The original Xbox prototype becomes an exhibition in the Microsoft Visitor Center

Microsoft launched last year the most powerful console on the market, which arrived in Brazil in December costing R $ 4,000. All the graphic features of Xbox One X impress, as we have shown in our review, and it is always interesting to check the evolution of the console over the years.

Of course, we already know all the editions published previously. But did you see the original prototype of the Xbox? Microsoft proudly exhibited at the company's visitor center in Redmond, Washington.

This is a gigantic "X" aluminum, which was introduced for the first time by former Microsoft boss, Bill Gates. Seamus Blackley's side, showed the material at the Game Developers Conference in March 2000.

Each prototype unit cost $ 18,000 to manufacture as they were made of solid aluminum blocks. Blackley said on Twitter that the prototype was not just for display – it really worked.

It was the showcase unit to show partners and the press. It worked. [Na verdade, eram vários, e eles viajaram pelo mundo. Eu carreguei essas malditas coisas em todos os continentes literalmente.]

And speaking of the behind-the-scenes story before the release of the Xbox, let's not forget some interesting episodes. For example, when a console proposal was presented to the board, Bill Gates responded that the idea was an insult to everything he would have done for the company, but ultimately been persuaded by a simple question: "But what about Sony?

Originally, the idea of ​​the Xbox was that the company was creating a PC for games, which had the appearance of a console, but that would still be a PC. However, the team chose to create a more closed platform, which has become the PowerPoint presentation played on Bill Gates' desk – the insulting one.

Fortunately, someone had the idea to bring Sony into a debate that lasted Gates approved the Xbox plan with its "full blessing", all the necessary resources, and permission to work separately from the rest of the company.

As we know, Microsoft abandoned the prototype of aluminum in the form of "X" when launching the Xbox 360 in 2005, and the Xbox One in 2013. What do you think of the original design?