Dean Takahashi just finished his draft for his new Xbox 360 book, so he is releasing parts of an xbox history timeline week by week until his book is out. It is a long read, but has a lot of neat info in it:
The Mac version in 1984 was all wire frame, so I suppose the PC version resembled something similar to that.
A lot of the 1999 - 2001 Xbox-related info does seem to match up to the events detailed in the book "Opening the Xbox". So yes, I think it's a pretty accurate account.
All 360 codenames are based off of elements... but i guess that doesn't really answer the question...
dunno... i'm trying to remember what helium was... It was kind of funny, we had a peroidic table posted on the wall to identify codenamed parts.
Why does the chronology start with "1983: Microsoft launches Flight Simulator"??? It is not the 1st game title that Microsoft released. The Microsoft port of "Adventure" was released in 1981 as part of the orginal set of software available at launch the launch of the original IBM PC. (along with BASIC, VisiCalc and Peachtree etc.) This probably makes it the very first PC game. http://retrograde.trustno1.org/microsoft.htm Has images of both Adventure, Decathlon (1982) and FlightSimulator 1.0 "Microsoft Adventure" was ported by Gordon Letwin who joined Microsoft in 1978 (he came from Heathkit) and was one of the 1st 11 Microsoft staff members. Later his role at MS was the Chief Architect of OS/2 on the Microsoft side. He left Microsoft in 1993.
Microsoft Could Have Had GTA Exclusively That, and several other tidbits revealed in new 360 book. by Sam Kennedy, 05/08/2006 A new feature story about the Xbox 360 Uncloaked book posted on 1UP today reveals that Microsoft could have had Grand Theft Auto exclusively on the Xbox but passed on it. Fries won one internal battle. Bach decided that Allard should focus on technology and the next Xbox, so he relieved Allard of control of third-party publishing and gave that to Fries at the close of 2002. That wasn't such a bad move. Under Allard, the third-party division had failed to spot Grand Theft Auto III as the killer application. Allard had organized a group of game managers to evaluate proposals for games. They asked questions of developers, such as, "What would a gamer do in 60 seconds of game play?" The process was secretive, and it had been nicknamed "The Star Chamber," after a 1980s Michael Douglas movie where a group of judges meted out street justice in secrecy. (The movie itself was named after a secret medieval society of judges who vindictively abused the powers of the courts). Unfortunately for Microsoft, the Star Chamber turned down the proposal from RockStar games for Grand Theft Auto III. The Star Chamber members sent the proposal back to RockStar Games with the suggestion to beef up the game. When RockStar later cut a deal with Take-Two Interactive to create an exclusive for the PlayStation 2, Microsoft didn't even get a last-minute chance to bid for the deal itself. It wasn't Microsoft's kind of game, since it was a gritty crime game with foul language, abusive treatment of women, and cop killing. Microsoft had a corporate image to maintain and, like Electronic Arts, it avoided that category. Gamers, however, increasingly loved the anti-establishment themes in the games and the ability to roam free without any rules. The game became the runaway hit of the PS2, and it proved the ineffectiveness of the Star Chamber. The feature also reveals such details as Bill Gates' original mandate to offer a version of the Xbox 360 with the Windows OS, Ed Fries' decision to sign an exclusive game detail with Epic Games over Valve (tossing Valve's proposal in the trash), and Epic's influence in upping the system's RAM from 256 to 512 MB (by showing Microsoft screenshots of Gears of War running under both circumstances) - which ultimately cost Microsoft $900 million extra and consequently resulted in fewer units at launch. There are also some interesting details surrounding Halo 2 - everything from the game's disastrous crash at E3 (because the Xbox console was placed near a giant speaker), to Jason Jones' suggestion to postpone its release until the Xbox 360 (but instead simply saving the second half of the game for 360), to even Ed Fries' last ditch threat to quit his job if Bungie weren't given to the fall of 2004 to finish the game. Perhaps best of all, though, is the section on Rare. Speculation about a split was rife when Rare sent out a Christmas card in December, 2000. On the card was a green Christmas tree with a black box underneath it. On the box was a green X. Once the Microsoft team saw that, they decided that Rare might be worth going after. Nintendo didn't necessarily offer much resistance. George Harrison, a Nintendo of America vice president, said later that Rare's titles were on the wane and the company decided that it could better use the money elsewhere. Microsoft executives opened secret contacts with Rare. And then later on that page: Bach expected that Rare would release five major Xbox games in the next 12 months to 24 months. That prediction wouldn't come true. With the deal behind him, a big part of Ed Fries' game plan was in place. But since Rare was so expensive, he came under pressure to cut costs. It didn't help that Rare's first title, Grabbed by the Ghoulies, sold poorly. Bach had been clear. "If we spend a lot of money on Rare, I don't want to spend a lot of money on other things." Er, oops? 1UP
