Xbox 360

Designed by Microsoft and two outside design firms, Astro Studios in San Francisco and Hers Experimental Design Laboratory in Osaka, Japan, the Xbox 360 boasts an iPod-like off-white exterior and a lighted, circular power switch with four quadrants, which light up individually to indicate that a particular player has an incoming alert (such as an invitation to an online game). Users will be able to enhance the look of the console with detachable faceplates known as “Faces,” which will be manufactured by Microsoft and third parties.

Xbox 360 will ship with one or two wireless controllers (Microsoft has not yet revealed pricing and packaging details) and will support simultaneous use of up to four. The controllers will use a proprietary protocol that Microsoft describes as a hybrid of Bluetooth and the protocol used by some cordless phones, and they will have a range of about 50 feet. The battery-powered controllers can be plugged into the console’s USB ports for recharging (during which they can still be used for game play), and follow Microsoft’s new universal controller specification, allowing them to be used with compatible PC games as well.