The Rock and Bill Gates debuted the original Xbox 19 years ago today, with the unlikely tag team pairing up to extol the virtues of the console. Before The Rock became bonafide Hollywood megastar Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, he was a five-time WWE champion explaining how the Xbox was “the most electrifying” games console.
The Xbox was unveiled on January 6, 2001, with Microsoft enlisting the aid of The Rock to promote the upcoming system. The surreal image of The Rock standing alongside Gates, telling the billionaire “it doesn’t matter what you think, Bill,” was certainly a unique way to debut the console.
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We’re glad Microsoft opted for this unusual route, though, because if it hadn’t we wouldn’t have video footage of The Rock discussing symmetric multiprocessing:
The original Xbox released on November 15, 2001. Its high manufacturing cost would wind up costing Microsoft a lot of money, with the company losing $4 billion on the console. It would also fall short of its predicted 50 million sales, with Microsoft only shifting 24 million units by the end of its life cycle.
Image Credit: JEFF CHRISTENSEN / Stringer / Getty Images
