Might 12 marks an vital day within the historical past of the Xbox, as 20 years in the past, the Xbox 360 console was first revealed. Microsoft adopted a really completely different tactic for the debut of its Xbox successor, as as a substitute of a grand debut at an occasion like E3–like what Sony would do for the PlayStation 3–it as a substitute selected to indicate off the console on MTV in a particular occasion hosted by Lord of the Rings actor Elijah Wooden.
The present even provided a musical efficiency by The Killers, whereas different well-known faces included rapper Lil’ John and musician Ryan Cabrera. Microsoft was no stranger to leveraging star energy on the time, because it had beforehand recruited Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson to show off the original Xbox console alongside Microsoft co-founder Invoice Gates in 2001.
Known as MTV Presents Xbox: The Next Generation Revealed, this was a wildly completely different strategy when in comparison with how new consoles are revealed immediately. “Are you wanting ahead to the Xbox 360?” Wooden requested Lil’ John in the course of the televised present. “Yeah, I am wanting ahead to getting a free one tonight,” the performer answered with brutal honesty.
Two members from MTV’s automotive customization present Pimp My Journey have been additionally current for a fast interview, and the stay TV occasion even discovered time to briefly deal with the video games that may be coming to Xbox 360.
Microsoft would not depend on MTV for its subsequent two console reveals, as it could showcase the Xbox One in 2013 in a livestream from the Microsoft Campus in Redmond, Washington, whereas the Xbox Sequence X console was first seen in the course of the 2019 Sport Awards.
The Xbox 360 reveal is a pleasant little time capsule of a bygone age in online game advertising and marketing, stuffed with then-popular faces and musicians selling a tool that may later grow to be recognized for its notorious Crimson Ring of Loss of life points. A couple of years again, Microsoft launched a documentary exploring the historical past of Xbox, and in case you missed it, it is an informative look behind the scenes of the ups and downs of the console model over the many years.