R
Rösti
Unconfirmed Member
Well, almost 15 years anyway. I decided to bring this up a bit earlier as we will likely be occupied with more contemporary things come GDC 2015 next month (March 2-6), and thus would probably see a thread like this drown. Anyhow, onto the Xbox announcement then.
On Friday, March 10, 2000, between 10:30-11:30 A.M. PST, in the San Jose Civic Auditorium, Bill Gates gave the Opening Address at GDC 2000, where he discussed Microsoft's ongoing commitment to the entertainment market and announced Xbox.
The keynote can be viewed at GDC Vault: http://www.gdcvault.com/play/1014852/GDC-2000-Opening-Keynote-Bill
Some segments (game demos mainly) are unfortunately missing. But everything else regarding specs and vision is intact.
Favourite quote from this:
I took the liberty of taking some screengrabs of this:
Bill took the stage with a very straight approach, immediately told he would announce a new platform.
Talked a bit about the history of how this platform emerged.
Notice that it's spelled X-Box and not Xbox here. This created confusion later on among the press as some might remember.
See the earlier quote about this. Ambitious, but perhaps not up to photo realism level.
Bill and good ole Seamus Blackley (what's he doing nowadays, I believe he left CAA in 2011?).
Prototype/display console with prototype controller.
A few devs spoke about the console, Sam Houser was one.
Jen-Hsun Huang was another.
Bill in that iconic leather jacket.
Unprecedented partnerships.
Original press release: http://news.microsoft.com/2000/03/10/xbox-brings-future-generation-games-to-life/
A bit corny at times but still a nice announcement of a new console I think. I wonder if GDC nowadays could be a viable stage to announce a new console. Microsoft and Sony had their own events for Xbox One respectively PS4, while Nintendo chose to unveil Wii U at E3 2011. Perhaps have GDC towards the developers and focus on the capabilities of the system there while having E3 for games only. But let's not digress further.
What do you think of this keynote, did it a set a good tone for how Xbox was eventually realized, maybe you were actually there in person and could share a story? Whatever your stance towards this, share your thoughts.
On Friday, March 10, 2000, between 10:30-11:30 A.M. PST, in the San Jose Civic Auditorium, Bill Gates gave the Opening Address at GDC 2000, where he discussed Microsoft's ongoing commitment to the entertainment market and announced Xbox.
The keynote can be viewed at GDC Vault: http://www.gdcvault.com/play/1014852/GDC-2000-Opening-Keynote-Bill
Some segments (game demos mainly) are unfortunately missing. But everything else regarding specs and vision is intact.
Favourite quote from this:
Bill Gates said:
I took the liberty of taking some screengrabs of this:
Bill took the stage with a very straight approach, immediately told he would announce a new platform.
Talked a bit about the history of how this platform emerged.
Notice that it's spelled X-Box and not Xbox here. This created confusion later on among the press as some might remember.
See the earlier quote about this. Ambitious, but perhaps not up to photo realism level.
Bill and good ole Seamus Blackley (what's he doing nowadays, I believe he left CAA in 2011?).
Prototype/display console with prototype controller.
A few devs spoke about the console, Sam Houser was one.
Jen-Hsun Huang was another.
Bill in that iconic leather jacket.
Unprecedented partnerships.
Original press release: http://news.microsoft.com/2000/03/10/xbox-brings-future-generation-games-to-life/
A bit corny at times but still a nice announcement of a new console I think. I wonder if GDC nowadays could be a viable stage to announce a new console. Microsoft and Sony had their own events for Xbox One respectively PS4, while Nintendo chose to unveil Wii U at E3 2011. Perhaps have GDC towards the developers and focus on the capabilities of the system there while having E3 for games only. But let's not digress further.
What do you think of this keynote, did it a set a good tone for how Xbox was eventually realized, maybe you were actually there in person and could share a story? Whatever your stance towards this, share your thoughts.
