People would have been calling Xbox 360 a different name had events turned out differently. Microsoft recently revealed an interesting trivia about its iconic console saying that the company seriously considered naming it Xbox 3 at one time.
In an interview with IGN, Xbox executive Robbie Bach, the company seriously considered naming the console as Xbox 3. Apparently it has something to do with the latest offering of its competitor then, the PlayStation 3.
Xbox 360 is Microsoft's successor to the original Xbox console. Since it was the company's second console, it would have been named as Xbox 2 under normal naming situations.
But there is a perceived problem with naming the second console as Xbox 2. At that time, Sony is about to release its third console, simply named the PlayStation 3.
At first glance, the problem is evident. Microsoft feared that when consumers were to decide between an Xbox 2 and a PlayStation 3, they might choose the latter.
Microsoft assessed that the number "3" in the PlayStation 3 might give the impression that it is a newer generation of console when compared to the "2" in Xbox 2.
The answer seemed obvious to Microsoft execs back then. They mulled the idea of naming the console Xbox 3 to keep up with the PlayStation 3 name. As Back explains it, "You don't want to feel like you're a generation behind, so why not skip?"
Robbie Back further explained that Microsoft doesn't have problems in skipping numbers in naming its products. A more recent example is the jump in the naming of its PC operating system from Windows 8 to Windows 10.
But in the end, the Microsoft decided to opt for the Xbox 360 name instead. Which works fine, with their newest model name Xbox One, it would have been confusing for consumers to determine which comes first