Ex-Microsoft gaming VP reveals why Xbox was greenlit despite how “unlikely” it was — “they saw it as a hedge against the threat” of Japan in tech
25 years after the original Xbox's release, ex-Microsoft gaming VP Ed Fries says it was created to rival Japanese companies like Sony and Nintendo.
A photograph of Ed Fries.
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Ed Fries served as Microsoft's vice president of game publishing and an Xbox executive until he left the company in 2004.


