As many hardcore Xbox fans wonder aloud about the future of the Xbox console and various forms it might take, there’s been a lot of nostalgia about Xbox’s past that serves as a reminder of why many of us are fans of the ecosystem today.
Every so often, I’ll see a post or remark online that personally reminds me of what drew me into Xbox, and most recently, it was various online posts sharing nostalgia for the original Xbox dashboard.
Built in the Future
The Original Xbox dashboard features the brands signature green color scheme, a floating spherical Xbox logo, menu options, and a background of connected moving hexagons. When you explore the consoles menus it feels like you are delving deeper into something from the future.
The visuals were accompanied by truly strange sounds, including but not limited to a consistent low hum that made it feel like you were inside of a futuristic super computer.
The standout of the dashboards sound design has to be the other worldly vocalizations that sounded like you were being contacted by Artificial Intelligence. It was later revealed that these creepy voices were actually remixed sound bites taken from real-life Apollo space missions.
All of this effort led to what was a truly one of a kind experience from the moment you turned on your console. The dashboard wasn’t just a way to manage your console or access your games. It was part of the experience of accessing a piece of revolutionary technology.
The OG Xbox console released in 2001, just 2 years after the matrix, Y2K, and the rise of the modern-day internet meant thoughts of cyberspace would have been on the mind of the people building the machine. In the early 2000s, the idea of the “future” was a lot more exciting than the reality we live in now, and it was easy to dream of living in the worlds we saw in movies or read in books.
Under Dogs
Everything about the original Xbox dashboard had to be eye-catching because Microsoft was entering a console space that was dominated by big players like Nintendo and Playstation.
It’s been well documented how the team behind Xbox created the console and convinced Microsoft to invest in the offshoot brand, and it’s safe to say the team absolutely cooked with what they were given. T
he box itself was an eye-popping, massive black box with green accents. The marketing was edgy and the games were innovative. The team promised a console that would change everything, and they weren’t wrong.
All these years later, Xbox is a major player in the video game industry. While they are no longer the proverbial garage band within the mega corporation that is Microsoft, they in many ways still hold that feeling of being an underdog and outcast within the gaming landscape.
As the future of Xbox seems a little murky and the company and wider gaming landscape seem to be readying for vast changes, it’s always nice to remember a time when Xbox came in without any expectations and delivered something truly unique.
