It’s now been 24 years since Bill Gates and The Rock unveiled the Xbox

Xbox fans around the world… it’s officially done 24 years old Until today since The Rock joined Bill Gates in unveiling the original Xbox! Yes, that big old plastic box has been tucked away in our hearts and minds for about a quarter of a century at this point, so we thought now was a good time to take a look back at the OG Xbox’s early 2001 reveal.

With the state of the industry these days, this seems like a crazy way to reveal a console, right? Sure, gaming is more popular and widespread than ever these days… but to have a WWE star introduce a brand new gaming platform is pretty strange. With all the clinical presentations and pre-recorded live broadcasts these days, we miss the pantomime slice that something like this brings to the table.

We can’t say that Bill’s acting is completely As normal as Mr. Johnson is – but this is still fun to go back and watch, and we really think the whole reveal captured just how important this moment is for Microsoft and its gaming business. Seriously, interactive entertainment has changed a lot since then Microsoft brought this bad boy to the market!

Of course, looking back, not only has it been 24 years since the first Xbox console ever was unveiled, it’s also been 24 years since the birth of the platform. When the system launched later that year, it provided some of its own surprising Experiences; Followed by The game-changing feature that was Xbox Live Back in 2002. What a time to be in!

Anyway, I think so will It’s been a quarter of a century in the next year since that big reveal (and later in the year the launch of the actual console), which is frankly crazy to think about – but long live the original Xbox is all we can say. We remain grateful for the path forged for Microsoft’s first console to this day.