Xbox's 'mad' $900 new console with pre-orders now live

After 25 years of Xbox gaming, from Halo: Combat Evolved, The Simpsons: Road Rage, and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater in November 2021 to upcoming releases like Fable, Microsoft is embarking on a celebratory quarter-century side quest with new hardware.

The iconic console developers are quickly developing their fifth-generation console, with Project Helix following in the footsteps of the Series S|X, One, 360, and Xbox original.

But before we reach Helix and its mysterious features, Microsoft is releasing more current-gen consoles to celebrate its history.

Dripped head-to-toe in the legendary green colour scheme, the 25th-anniversary hardware set is now upon us, although the pricing has been labelled 'mad' as pre-orders have been set live.

The Xbox 25 console (Microsoft)

Pre-orders set live for retro anniversary $900 Xbox Series X

Back in November 2001, the first Xbox dropped in North America, serving as Microsoft's answer to the PlayStation and porting its Windows gaming experience straight to your TV.

Celebrating that, Microsoft has now launched the Xbox Series X25, which will be getting a full reveal at its Gamescom showcase on August 27.

Images revealed translucent green bodywork, showing some of the inner workings of what makes a Series X tick, with a matching green controller to come with it - although at a hefty price.

Now, Microsoft has opened its pre-orders, taking to a blog post to detail a 'freebie' throw-in, as each of the consoles comes with a Halo: Campaign Evolved download (the remake of the original 2001 title, which was released last month).

Pre-orders for the Xbox Series X25 have now opened, with MSRP set at $899.99.

An up close look (Microsoft)

"Instant pre-order. That translucent battery door and the 2001 classic Xbox logo on the back look incredibly clean," one fan admired on X.

Yet some fans have already pointed out that the 1TB storage puts a slight damper on it.

"I signed up to preorder one. If supply is limited and a bigger Xbox fan gets one over me, I wouldn't be mad," a second fan said on Reddit.

Read More: Xbox Game Pass $1 offer gets major downgrade but there's still value

Xbox's console future just got greener

Xbox is quickly planning its new console era to be a direct competitor to the works of PlayStation, rather than more of the same.

Following PlayStation's decision to move away from physical games with the PS6, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma revealed that 1000s of games will be getting a new digital port on Xbox, which allows your physical discs to be downloaded and played on Cloud software across consoles and handhelds. A big bird in the face of Sony.

That doesn't help the price of the consoles, though, as the new Nintendo Switch rival, the ROG Xbox Ally X20 (OLED), has come with a huge new fee that dwarfs anything on the market.

Xbox is certainly upping its game with new green-lit ideas, but it is yet to see if it can truly rival PlayStation in the coming years.