Xbox (Prototype)

DirectX Box or the Microsoft Entertainment Project was the original prototype of the Xbox founded by a Reddit user in late 2018. Some footage can be found in r/xboxprototype or on the Prototype Archives twitter account.

History
Sony Computer Entertainment first announced the PlayStation 2 in 1999, the company had positioned the console as a centerpiece for home entertainment, as it not only would play video games, but also could play audio CDs and video DVDs. Microsoft, whose business had been primarily in supporting the personal computer (PC) business with its Windows operating system, software, and games, saw the PlayStation 2 as a threat to the personal computer.

Four engineers from Microsoft's DirectX team—Kevin Bachus, Seamus Blackley, Ted Hase and DirectX team leader Otto Berkes, began to envision what a Microsoft console to compete against the PlayStation 2 would be like. They designed a system that would use many hardware components in common with PCs, effectively running a version of Windows and DirectX to power the games on the console. This approach would make it easy for developers on Windows to build games for their new system, differentiating itself from the custom hardware solutions of most consoles. Numerous names were suggested for this console, including "Direct X Box", and the "Windows Entertainment Project". These were the two names chosen for the console's name. And to avoid any confusion, it was named DirectX Box inNorth America while it was called Windows Interactive in Europe and Japan.

Starting in October 1999, the modelists and everyone else at Microsoft was busy working onboth Windows 2000 and DirectX Box. As of Christmas Eve, the console was done and ready for testing. The console and it's own controller was taken to a room and was plugged with a lot of cables. One of the employees recorded it on tape which it included a dashboard which screamed the "90s". After that, the tape was delivered to the Gates family. Turns out that the console was successful and the development kit was called