Microsoft today announced their latest Xbox gaming console with a promo on MTV. And the venue is very appropriate, as this console could be the most popular, most open, and most powerful gaming platform yet delivered by any manufacturer.

The new console will be called the Xbox 360, and it is the first console from Microsoft or any other gaming manufacturer to include a series of custom Power PC processors. A total of six separate threads are in the base unit, enabling a new generation of power for graphics, audio and game play. But wait, there is more: the 360 also is the most versatile game console yet, with USB ports to enable a wide collection of peripherals and expansion devices.

We had a chance to view the new product at Microsoft's offices in Redmond earlier this week.

The Next Generation, Designed For The New Era

The idea for the just-unveiled Xbox 360 began at the same time that the original Xbox was born in 1999. The first meeting discussing Microsoft's venture into consoles was scheduled for two hours, but ended up lasting seven. The original Xbox, from inception to store shelves, was a project that spanned 19 months and involved 20,000 people. But the executives we met with explained that all that effort was really building up to this moment. From the beginning, the original Xbox was intended to be a tool to buy them a seat at the console table. While Microsoft's gaming group is still operating at a loss ($154 million), the number of publishers and developers currently supporting the console shows that their goal of market acceptance was successfully accomplished.

So now the time has come for the next generation, and Microsoft's plans to create a "living entertainment experience powered by human energy" are well underway. That's their mantra, meant to reflect their vision of the future of gaming, and everyone in the Microsoft Gaming Group has it memorized.

Microsoft shared with us, in detail, their perspective on the evolution of gaming. This was originally presented by the head of the Xbox project, J. Allard, in his keynote address at this year's Game Developer's Conference .