Xbox was first released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and on March 14, 2002 in Europe.
The Xbox 360 is the successor to Microsoft's Xbox video game console, developed in cooperation with IBM, ATI, Samsung and SiS.
Its Xbox Live service allows players to compete online as well as download games and additional content.
In February of 2003, planning for the Xenon software platform began, and was headed by Microsoft VP J Allard.
The end of OurColony came on May 12, 2005, with the release of a video where J Allard of Microsoft showed off the Xbox 360 console.
Xbox Live supports voice communication along with video communication, a feature possible with the Xbox Live Vision.
On November 6, 2006, Microsoft announced Xbox Live Video, an exclusive video store accessible through the console. Launched on November 22, 2006, the first anniversary of the Xbox 360 launch, the service allows users to download high-definition and standard-definition television shows and movies through Xbox Live onto an Xbox 360 console for viewing.
Xbox Live Arcade is an online service operated by Microsoft that is used to distribute arcade video games to Xbox and Xbox 360 owners. In addition to classic arcade games, the service offers some new original games as well as games from other consoles.
John Carmack stated at QuakeCon 2005 that the Xbox 360 has "the best development environment I've seen on a console".
Microsoft XNA also includes other components such as the XNA Framework and XNA Build. Anyone can develop a game using XNA Game Studio Express, an IDE for homebrew developers, which was initially released in beta form on August 30, 2006.
Microsoft has stated that they intend to release more emulation profiles as they become available, with a goal of making the entire Xbox library playable on the Xbox 360.
