Room 1160 is about as close to top secret as you'll find in the quiet suburban office park that Microsoft's Games Division calls home. The door is always locked, the blinds always shut. Inside, Microsoft designer Horace Luke and his colleagues have been working on one of the toughest challenges of their careers - translating the new and unforeseen game play experiences of the company's Xbox gaming unit to the physical design of the stand-alone console, controls and logo.

Drawings stamped "confidential" cover the walls. Early versions of the console and controller cover the tables. Against one wall lean photo collages of some of the thousands of gamers consulted to help design Microsoft's first-ever home game console -- and one of its largest investments. Xbox's promotional budget alone is $500 million. With so much at stake, Microsoft has worked hard to keep the design of Xbox under wraps - until today. Microsoft Chairman and Chief Software Architect Bill Gates unveiled prototypes of the Xbox console and controller this morning during his keynote address at the 2001 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. He also demonstrated two exclusive Xbox games - "Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee" and "Malice" -- that highlight the future-generation console's rich and realistic graphics capabilities.