Power On: The Story of Xbox | Chapter 4: Cool…Now What?

A console is only as good as its games… and Xbox needs a gamechanger to survive. Enter Halo. Chapter 4 of Power On: The Story of Xbox. Xbox almost didn’t happen. Find out why in this behind-the-scenes, six-part series that takes you back to the scrappy beginnings of Microsoft's video game console. It’s the untold story of the people behind the box, glitches and all.
www.xbox.com/p...
Audio Description: • Power On: The Story of...

[@hanzo90]

I will NEVER forget the midnight release for Halo 2. I was 14 and snuck out of my house while my mom was sleeping to walk to GameStop and waited with dozens of excited fans to pick up this Masterpiece. I even skipped school the following day to play it at my friend's. Those were the days

[@hughmc1133]

Never understood why people liked halo 2. I thought it was the most overrated game of all time!

[@smwhtunknown]

@@hughmc1133 that’d be halo 3 lol

[@thoi637]

@@smwhtunknown that'd be halo reach lol

[@rockinglee101]

wow dude, that sounds realllly good.

[@YA-hm5zy]

@@hughmc1133 exactly.. nowhere near as good as the original

[@No-qw5zi]

I’m loving the series so far it makes me feel like I’m in the 2000s

[@reubenrandolph633]

True

[@melw5257]

In the group chat talking about these moments i was in time square for halo 2 time flying

[@robertotrumpet]

the best decade for gamers

[@Iamalf564]

Same here man

[@Kuson2]

this reminds me of that show Icons from G4.

[@isaiah1516]

It was smart to drop Halo Infinite's multiplayer on the 20 year anniversary

[@H2OFlymamaluigi]

I remember seeing the Live logo on most of my games and wanted to try it but I was way too young to start on the original Xbox. I started early in the 360 lying to my parents saying I could play Rock Band with cousin meanwhile I’m playing Halo 3 online until 3 AM on school nights. Definitely not my smartest move but it was worth it

[@deacon.]

literally the same thing for me bro.. miss those days though /:

[@Abram-Delgado]

My vice was Gears of War 1 and 2 during 5th grade. Grades were non-existent.

[@topsofwow]

I thihnk it was your smartest move ;)

[@steelbear2063]

Hey if it works, it ain't that stupid

[@Astrothunder_]

Im pretty sure I can directly correlate my highschool gpa going down and when I first got access to Xbox Live. I wouldnt have it any other way...

[@GeorgeFPS1]

It's fun seeing people playing halo 1 and 2 when they first released.

[@MichaelDoesLife]

Why wasn't J Allard interviewed? He was an integral part of the 360 era and it was glossed over.

[@BryantheArchivist]

@@MichaelDoesLife They glossed over some stuff on Xbox's controller too. Guess you'll have to wait for 360's 20th anniversary.

[@imsimplysamuel]

@@MichaelDoesLife ITS OVER

[@alexsilva28]

@@BryantheArchivist Yeah, the focus was mostly on the OG Xbox but even that had some parts glossed over to briefly talk about 360 and One

[@christhegaminglibrarian]

I remember selling my GameCube after playing Halo at several LAN parties and wanting that experience at home. Got it December 23rd, 2003 with Halo, MechAssault, Splinter Cell, Dead or Alive 3, and Project Gotham Racing. And, of course, Xbox Live!

[@t.7527]

Awesome !

[@donkey7577]

Not as cheap than that 20 year old gamer at launch.......

[@phatalityprophet]

I sell my PS2 to play Halo and Halo 2 at LAN parties too

[@johnriley4788]

I sold my GameCube to get an Xbox as well. Had to. All my friends were playing halo and I’m over here playing Mario sunshine or something lol.

[@Marc28031984]

I had them all. GameCube, PS2 Slim and the Xbox. Great times. 🎮❤️

[@DannyPhantom992]

Getting that first Xbox with Halo back in 2001 was one of the most memorable times of my life. Playing Halo with my brothers and even my parents are incredible memories I will always cherish. Thank you to everyone at Microsoft for putting this together, truly incredible.

[@LiamCuthbert]

"whose gonna pay for playing multiplayer?" fast forward 20 years and people are paying 100s for skins and lootboxes. if only you guys knew.

[@vullord666]

Ngl, I feel like an 80 year old asking why gamers are mad at not getting X skin or willing to buy them.

[@The_Primary_Axiom]

20$ for the color blue !!??

