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This weekend marked the first gaming event of the 2008 calendar; CES (Consumer Electronics Show). While chiefly a gadget and technology summit, the big three companies were present with their keynote speeches about their gaming related products. Bill Gates addressed the audience as the CEO of Microsoft (for the last time) about the future of the Xbox360 and Windows. With his resignation slowly approaching, he made sure that he went out with a bang.

First up was the news that the Xbox Live Marketplace was entering a deal with two of the largest Television publishers in the US. Disney-ABC Television Group and MGM Studios have both agreed to supply US Xbox Live members with high definition content. This means that over 500hours of television will be available to stream in full high definition. Hit shows like Lost, Ugly Betty and Desperate Housewives are among the archive that stretches back to 1963. From MGM are films like Silence of the Lambs and Rain Man, which adds to the already large database in Xbox Live’s Video Store.

Following on from that, Microsoft announced that UK subscribers would be shortly treated to BT Vision through their Xbox 360s. The IPTV (Internet Protocol TV) service will become available sometime during the middle of 2008 and will allow any BT Vision customer the chance to view any of the service’s on-demand content. Television shows and films will be joined by Sport’s 242 ‘near-live’ Premier League matches. More interesting is the fact that you’ll still be connected via Xbox Live and be able to contact and talk to friends. Game invites and messages will pop up on screen allowing you to stop viewing and begin playing instantly.

Final titbits from Microsoft were; The Zune’s upcoming launch in Canada, Windows Vista hitting 100Million Licenses and new concepts for future PCs (vision, speech, touch and more), as well as Windows Live and Windows Mobile 7. Overall a successful final speech from Bill Gates that ended up with a Guitar Hero jam with the legend Slash.