Name: Opening the Xbox
ISBN: 9780761537083

Opening the Xbox

"The video game industry is expected to double in sales over the next five years. It has already eclipsed motion pictures to become one of the largest and fastest growing markets in history and a lamplight illuminating where the future of entertainment is headed. In an effort to grab a chunk of that market, Microsoft - an absolute newcomer to the gaming industry - has put billions of dollars on the line in a gamble to build the fastest, most mature, most advanced video game console ever: the Xbox. Is this new Microsoft venture just another experiment that, like WebTV, was launched to much fanfare but will be quickly forgotten? Or will it become the next Windows, finding its way into the homes and lives of millions of people around the world?". "In Opening the Xbox, journalist and gaming-industry expert Dean Takahashi guides you deep into the story of this much-anticipated game console. Through exclusive interviews with top executives at Microsoft, exhaustive research, and a penetrating investigation, he unveils the story behind the development of the project and how it could change the entertainment industry forever."--BOOK JACKET.

What Hacker News says

iqsterFeb 2011

Fantastic read! I disagree with the point that Mario 64 was not fun though. The novelty of the 3D platformer experience combined with the open world concept made that game something truly amazing.

I've always dreamed of working with experts of such caliber in a startup. It seems luck (being in the right place at the right time) is important as is a prepared mind (jumping at the right opportunity from the sea that life presents you with).

I have three great book suggestions for people interested in the history behind video games:

1) Masters of Doom 2) Game Over 3) Opening the Xbox: Inside Microsoft's Plan to Unleash an Entertainment Revolution

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VRayDec 2020

I read a lot of cool stuff about this guy in the book "Opening the Xbox" by Dean Takahashi[1] and on Alex St. John's blog (which is unfortunately offline now)

He sounded like every bit as great a programmer as John Carmack or any of the relatively famous linux maintainers

[1] https://archive.org/details/openingxboxinsid00taka/

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kenjacksonNov 2011

At least on the XBox, Gates and Allard interacted a fair bit. From the book "Opening the XBox":

"In the next meeting with Gates, Allard, Ferroni, and Thomason broke the news that the machine wouldn't be able to run the full Windows OS...Hase says he admired Allard for 'having the stones' to 'rip Windows to shreds'...

Allard recalled later, 'I think that was the closest Bill ever got to strangling me. But he ultimately came around.'"

The impression I get is that Allard has had his share of interaction with Gates, which is why I think this email thing wasn't news to Allard. But I suspect this time Allard couldn't convince Gates and so it was killed.

But this just me being a pundit speculator.

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