When did the Xbox first come out?

The Xbox was first released into the console market on Nov. 15, 2001 after previously being announced by Bill Gates at the Game Developers Conference in the year 2000. To help promote its release, the Xbox was funded with a $500 million marketing budget by Microsoft.

After its release, the Xbox sold very well in North America with 1.5 million units sold by New Year's Day in 2002. Some of the Xbox's initial success in North America can be partially attributed to flagship game titles such as "Halo." The Xbox was replaced by the Xbox 360 just four years after its release, and manufacture of the console stopped in 2005.