Xbox at 25: How Microsoft muscled its way into console gaming and changed the industry

On November 15, 2001, US tech giant Microsoft released a large black box into a gaming industry traditionally dominated by Japanese companies. There was not much subtlety about the Xbox. The console was enormous compared with its competitors. Its original controller was similarly oversized. A fluorescent green circle bearing the letter X sat at the centre of the machine. Microsoft was entering hostile territory. Sony had already found enormous success with the <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts-culture/2024/07/07/playstation-ps1-history/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer" title="https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts-culture/2024/07/07/playstation-ps1-history/">original PlayStation</a> and its successor, the <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts-culture/pop-culture/2025/03/04/playstation-2-anniversary-sony-history/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer" title="https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts-culture/pop-culture/2025/03/04/playstation-2-anniversary-sony-history/">PlayStation 2</a>, was quickly becoming the dominant console of its era. <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts-culture/2024/05/08/nintendo-wii-announcement-2004/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer" title="https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts-culture/2024/05/08/nintendo-wii-announcement-2004/">Nintendo</a>, still three years away from launching the game-changing Wii console, had fallen out of favour and was synonymous with only its first-party exclusive games. Yet 25 years after that first North American launch, Microsoft remains one of the three names that define console gaming.