"Forget the video game console — your TV could already have the brains to play those games. A coy Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates hinted Thursday that his company might license the software underlying its Xbox gaming machine to a variety of outside companies in a bid to expand the market share for the Xbox machine — a platform that trails the sector's No. 1 Sony PlayStation.

The U.S. software company is considering offering "the basic software" for Xbox, although no decision has been made, Microsoft Japan spokesman Kazushi Okabe said Thursday, confirming the Gates' comments reported in Thursday's editions of Japan's top business daily Nihon Keizai Shimbun.

Gates hasn't offered specifics about the kind of software or which companies would be involved. He also hasn't said whether the arrangement will involve manufacturers making products other than game machines, such as digital consumer electronics gadgets that combine PC functions with home appliances.

The arrangements being considered are similar to those that Microsoft has employed in the past by working with other companies, including Japanese electronics makers, to install its Windows operating system in personal computers, Okabe said.

It's unclear whether such gadgets will carry the Xbox brand name or some other name, and whether the software that may become available to outsiders will be Xbox or Xbox 360."