Microsoft began developing their first game console, the Xbox, in 1998. The Xbox was the first console to include a built-in hard drive for game saves and downloadable content. Its successor, the Xbox 360, was conceived in 2003 and improved on the Xbox by addressing issues like loud fan noise based on user feedback. The Xbox 360 was released in 2005 and sold over 70 million units. It included accessories like wireless controllers and the Kinect motion controller. Rumors suggest the next Xbox console, the Xbox 720, will include an updated Kinect, Blu-ray drive, and TV integration capabilities, though details remain unconfirmed.

1. A Brief Case Study of the Console Xbox 360’s Motion Controls
&User Interface Development and History.
Microsoft's first foray into the game console market was the Xbox. Development began
in 1998 when four Microsoft's engineers from DirectX team; Kevin Bachus, Seamus Blackley,
Ted Hase and Otto Berkes, disassembled some Dell laptop computers to construct a Microsoft
Windows-based game console. In 1999, Bill Gates introduced the console for the first time in
public during interviews. When Bill Gates presented the Xbox at the Game Developers
Conference in 2000, spectators were impressed by the console's technology. Xbox was the first
console to have a built-in hard disk drive; which was used to store game saves and data as well as
downloadable content from xbox live now known as the 'Marketplace'. Xbox Live service has
been avaliable since November 2002, service was extended in 2007 on the Windows platform,
named Games for Windows – Live, which makes most aspects of the system available on
Windows computers with internet connection. Xbox had two controllers avaliable, the original
controller featured two analog sticks, two analog triggers, back and a start buttons and four action
buttons (A-Green, B-Red, X-Blue and Y-Yellow). This type of controller was bundled with Xbox
consoles for all territores except Japan where "Controller S" was used. It was a smaller and
lighter version of the original Xbox controller designed for users with smaller hands. By 2002
popularity of "Controller S" replaced the standard Xbox controller.
Microsoft's succesor to the Xbox, the Xbox 360, was conceived in early 2003. Before the
launch of the Xbox 360, several Alpha development kits were spotted using Apple's Power Mac
G5 hardware. Microsoft's Senior Director of Xbox Product Managment, Albert Penello, in one
of the interviews said:''(...) the Xbox 360 was only our second console. Our competitors have
been doing this for a long time. It was nice to be able to take what we learned over the years and
bring that to bear on the design, the features people wanted, while fixing some of the things that
we wish we'd done better like the fan noise and stuff like that.'' Penello simply is saying that even
if Microsoft is not relativley as good in creating game consoles as other companies, like Nintendo
or Sony, they still have improved the Xbox using the technology they know. Developers took
interest in the spectators opinion and they improved the issues that the old console had. Xbox 360
was released on November 22, 2005 in USA and Canada. On the December2, 2005 it was
launched in Europe. As of September 30, 2012, there was 70 million Xbox 360 consoles that have
been sold worldwide. At the E3 presentation on June 14, 2010, Microsoft announced that
redesigned Xbox 360 console is slimmer than the previous Xbox 360 model. New console model
features a 250 GB hard drive as well as 4GB internal storage. There is also many
accesoriesavaliable for Xbox 360, they include; wired and wireless controllers, various headsets
for chatting online, webcams for video chatting, dance mats for exercises and different sized
types of memory unit and hard drives. New add-on for the console was released in November
2010, the Kinect. Kinect is a controller-free gamin experience It allows spectators to interact with

2. the Xbox 360 using body language and voice commands.
There is a gossip surrounding Microsoft about the next generation console, the Xbox720,
according to the Xbox World magazine Xbox 720 will include a new version of Kinect, Blu-ray
drive and an A/V port for watching and recording TV. As well the rumours say that new version
of Xbox is going to be released sometime in 2013. However there is no reliable confirmation
about it.
Webography
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox_360
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox_Live
http://www.pcworld.com/article/200986/xbox_360_interview_part_one.html
http://www.techradar.com/news/gaming/consoles/xbox-720-release-date-news-and-
rumours-937167
http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-57551679-75/xbox-720-to-offer-kinect-2.0-and-
blu-ray-drive-says-xbox-world/