Microsoft’s anniversary celebration for the Xbox has reached its final form with the release of Power On: The Story of Xbox, a new six-part documentary series.
Power On was produced in-house by Microsoft and it promises to tell the full story (“glitches and all”) behind the creation of the original Xbox. Bungie’s Halo: Combat Evolved gets the spotlight in the fourth episode, and viewers who stick with the series to the end will be able to dive into the fallout from some of Microsoft’s costly mistakes, with two final episodes devoted to the Xbox 360’s Red Ring of Death and the Xbox One’s TV-centric debut.
From short films to podcasts to full-length features, Documenting the Past tunes in to the history of video games through a documentarian’s lens.
The first episode of Power On has been embedded below. You’ll also find an episode guide to all six episodes.
Chapter 1: The Renegades
A small team of upstarts sets out to convince Microsoft that it’s time to enter the console business.Chapter 2: The Valentine’s Day Massacre
The battle to own the living room is on–but not without significant cost and risk.Chapter 3: And it Didn’t Turn On
Public doubt intensifies as issues threaten to spoil the 2001 launch for Xbox.Chapter 4: Cool… Now What?
A console is only as good as its games… and Xbox needs a gamechanger to survive. Enter Halo.Chapter 5: Red Ring of Death
The demand for Xbox 360 is at fever pitch, but a critical malfunction threatens its success.Chapter 6: TV… Or Not TV
Xbox loses its way. Can a former intern get the team back on track?
If you’d prefer, Power On is available to watch through your Xbox console, as well as a variety of other streaming platforms, including The Roku Channel, IMDb TV, and Redbox.