[@franksblends2516]

Thousands of dollars for fifa player cards

[@unoriginalname5665]

Fast forward to today We pay for The Colour Grey 6 times

[@zteinke1399]

Don't forget paying $60-$100 for beta releases as well while we playtest their games for half its cycle.

[@1969Makaveli]

Boy do I remember the lan parties at my best friends house. We would play from like 4pm until 8am or 9am the next day. The battles were legendary. Those Halo lan parties were the stuff of legends. Thanks for the memories XBOX.

[@mattmorris2572]

It’s crazy how much Xbox has changed and evolved the gaming landscape worldwide. Xbox and their innovations are far ahead of many of the competition. So happy I’ve been along for the entire journey!

[@54356776]

Such as ?

[@xbox]

You got us smilin over here, Matt 💚 Glad to have you with us on this amazing journey!

[@mattmorris2572]

@@54356776 watch the video and become enlightened, my friend!

[@54356776]

@@mattmorris2572 I'm talking about your comment, not the video.

[@mattmorris2572]

@@54356776 watch the video and you will understand my comment! Shouldn’t be too hard since you are commenting on the actual video!

[@ThemildmanneredgamerBlogspot]

Great documentary! I lived through all of this and watching I am re-living it all. Thank you so much for putting this out there for all of the fans.

[@DEATHTRUTH]

I'm interested to know what Steve and Bill's reaction was to the success of Xbox considering their stance leading up to the release.

[@Greybush46322]

I still LAN 4 OG Xboxs in my garage for large groups of friends. 10-12 players are usually there. Great times for the last 20 years.

[@jackbexhell]

Halo CE was so revolutionary it's hard to explain to people who weren't there to experience it at the time of release. There are so much we take for granted in modern console FPS games now that Bungie either innovated or refined

[@whenisdinner2137]

I love that they got Snoop Dogg to do this.

[@pug-man6861]

It’s a shame these days are gone I don’t think the gaming industry will ever capture this magic again

[@tallaladil8206]

Fr

[@pryan609]

I remember running my local midnight launch of Halo 2. Still have the full sized Master Chief statue for Halo 2.

[@jarrettbattle9295]

Me, my brother, my cousins, and my father stayed up all night playing Halo back in the day. Ah, the memories of hearing either of us yell accusations of screen cheating. I miss those days…

[@valentinoesposito3614]

Imagine meeting snoopdog on Xbox Live and getting his friend request 😂

[@esoteridactyl]

Really wish they would've documented the development of the 360 more...I'm curious about why they changed it to white for example. All of the stuff in the first few episodes about the development of the original console was so interesting, but we didn't really get to see that here :/

[@starg47]

I agree

[@charlesmaclellan8124]

Good times with Halo 2 on Xbox LIVE. The best times.

[@xbox]

Absolutely the best times. We remember them fondly.

[@dannypassion]

Watching this, tells you that the console innovation came from Xbox.

[@FiniteRich]

makes me laugh when people diss gamepass, it’s so clearly the future

[@geiger94]

But You know... ;) The creators want You to think that ;)

[@nrXic]

@@geiger94 Because they were the creators.

[@shiny460]

Yeah, the Xbox documentary created by MS of course wants you to think that

[@chikofernandez828]

Wasn’t even about because the documentary was from Microsoft it’s because it’s dead true Xbox changed the online gaming experience of consoles then the rest followed. Early 2000s Xbox was at its peak in online innovation.

[@ernestb4473]

27:33

[@Worgen4ik]

"Well, well, how the turntables..."

[@GTChristmas2222]

yup

[@liquidswords5353]

Xbox live was actually biggest thing in gaming history even bigger then the release of Xbox

[@jay5286]

got to see the first 3 episodes on xbox fanfest I'm Ready for the next 3 let's gooo

[@dropkick79]

Old guy here. Been on Xbox Live since beta.....and still going. I do kinda miss LAN parties though too. ha!

[@dropkick79]

I also miss the old midnight releases....sort of.

[@samuelmunoz1464]

@@dropkick79 midnight releases were awesome.

[@Joshua_Graham01]

@@dropkick79 Same here man. Last midnight release I went to was for Battlefield 3.

[@dom4591]

Lan parties are much more fun than online.

