The Xbox was the first video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It competed directly with the Sony PlayStation 2 and the Nintendo GameCube. It was a large black box which could accept input from four controllers, and it was a popular platform for American and European-developed franchises and genres that had their roots in the markedly different PC gaming tradition. Its biggest hit was a first person shooter game called Halo, which drove sales for much of the console's lifespan.

The Xbox was especially notable for being a vanguard in the area of online gaming. While the Sega Dreamcast and the PS2 both featured online play before it, the Xbox brought with it a service called Xbox Live, which is still in use in Microsoft's Xbox 360 console, and in the online features of Microsoft's Games for Windows PC gaming program. Xbox Live offered social features, downloadable content, and other features not normally seen on gaming consoles. The Xbox also came with a hard drive by default, allowing it to store far more personal data than previous consoles.

While it achieved success in North America, the Xbox never made a significant impact in the important European or Japanese markets. It was bested there by the PS2. The Xbox was discontinued in 2006, shortly after the launch of its successor, the Xbox 360.