When Microsoft decided they wanted to get into the game console market, they were faced with a problem. Everyone knew them as a company that developed computer software, and there was a concern that consumers wouldn’t understand that their new Xbox console was a separate product from their software division. To make sure they got the message though, Microsoft decided to show off a prototype that nobody could mistake for a desktop computer.
The giant gleaming X that shared the stage with Bill Gates and Seamus Blackley at the 2000 Game Developers Conference became the stuff of legend. We now know the machine wasn’t actually a working Xbox, but at the time, it generated enormous buzz. But could it have been a functional console? That’s what [Tito] of Macho Nacho Productions wanted to find out — and the results are nothing short of spectacular.
The key to this project is the enclosure itself, but this is no simple project box we’re talking about here. Milled from a solid block of aluminum, the original prototype’s shell reportedly cost Microsoft $18,000 to have produced, which would be around $36,000 when adjusted for inflation. Luckily, the state of the art has moved forward a bit in the intervening two decades. So after working with [Wesk] to create a 3D model from reference images (including some that [Tito] took himself of one of the surviving prototypes on display in New York), the design was sent away to PCBWay for production. It still cost the better part of $6 K to be produced, but that’s a hell of a savings compared to the original. Though [Tito] still had to polish the aluminum himself to recreate the original’s mirror-like shine.
To say the rest of the project was “easy” would be something of an understatement, but it was at least more familiar territory. Unlike the original prototype, this machine would actually play Xbox games, to [Tito] focused on cramming the original era-appropriate hardware (plus a few modern homebrew tweaks, such as HDMI-out) into the hollow X using a clever system of integrated rails and 3D printed mounts.
Some of the original parts, like the power supply, were simply too large to use. That’s where [Redherring32] came in. He designed a custom USB-C power supply that could satisfy the original console’s energy needs in a much smaller footprint. There’s also a modern SSD in place of the 8 GB of spinning rust that the console shipped with back in 2001. But overall, it’s still real Xbox hardware — no emulation or other funny tricks here.
At this point, the team had already exceeded what Microsoft pulled off in 2000, but they weren’t done yet. Wanting to really set this project apart, [Tito] decided to replace the center jewel with something a bit more modern. The original was little more than a backlit piece of plastic, but on this build it’s a circular LCD driven by a Raspberry Pi Pico, capable of showing a number of custom full-motion animations thanks to the efforts of [StuckPixel].
The end result of this team effort is a machine that’s not only better looking than Microsoft’s original, but also more functional. It’s a project that’s destined for a more than just sitting on a shelf collecting dust, so we’re happy to hear that [Tito] plans on taking it on a tour of different gaming events to give the public a chance to see it in person. He’s even had a custom crate made so he can transport it around in style and safety.
Beautiful! Really detailed work. A tip of the hat to all concerned.
Idle speculation… how close was the original Xbox motherboard form-factor to standard (ITX or microATX)? I wonder if the enclosure could be repurposed in due course to accept a more modern board, perhaps then running XEmu or MAME…?
It’s not at all close other than being a rectangle sure you can do it pretty sure people have but its not a drop in clear some holes affair
Nirvana’s single “X-shaped box” didn’t A/B test very well, so they changed the name.
$18k ea. was for the whole functional prototypes, not just the shell.
A billet of aluminum that size would be about 80 kg, costing about $200 at the time. Milling it would cost $$$, or even $$$$, but certainly not $$$$$
I love The Duke style controller still to this day. I know I’m in the minority, but it fit my hands so well.
That is a stellar example what can be done nowadays by virtually everyone. Of course it’s a quite expensive project, but just, like, 15 years ago, this would be virtually impossible to pull off, I think.
I realize that 15 or 20 years is quite a long time, but when you started your “maker adventures” before the advent of flashable microcontrolles, no real access to any parts or information about parts and manufacturing capabilities defined by hand saws, drill presses and metal files, this all almost feels like science fiction.
From that POV I’d really love to be like 15 or 16 years old right now, to really have the time to use all the new possibilities….
They could have spent the money on a TIG welder and some aluminum plate instead :)
It seems like the modern “engineering” community falls over themselves to mill everything out of billet regardless of the cost. They could have got this fabbed locally for significantly less exactly as you said. A few bits of plate aluminum and an experienced tig welder.
You’re plan is all fine and dandy but unfortunately it breaks down at “TIG welding” part. If it was regular S235 steel then no problem, any retard can weld it in a jiffy, but aluminium fumes are very toxic so welders working with that cost arm and leg. Milling it on CNC is in fact cheaper.
Chapeau Bass!
The whole piece of milled out material is accurate to within 0.1mm. All the edges are sharp or chamfered. I love tig fabrication, it’s what I do because my cnc mill isn’t large enough to do big things like this, but it’s not very accurate and tig welded aluminum looks quite different, even if you mill it afterwards.
It irks me that every single project posted on the internet must be an Ad for PCB-way. No disrespect intended for the effort that goes into designing something like this, but I just think back to the sunday morning “horsepower TV” shows my dad would watch that were essentially advertisements for all the big aftermarket engine parts manufacturers. “Our friends at holley gave us this $2000 widget”, or “Our friends at PCB way gave us some free boards”. I can’t put my finger on why it gives me such a visceral reaction but I feel like it detracts from the project in such a massive way that I just see it as more slop, regardless of the effort that goes into it.
But what do I know, I’m just a now-old former young person complaining on the internet.
The annoying part to me is that he didn’t release the design files for the Xbox he built. Normally with those PCBWay sponsorships they’re all like “and here’s where you can order your very own of what I built!” but instead, he got this thing designed and manufactured for him essentially for free and he’s keeping it all to himself. So what was the point of the PCBWay sponsorship if I can’t have PCBWay make me one too?
You could look at it from the frame of reference that they are enabling some cool projects that otherwise wouldn’t get made.
It’s a win/win and definitely one of the more positive forms of advertising out there
You can polish aluminum with kerosene and a rag?
So, my bro… literally took everything from the 2000s part of the group, made a large 3D model of the giant aluminum X, and stuck a OG XBOX motherboard & disc drive to the aluminum X model…
And my bro literally DONE THIS?!?!
!!!I COULD LITERALLY DO THE WINDOWS 95 VICTORY DANCE RN!!!
(I was so excited that the legend of 2000s is back!)