[@babagandu]

I like dancing

[@TheLongDon]

Honestly such an excellent documentary would love to see more based on the evolution of halo throughout the years, both under Bungie and 343i

[@dedelabinouze5110]

Bungie was passion and dedication, 343 was cashgrab. And you can definitely feel that in the games

[@JMcLarren]

Oh man watching this brought back so many memories of going to LAN parties at my friends house and it being our group vs his brothers friends.

[@ThisguyQuake]

The OG Xbox was the most innovative console ever made…. There I said it

[@BrianFo]

I still have the ethernet cable running across my parents house that was used to play halo Lan parties and keep teams from screen looking =)

[@xbox]

Screen-looking is the biggest gaming crime one can commit. Thank you for doing your part to prevent it.

[@RedFive03]

Playing Infinite on my Series X. So amazing.

[@irelandgrt]

I have it on Game Pass on Series S and PC. It's amazing on both.

[@jeremychong8541]

Yes it was so good I was sad when it was done.

[@KaijuMobsta]

You still playing it?

[@foreign69]

I'm loving this Documentary bro! 💚

[@TrickyPanda65]

Bungie❤ Halo will always be the king of FPS games

[@MichaelDoesLife]

It's OVER!

[@ZyloPhone]

ID Software: "Am I a joke to you?"

[@54356776]

I don't get it. Boring games.

[@Georgeirfx]

Valve: "Hold my crowbar"

[@YCStudios_greece]

@@Georgeirfx exactly

[@rolltide419]

This makes me realize how good we had it when games actually released FINISHED.

[@samuelmunoz1464]

Well if people weren't soft and cried about crunch games would released finished.

[@caliptus85]

Crunch was even crazier back then at least some developers dont have to go through that.

[@grim86]

Games were never finished back then they were just cut alot to meet deadlines

[@verakoo6187]

Notice how they said "levels were cut" when refering to Halo, thats how they got "finished" lol

[@mwrench4185]

@@verakoo6187 Stuff gets cut out now too.

[@NoxiousLynx]

xbox 360 was the real console success story for microsoft. p.s. they had it right the 1st time around with the blade interface.

[@ItsJustJess269]

So happy to see Ryan McCaffrey from IGN who hosts unlock that I listen to every week make an appearance on the show amazing stuff. 😁😁

[@thegamingchef3304]

They didn't even mention how the Enemy talked and communicated with each other on Halo. That was really groundbreaking also. I remember one of my brothers friends telling me about it & it sounded unbelievable at the time.

[@billshull9468]

I was one of the early winners in the Pepsi contest. I was so excited and happy. Pepsi or possibly Fedex botched my shipment and the games were missing and Microsoft ended up sending me 6 games to make up for it.

[@billshull9468]

Never had the RROD and the unit was used all the time.

[@stonehorn4641]

@@billshull9468 well, I had it 3 times, but what are you going on about?

[@seanlhil]

they remembered Mechassault... im crying rn

[@zachdickens8569]

I remember playing Halo system link with all my friends that sold there ps2's to get an Xbox to play Halo

[@joshuacope2616]

Met one of my best friends over 12 years ago on live. We've never met in real life but talk almost every day

[@jitensi]

Shedding Man tears all the way 😢. Love this series

[@PrinceofMae]

21:41 Ghost in the Shell Poster :) I know they did Oni at that time, but glad they are indeed huge fans of the franchise :)

[@DCapps1994]

I have more memories with the Xbox 360 than every other game console combined at this point. Madden Modern Warfare 2 Oblivion Halo 3 Battlefield the list goes on and on. Will forever be my favorite console I ever owned.

[@GrumpyWolfTech]

The amount of time I spent in my early 20s playing Splinter cell: Pandora Tomorrow, chaos theory, rainbow 6, and ghost recon was ridiculous. These were really the best times.

[@DiamondProAlpine]

the fact they used insignia (unofficial og xbox live revival) footage at 15:09 makes this video cooler

[@MegaTroySmith]

For real :]

[@JasonSmall]

I eat this stuff up. Good on MS for putting them out.

[@TheBattleRabbit860]

I _still_ have my _original_ GamerTag from the original Xbox back when Halo 2 came out. I can't believe it's been that long already.

[@airpods4]

Watching these videos makes me appreciate the sacrifices and risks they have given to improve tech.

[@ghostv86]

Jason stating he didn't know if people will love Halo. I loved and wanted Halo and Xbox just when seeing it on an episode of Cybernet back in mid 2001 during an E3 showcase.

