Where’s XBMC?
Xbox has certainly come a long way since the brand’s initial debut way back in 2001. The industry has transformed ten-fold in those two decades, and while Xbox has sometimes been in the lead, sometimes been behind, it has nonetheless endured, bringing us to 2021 and the brand’s current hardware iteration, Xbox Series X/S.
If you own one of the aforementioned consoles and fancy taking a trip down memory lane, then you’re in luck, as a brand new dynamic theme offers an aesthetic somewhat similar to that of Microsoft’s original beast of a console. Strictly speaking, it isn’t exactly the dashboard as you might remember it, and is more a reference to Xbox’s strange, almost alien boot screen. But it’s still a neat look, evoking the iconic black-and-green branding.
Titled “The Original”, the dynamic theme is now available to download for all Xbox Series X/S owners. you’re able to check out the new theme in action below,in this tweet from The Verge’s Tom Warren.For me, it definitely stirs up memories ofHalo, Dead or Alive 3,Wreckless: The Yakuza Missions(remember that?), and having to buy a remote control to play DVDs.
How about you?
Xbox insiders can now access the original Xbox dashboard animation as a dynamic background called “The Original”pic.twitter.com/Nvh6D8iw2X
— Tom Warren (@tomwarren)June 11, 2025
