The reel from @kurtcollins starts with his face close to the lens and a line of text across his chest: “Turning on my original Xbox from when I was 15, let’s see what happens.” His caption, posted October 3, 2026, is just as plain: “Turning on my 25 year old Xbox for the first time since like 2007.”

Then the camera drops to the console, a black original Xbox sitting on a hardwood floor with its power cable running up behind it. A round pink sticker on the top of the case shows a skull with a sword in its teeth and the words Vans Warped Tour.

The 49 second video is almost entirely one handheld view of the console from the front, low over a wooden surface. In the early shots the green ring around the power button is lit. When the camera comes back to the front of the case around the 16 second mark that ring is dark, and by 21 seconds it has lit green again. Around 23 seconds his index finger presses a round button on the front of the case and holds it there for a few seconds. By 28 seconds the disc tray is sliding out, and at 30 seconds it is fully open with a Halo 2 disc sitting in it, orange and black label facing up.

What he does with the disc takes up the second half of the reel. From about 33 seconds he lifts it out of the tray and turns it over in his fingers, so that the Halo 2 title, the Xbox Live logo and the rating box on the label all pass in front of the lens, and then he lowers it back onto the tray. The camera swings away in a blur before he appears back on screen at 43 seconds, squinting and grinning. The video never points the camera at a television, so what appeared on screen once the disc spun up is not in it. Everything shown is the console, the disc and his hands.

The age he gives lines up with Microsoft’s own record. According to Xbox Wire, the original Xbox launched in North America on November 15, 2001, as Microsoft’s first game console, and with Xbox Live it helped usher in the online console gaming era. A console from that launch window would be about 25 years old this year, which matches his caption.

The disc in the tray has its own date. Microsoft’s announcement for Halo 2 says sales began just after midnight on the night of November 8, 2004, ahead of the November 9 launch, with more than 1.5 million copies preordered, a $49.99 price and more than 7,000 retailers planning midnight events.

The sticker on the lid has its own timeline. Vans’ news page for Warped Tour 2026 lists the tour back on the road this year, with stops in Washington, D.C. on June 19 and 20, Long Beach on July 24 and 25, Montreal on August 21 and 22, Mexico City on September 12 and 13 and Orlando on November 14 and 15. The reel does not say where or when he got the sticker.

If you are about to power up an old console of your own, photograph the disc label, any stickers and any handwriting before you touch anything, since a disc left in the tray is only visible once the drawer opens. If it does not power on, check the cable and the outlet first.