CES 2001: Hands-On With the Box Itself

After playing around with the controller, Microsoft gave us the chance to actually handle the Xbox itself. We had seen the console earlier in the screenshots that were handed out by Microsoft, and it was also on display during Bill Gates' keynote address, but we had yet to actually touch the machine. We were really surprised to find how big the console actually was. Even though Microsoft wasn't giving out any measurements, and since we didn't have any tape measures handy, we'd safely estimate that console itself is no less than 15 inches across, three inches tall, and about 14 inches deep. That's larger than most of today's DVD players and VCRs, and easily bigger than any of the next-gen consoles, including Sony's relatively large PlayStation 2.

The Xbox's size also betrays its heavy weight. Again, based on rough estimates, we'd speculate that the console currently weighs between six and nine pounds, which also makes it heavier than any of the current and soon-to-be-released next-gen consoles. In fact, a Microsoft executive we spoke to said that the retail Xbox could wind up being even heavier, since the demo unit being shown at CES didn't have all the final components in it yet. It's interesting to note that the Xbox won't have any hardware territorial lockouts. Microsoft is leaving that option up to the actual game publishers themselves, which means that it's possible for Japanese games to work properly on American Xbox's (and vice versa) without making any modifications to the console.

As the screenshots show, the Xbox's DVD tray is justified to the left side of the console itself, while the four controller ports are evenly spaced along the face of the Xbox. Cooling slits can be found on either side of the console, and a large fan is visible on the back. Aside from the A/V-out, power port, and ethernet connector, there were no other expansion ports visible anywhere on the console. And even though the green Xbox logo that sits atop the system won't glow when the machine is turned on, the Xbox's mere presence will certainly impress anyone passing by your living room. It's definitely the Black & Decker of console gaming… Tim Allen would be proud.