[@medhurst4]

i remember my old xbox very well and had alot of fun on it but i never had to chance to get into the online aspect of it (i was to young) but the 360 was the console for me first game i ever played online was halo 3 and i have been gaming ever since these vids really do bring back some great memory's

[@leoSaunders]

33:25 jesus. they really went all out with this docu. respect

[@macoud12]

I want see the entire Epic F***ing Pitches folder.

[@TheDoctorZeus]

Ryan Mcaffrey made it in! That’s awesome

[@shitpostheavy]

Always been an avid follower of him during peak Xbox

[@404fanfanboy]

Does anyone else keep rewatching the entire series.

[@PP7Silenced]

Yep. Every few months.

[@antoniopilar6941]

Thought it was just me. They need to do more about history of the entire company. Even Microsoft Windows.

[@kontro113dkhaoz2]

Please acquire Oddworld Inhabitants.... Its time for them to have the full budget behind their next project funded by MS...It has to go 3D again..

[@DarknessInferno15]

It's really funny how much Snoop Dogg gets it.

[@gunnerfugate8519]

PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD EITHER REMASTER OR BRING BACK MECHASSAULT!!!!

[@Hero11170]

Bloodwake also!!

[@danl9621]

The last mechassault sucked hard.

[@ChevyZ71LTZ]

And Need for Speed Underground 2, and Midtown Madness 3!!

[@glennhkboy]

@@ChevyZ71LTZ these you need to talk to EA.

[@Viperconn44]

I’m really enjoying the series so far. I just wish we could’ve gotten an inside look into the naming rationale for the successor to the original Xbox.

[@catalyst9344]

this bring me memory back to 2002

[@OrangeFlame1]

Back in the good days when games had to be shipped complete and working at launch

[@makokenji4350]

Yeah by cutting half the game.

[@xopasstheaux6617]

Snoop Dogg everywhere💀

[@Psmgamer]

Xbox Live was definitely special when it launched with Halo 2. I remember my brother playing it with his friends every day. Good times back then.

[@aaronpearson7929]

I remember playing halo 1 when it first came out and it blowing my tiny mind lol. I remember noticing how the aliens would react and how immersive the game was. Days we will probably never see again!

[@eddiedelgado60]

Even now i'm amazed by how powerful the console was. I've been playing original xbox games and it just shows how great it was.

[@TheXXxLukasxXx]

God how strange feelings I had playing this game. I was like addicted. It was really stunning. Never had this ever again. How to get that feelings back? Remembering about it makes me sick because it was really breathtaking

[@kirkandrew7853]

Well said

[@parzival4629]

Game pass alone was so revolutionary i love being able to see how xbox came together from the beginning up to the new generation xbox consoles

[@Bird0fPrey7]

Why am I just seeing this!? Everyone, even grandma and grandpa needs to watch this. In its entirety. F***n awesome. I’m 41 and I remember all this. And still play Xbox…Xbox live!

[@twan757va]

Man I miss those midnight game releases

[@therudyreport]

I remember my first Xbox and Halo 2 great memories and including the midnight launch of Halo 3

[@27skybluearmy]

Great documentary, but why are they ignoring the fact that Rare really revolutionised FPS on N64 with the likes of Goldeneye, long before Halo?

[@sebastianb.castaneda5768]

I think it’s because it’s not who does it first, it’s about who does it best. Golden Eye it was the first step & revolution for FPS, but Halo improved & make it even better. Plus multiplayer, & you know that they did it better than the other companies & developer when the terminology "Halo Killer" was used to refer FPS from competitors, to try & replicate the same kind of impact that halo had in that moment.

[@BadIrishGamerBIG]

Great series but what made them think FPS wouldn't work on consoles they litterly just ignored goldeneye and perfect dark the second of which they now own...

[@54356776]

Finally, someone objective. I've been enjoying this series but there are some glaring omissions and blatant BS in it. They act like they invented the FPS genre with halo. Maybe it's just poor editing but it's pretty jarring in an otherwise enjoyable doc.

[@buedevideos3322]

@@54356776 they never said that on the episode. They said nobody had done it very well like MS did with halo, and that's true.

[@adolfoarias]

@@buedevideos3322 ya goldeneye was gimmicky. There was only one joystick and that was the problem.

[@kaydee1485]

@@54356776 lol this far from editing, it's revisionism.

