Microsoft Corp's Bill Gates previewed the company's first video game console called Xbox, which marks one of the company's largest product investments, during his keynote speech to open the Consumer Electronics Show here.

Microsoft Corp's Bill Gates previewed the company's first video game console called Xbox, which marks one of the company's largest product investments, during his keynote speech to open the Consumer Electronics Show here. "There's a revolution about to take place in game consoles," Gates said while providing a glimpse of a prototype of the game console that will be launched later this year and is expected to provide enhanced video-gaming graphics. The much-anticipated device, which is seen as a competitive product to Sony Corp's Playstation 2 and Sega Corp's Dreamcast, will include a 8-gigabyte hard disk that will allow the Xbox console to store past game play and will allow players to play with each other using the internet. Other features include connections for four game controllers - as opposed to the current norm of two - an ethernet connection that allows broadband connection to the internet and an Intel Corp 733-MHz processor, which will make the device more powerful than many personal computers. Computer gaming revenues match those of the motion picture industry, according to Gates. Microsoft has invested heavily in Xbox and said its promotional budget alone is $500 million.