Microsoft Company is known not only of MS Windows, MS Office and Internet Exlorer. Microsoft and Bill Gates are known for many gamers as a founders of Xbox and Xbox 360. Many children learn Xbox at first, and then get acquainted with the computer and OS Windows.
How and when Xbox has appeared ?Xbox - a gamebox of the sixth generation from corporation Microsoft.
2000 - Sony Playstation 2 comes up to the market of consoles of the sixth generation. The history seemed went on a spiral - Sega, Sony and Nintendo struggled for fans of video games, names of gamesboxes and their technical possibilities varied only. In the same 2000 Bill Gates, the richest person of a planet has informed the game world with sensational news - Microsoft is preparing a gamebox of the sixth generation, the direct competitor Sony Playstation 2.
Sony has dethroned Nintendo and has ruined a powerful once Sega in struggle of gameboxes of the previous generation, Bill's intentions were mad. Popularity of Playstation was so high that anybody did not doubt a success of second PlayStation at all. However, Microsoft has the most serious trump in a form of huge financial assets which were going to be encloses in promotion of Xbox.
Various gamble have gone about it after the announcement . Someone named a gamebox the Death Star (by analogy to Star Wars), someone named it the Computer in the black case.
Bill at last has designated intentions of Microsoft at conference of developers of the games, passing in San Dzhos. The working name of the console was X-Box. The gamebox surpassed Playstation 2 technical characteristics in three times and has been urged to turn public representations about video games, support of DVD-Video that was another feature of Xbox give it the same attractiveness in this plan as well as Playstation 2.
However developers of games were not so optimistical. The architecture of a gamebox was represented in the form of the computer to them, presence of a hard disk and support of a DirectX has urged even more on these hearings.
Debut of Xbox at exhibition E3 has taken place on May, 13th, 2000 . The debut has left inconsistent impression. Technical demos undoubtedly were magnificent, however there was no game demonstration that suggested an idea that developers favour Bill Gates's gamebox not very much. In September of the same year in a direct transmission to London, San Francisco and Tokyo all these fears have been dispelled by demonstration of the list of the developers, gathered to develop games for Xbox. There were 156 positions in the list, among them were such bisons of the game industry as Konami, Capcom, Activision, THQ and ID. Sega and Electronic Arts was not in the list, but also such impressive list has sufficed that Sony and Nintendo have begun to worry.
Gamebox start was planned in the end of 2001, however while gamebox working out has just began an evil tongues confirmed that it is necessary to expect a gamebox only in 2002.
Xbox has been presented by Bill Gates personally on January, 6th, 2001 in Las Vegas for the first time . Developers have agreed that the gamebox is capable to create the beautiful worlds that are more tremendous, however not all inhabitants liked the huge black case of a prefix, and joypads seemed inconvenient.
Microsoft declared that Xbox has got support Sega in March, 2001 . 11 exclusive Sega games should appear only on Xbox, among them Jet Set Radio Future, Sega GT, Gun Valkyrie and Panzer Dragoon Orta. It was a shock for competitors. Money of Microsoft has made the business, besides Sega Dreamcast did not maintain a competition with Playstation 2 and Sega declared the termination of support of the console.
It remains very little before start Xbox in October, 17th, 2001. The grandiose festival in Cannes , called to draw attention of Europeans to Xbox became significant event on the European continent. Many people had an impression that Microsoft will not stop Xbox don't become successful.
Official start of Xbox sale has taken place on November, 14-15th, 2001 . The first gameboxes have arrived in shops of the USA in the evening on November, 14th. Bill Gates has personally taken part in official start of a gamebox handing over the first copies of Xbox to buyers. The gamebox price made only $299. In spite of the fact that many still considered a gamebox ugly, a joypad too big, and the price too high, Microsoft sold one million gameboxes for three weeks. It was an improbable result. That fact is interesting that start of Nintendo GameCube (working name Dolphin) in the USA has taken place after only three days on November, 18th. It was the real fight between Microsoft and Nintendo, prolonged for many long years. GameCube became for Xbox the basic contender next three years, Playstation 2 remained on the first place. It is now observed about equal volume of Playstation 2 and Xbox whereas GameCube considerably concedes to them, the reason is that many use PS2 and Xbox as a DVD-player whereas the gamebox from Nintendo is not capable to reproduce DVD disks (all people know about pirate-phobia of Nintendo: gamebox Nintendo 64 was on cartridges because their copying was not profitable, GameCube used special disks on 1,5ГБ, anything good from this did not leave in both cases).
Start of Xbox in Japan has taken place on February, 22nd, 2002 . The price was 34800 Japanese yens. Bill Gates was there too.
Despite powerful advertising support, start was is impossible to name successful. It has been sold only 123 thousand of Xbox's for the first week . It was only half from initial delivery and many shops began to give discounts on Xbox by the end of month. Dead or Alive 3 was the most sold game.
Japanese are people with cardinally opposite mentality. Not without reason the thinking, outlook subdivide into the western and east type. The gamebox from the West has not been apprehended by east compulsive gamers with the passion because of errors of marketing experts of Microsoft, and because of thanks to that Xbox was simply American child.
Start of Xbox in Europe has taken place on February, 14th, 2002 . For the first week it has been sold only 50 thousand gameboxes. Such situation became because the mass buyer waited for reduction of price on Xbox. The price in 299 English pounds was too high. Four weeks later the price on Xbox has been lowered to 100 English pounds, because Nintendo planned on May, 3rd start GameCube at the price of only 129 English pounds.
Total number of sales Xbox makes about 24 million gameboxes.
Nvidia company declared the termination of release of graphic chips for Xbox in August, 2005. The same year the gamebox of seventh generation Xbox 360 has come. Under statement of Microsoft, Xbox has not paid back itself and the company has suffered losses at a rate of 4 billion dollars.
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