[@SerialDriver]

Halo revolution for FPS on consoles? What about goldeneye?

[@LarryHendricks77]

GoldenEye N64? Doom N64? They were around before and were awesome. But Halo was pretty awesome!

[@shitpostheavy]

Obviously

[@lindholmaren]

01:35 I like the subtitles name for the Elite, "Halo Monster" lol

[@DunnCarnage]

Wow I can't believe these guys invented online gaming! Literally, I do not believe it.

[@ummitstwisted4858]

Xbox were the 1st to do it😊

[@METALFACEDOOMXXXX]

@@ummitstwisted4858 yep and achievements

[@knightdm1364]

Actually Sega did it first, Xbox did it better

[@detectiveconan7722]

Also the all digital consoles

[@Rockjesu]

@@ummitstwisted4858 PC gaming, hello?

[@corbinmacklin185]

This gives perspective on the controversy of the graphics when they showed Infinite. I do not remember Halo being problematic or having issues prior to release. The internet was different and things were less exposed then. Now you can't show anything without there being memes.

[@robertstallings7015]

Miss the old 360 dashboard with the tabs when it first came out.

[@JSRFModCentral]

Bring back Mechassault please!!!

[@Nitrous_Busa]

Play Titanfall.

[@SpeedAnarchy]

Play mech warrior 5 on gamepass it’s similar

[@JSRFModCentral]

@@SpeedAnarchy also did that on pc, didn’t really care for its repetitive grindy gameplay

[@TheCivildecay]

14:20 Weren't we all "DARK MASTER" in that era? :)

[@wanderer6664]

Loved my 360 and watching this today and I'm expecting my series x today so excited.

[@DonutRobot1]

i think i was 11 or 12 when i got the xbox for chirstmas for me and my brother the reason we decided we wanted it was because of halo and then halo 2 has been my favorite game of all time and what got me into gaming

[@ElevatedSkins]

Halo inspired me to join the Marines

[@89foxguy]

the first game I can ever remember playing multiple hours of any game was Halo 2. Best friend and I played halo 2 for 12hrs and had the biggest headache from it. I remember the first time I had dual weilded 2 smg's and lost my mind. We were 16 at the time and our minds blown. Man I must admit time does fly it feels like yesterday.

[@DavidsD00MedReport]

Personally I just want to say THANK YOU for Halo and Xbox Live. It changed so much for me

[@XBX1MASTER]

I never left you Xbox. Even when others jumped ship I still gamed on and enjoyed my Xbox One. Xbox for life. You win or learn but never quit.

[@HolyGem333]

Now their games are on PC and it's a great experience being able to use whatever input you like and crossplay battles are fun.

[@murkinsmurff219]

I miss those early 360 days..seeing that old school dashboard gave me the warm and fuzzies

[@Baka_Hannibal]

The Blade system on the 360 was the best layout for Xbox on all of their systems thus far!

[@JulesBurt]

By far, the best documentary ever made on the Xbox, fantastic stuff, really well done👏👏

[@MegaManNeo]

I came to XBOX with the 360S, it was money well spend and the controllers still serve me today for my PC.

[@sparkysIT]

21:20 Some of the developers out there need to go back to these documentaries for some lessons on making fully developed content and stop releasing unfinished content.

[@shunglefilms]

Liking the documentary but I remember Goldeneye on N64.

[@destes100]

Man, LAN parties were the best

[@novustalks7525]

2000 to 2010 those were the best years for gaming across the board.

[@blueguy9076]

Always will remember Christmas 2001. Dad picked up Xbox w/ Halo & the Jetset Radio & PGR pack.

[@johnclark926]

I wish other Xbox exclusive games got covered in this documentary, like Blinx or Rare’s games for the system.

[@thatsubarutho8806]

I was only 9 when this came out and i can still remember the day i went with my older brother to his friends house and his younger brother about my age had the the xbox with halo just finishing the first mission and when you stepped off the escape shuttle just blew my mind, and have bought every xbox and halo since, well i had my parents get me the first xbox and 360 of course lol

[@zyriuz2]

I like in the Xbox halo launch video how the captions just cites Marty O'Donnell and he shouts "go faster!" As "Onlooker" hahaha

[@bardaksuper]

Yeah I member the experience of Xbox live the community was so wholesome especially in COD.

[@juanyeeast1630]

I miss LAN and making friends in XBL parties. Now we suffer with SBMM lol