Former Microsoft executives who were involved in the development of the original Xbox have told Bloomberg in an interview that the team tore down a PlayStation 2 for reference while designing the console.
After Bill Gates showcased a prototype of the Xbox at Game Developers Conference, the design team was tasked with turning it into a retail product. Head of Xbox at the time, Rick Thompson, ended up resigning because he was concerned about the costs associated with the project.

PB = PB || {};
PB.gptStandAlone = PB.gptStandAlone || {};
PB.gptAutoRefresh = PB.gptAutoRefresh || {'gptAds':[], 'gptStandAlone':[]};
admiralCookie = null;
if (typeof readAdmiralCookie === "function"){
admiralCookie = readAdmiralCookie(); }

googletag.cmd.push(function() {
var standAloneSizeMapping = googletag.sizeMapping().addSize([0, 0], []).addSize([750, 0], [[300, 250]]).addSize([980, 0], [[300, 250]]).build(); PB.gptStandAlone['ros_300x250_p_slot4_1610202682'] = googletag.defineSlot('/4403/cr/playstationlifestyle/ros', [[300, 250]], 'ros_300x250_p_slot4_1610202682')
.defineSizeMapping(standAloneSizeMapping) .addService(googletag.pubads())
.setTargeting('pos', 'P').setTargeting('content_detail', '0').setTargeting('kw', 'in-article').setTargeting('coppa', '0').setTargeting('site', 'playstationlifestyle');
googletag.enableServices();
googletag.display('ros_300x250_p...