Xbox 360 Was Nearly Called Xbox 3

"You don’t want to be Xbox 2 compared to PlayStation 3."

By Alex Osborn

While Microsoft ended up naming its second console Xbox 360, the company considered other options, including Xbox 3.

"Certainly Xbox 3 was actually on the list because, well, you’ve gotta catch up," former Chief Xbox Officer Robbie Bach said on the latest episode of IGN Unfiltered. "You don’t want to be Xbox 2 compared to PlayStation 3. We actually talked about that," he added.

"You don’t want to feel like you’re a generation behind, so why not skip?" he continued, noting that "Microsoft has a long history of skipping numbers," citing the jump from Windows 8 to Windows 10 as a prime example.

What do you make of Microsoft's decision to ultimately name their second console Xbox 360? Would the console have looked inferior to PlayStation 3 if the company called it Xbox 2 or caused consumer confusion if it was called Xbox 3?

Sound off with your thoughts in the comments, and for more on our discussion with Bach about the early days of Xbox, be sure to check out our full interview with the former Xbox boss on this month's episode of IGN Unfiltered, which airs tomorrow.

Alex Osborn is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter and subscribe to him on YouTube.

Let's block ads! (Why?)