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Xbox made its world premiere on MTV today. The hot new property from Microsoft will be coming out later this year and Microsoft hopes to really hammer Sony's market share before the year's end.

The big event hosted by Lord of the Rings star Elijah Wood gave fans a chance to see an ever-so-small glimpse of the new HD console Bill Gates has called convivial. Tony Hawks, the extreme sports master, showed the newest title carrying his name on the HD powered Xbox.

The little machine packs 3 IBM microprocessors in a customizable frame. Owners will be able to change faceplates like the might with a cell phone. There will also be a 20 gig hard drive available for the package as well.

Microsoft is putting a lot of effort into this offering. Major competitors Sony and Nintendo don't plan to release their offerings until next year. Fans may see more of the new console at the L.A. electronic game show next week.

Also, Microsoft and Toshiba recently announced a patent crossover agreement in which both companies will be able to use each other's patented products without paying fees. This has led to some speculation that Xbox may incorporate Toshiba's new HD-DVD technology which will introduce much higher levels of game play by increasing the disks to 45gigs.

John Stith is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business.