Fifteen years ago yesterday, Microsoft launched the original Xbox, throwing their gauntlet into the console gaming market, and kick starting their own odyssey, an unforgettable one that ended up contributing a lot to the modern gaming scene. And congratulating Microsoft on completing this milestone were none others than their biggest competitors in the market- Nintendo and Sony.
Posting on their Twitter, Nintendo wished Xbox ‘happy anniversary,’ congratulating them on ’15 fantastic years,’ a gesture that Microsoft really appreciated- the main Xbox account liked and retweeted the tweet, and multiple regional Xbox accounts all liked, retweeted, and responded to the tweet too. This seems to be another step in what appears to be growing closeness between Nintendo and Xbox- just recently, Nintendo had sent Xbox head Phil Spencer an NES Classic Mini ahead of its launch, for example.
On the other hand, PlayStation also wished Xbox a happy anniversary, with the PlayStation UK account congratulating Xbox with their tongue firmly in cheek. This kind of thing is great to see, because in the end, these companies don’t hate each other, and definitely have a lot of respect for each other. They all learn from each other, and they all need each other to succeed. Of course, that’s something that fans of none of these will ever understand, which is why fanboys exist, I suppose.