should be free, say it should be forced to run on Windows after some period of time”…. hold up!
Yeah you read that last bit right too, Microsoft wanted the original Xbox to run on Windows. Probably a good thing Microsoft didn’t pursue that idea considering the entertainment industry’s rather great hatred for the operating system. But would that really be as far away as the Xbox One’s current operating system is now? After all, similarities can be drawn between the Xbox One’s operating system layout and that of the Windows 8 Start Menu too.
Blackley mentions that some other crazy ideas were thrown about too, such as the Xbox’s primary function to be to play movies, or that the console should only play games made by Microsoft.
Whilst it’s interesting to hear about all these crazy concepts and novel ideas now, I think it’s safe to say that some sensible minds prevailed over at Microsoft.
Do you think a free to purchase console model could work in the industry today? Let us know in the comments below.
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