An Xbox Architect Explains Why It's Impossible to Find the Original Xbox Boot Video
A fun bit of trivia if you didn't know already.
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According to Seamus Blackley, one of the architects on the original Xbox, Microsoft is having a hard time locating the original Xbox boot video. Whether this is true or not, Blackley threw out a little trivia as to why it is actually impossible to find this "video".
Game consoles usually have a little video that lets you know which console you're playing in case you're ever lost, although they're a bit rare nowadays (I think only the Xbox One has a proper boot video now?). Just like the little GameCube video where the purple blocks move to draw the pattern of a "G" (for GameCube), the original Xbox also had a little video, or rather program.
According to Blackley, and known to hardcore fans of the original Xbox, the original boot video for the system isn't so much a video as it is code that rendered the entire video algorithmically. That means that everything you see is rendered in realtime.
So basically the reason why Microsoft, or anyone else for that matter, won't be able to find the video is because there is no video; just code. This means there's some cool things about the boot sequence, like how it will never form the neon green blob the same way twice.
Blackley has been sharing other fun notes regarding the Xbox lately amid a resurgence of interest for Microsoft's powerful console debut. For instance, the reason why the Duke (the original Xbox controller that's receiving a reprint) was so large was because Microsoft shipped out and outsourced the development for the controller's circuit board to another company that would end up making the board too big.
Apparently the manic pace of the development kept the controller's development buried until the console was finally was announced, and a shocked Blackley found out just how big the Duke was the same time everyone else did when he "was standing on stage holding this thing."
So yeah, if you're a fan of the original Xbox you might already have known some of these things, but if you're just reminiscing about the OG Xbox, maybe you might have learned some new little bits of trivia to help fuel that nostalgia.