BET ON BLACK, my latest Shacknews long read, is available to read. Read about Microsoft's early years in publishing and developing games for PC and consoles, with deep dives into the making of Minesweeper, Age of Empires, and a handful of the games that launched on the original Xbox in November 2001.
I posted a full chapter on Cortex last week, documenting the arduous process of desinging the Xbox's "Duke" controller. If you'd like to read it before jumping into the full, 150k-word long read, you'll find it here.
We also premiered our next Shacknews documentary, "Green Machine," chronicling the obstacles Microsoft overcame on the road to launching its first game console. Finally, I interviewed Phil Spencer on the launch of Xbox Series S|X; read that here.
Enjoy!
