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scrutiny was warranted. Here was a U.S.-based, multibillion dollar software company planning to go toe-to-toe against Japan's finest game makers. At the time, it looked as if Microsoft would try to FIFA Coins pit Flight Simulator and Age of Empires against Tekken, Gran Turismo and Mario. Rumors about the company's console plans ran rampant. Then when Bill Gates showed off the hardware for the first time at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in early 2001, the world found

that Microsoft's vehicle for console gaming domination was an ugly green and blank tank that, with its built-in broadband, hard drive and Windows-derived OS seemed more like the software maker was trying to Cheap MU Legend Online Zen sneak Windows into living rooms and expand its bread-and-butter PC business. Of course, Microsoft itself was keeping a keen eye on this scrutiny. A Microsoft-produced feature article (i.e. Xbox propaganda) from 2000 reads: "Microsoft is not concerned with its status as a

to the games console industry. There are always opportunities for new leaders to emerge, and the company recognizes that the video game business is all about the games. From Atari to Nintendo to Sega to PlayStation, it has historically been shown again and again that gamers are loyal to the games -- not to the hardware." Xbox AdvantageWhile Sony and Nintendo had expertise in making hardware and creating and publishing games, Microsoft knew its strengths lied in PC

, in support software, and in working closely with developers. Making the Xbox familiar to anyone who has worked with PC architecture proved to be a notable advantage for Xbox's developer relations. One studio that caught the attention of Microsoft was Bungie, formerly of Chicago, IL. In 1999, Bungie impressed a MacWorld audience with a demo of a game called Halo. The game, shown as a third-person shooter at the time, promised network play, vehicular combat and sprawling, detailed environments. Microsoft, in the later stages of planning its console's launch, was taken aback by the game, and bought up Halo, the studio and its employees, which all ended up moving to mmogo Microsoft's Redmond, WA base. Jason Jones, Bungie co-founder and programmer, said on the studio's website, "I don't remember the