Gates: Xbox Live Will Become Windows Live

"Ultra Trojan revealed at last.

We have had it levelled at us by some of Microsoft’s top brass that we overplay the Trojan-like elements of the Xbox project whilst ignoring the similar convergence strategies of Sony and Nintendo, though news today of the planned evolution of Xbox Live made even our jaded jaws drop.

Speaking on the eve of the Xbox 360 launch, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates outlined how Xbox Live would evolve into Windows Live, using Windows Messenger as a conduit. The Xbox team showed limited Live integration with Messenger back at E3 in 2003, and even that limited showing caused something of an outcry.

Gates also stated that the recently revealed Microsoft Points system, currently being deployed on Live as micropayment currency for in-game and game-associated items and content, will be transferred across to Windows Live.

“The PC and the Xbox are very complementary,” Gates told the Associated Press yesterday evening. “In the living room itself, Xbox 360 is our centrepiece and a product that redefines what goes on there.”" [more]