Microsoft planned to announce today that it will make its Windows Live Messenger service available on its Xbox 360 game consoles, bringing instant messaging from the computer to the television.
　　The move was meant to help Microsoft stay ahead of Sony, its chief rival in the electronic games business, in delivering the richest online experience for game players. It is also an element of Microsoft`s overall strategy to connect people across PCs, televisions and mobile devices like cellphones.
　　More than 200 million people use Windows Live Messenger to chat with friends, family members and colleagues. Separately, more than six million Xbox 360 owners are connected to the company`s Xbox Live online community, an enhancement that lets people with broadband Internet connections communicate with one another.
　　In the second week of May, those two worlds will begin to converge. Xbox Live members will be able to link their "gamertag" ,the online identity they use within the Xbox community, to an existing Windows Live Messenger account. Players will then be able to chat with their instant messaging contacts using a virtual on screen keyboard or a USB keyboard plugged into the game machine.
　　Microsoft executives said they hoped to offer voice chat between Xbox and Live Messenger users later this year.
　　"We feel this is a huge step in driving social networking further into the family room by allowing Xbox 360 users to IM directly from their couch," said John Rodman, Microsoft`s group manager for the Xbox 360, in a telephone interview last week. "Now you don`t have to manage two separate groups of friends online."
　　Microsoft and Sony are battling to dominate the high end of the console gaming market. (Nintendo, by contrast, is appealing largely to families and more budget conscious players.) In years past, game consoles stood out from one another mostly by their game offerings. But now it appears that top game publishers like Electronic Arts will release most of their biggest games for both the Xbox 360 and Sony`s PlayStation 3.
　　As a result, Microsoft and Sony are attempting to differentiate their game machines with other features, like film playback capabilities and online services.
　　Microsoft has been ahead of Sony in online console game playing, but last month Sony announced that it was developing a new Internet service called PlayStation Home that could surpass some elements of Xbox Live. The instant messaging feature appears to be one part of Microsoft`s response.

　　今天，微软公司按计划将宣布为他的Xbox360游戏机的控制器提供窗口即时通服务，将即时信息服务从电脑带入电视。
　　此举措寓意在于帮助微软领先索尼--这个在电子游戏商业领域主要的竞争对手--带给游戏玩家最丰富的在线体验。这也是微软公司将通过个人电脑、电视、移动设备如手机把人们联系起来的整体战略的一个方面。
　　全球有两亿多人使用windows的即时通和朋友、家人、还有同事聊天。另外，还有6百多万Xbox游戏机的拥有者和公司的Xbox Live在线社区连接起来，这又促使拥有宽带连接的用户通过网络彼此交流。
　　从5月的第二个星期开始，Windows 即时通和Xbox Live在线社区将合并在一起，Xbox Live的用户可以把他们的玩家代号和他们现有的Windows 即时通帐号连接起来。这样，游戏玩家就可以通过虚拟的屏幕键盘或者是插入游戏机的USB键盘随意的聊天了。
　　微软的主管人员表示他们希望能在今年的下半年为Xbox玩家和即时通的使用者们提供语音聊天服务。
　　微软的Xbox360小组经理John Rodman在上一周的电话采访中表示：我们认为通过使Xbox360的玩家们躺在自家的沙发上就能获得I.M.（即时通信）服务，我们把社会网络更进一步的带入家庭，现在，你完全不必在线管理两组分开的朋友，而可以把他们合并到一起。微软和索尼为占领游戏市场的最高控制终端展开了激战。在过去的几年中，游戏的控制台程序大部分都是由生产商提供的。但是，现在，似乎像Electronic Arts这样的顶级游戏发行商把大部分的大游戏的控制台程序让渡给了Xbox360和索尼PlayStation3自己做。
　　因此，微软和索尼都在尝试着赋予他们的游戏机与众不同的特色，诸如，电影回放功能以及种种在线服务。微软已经在在线玩游戏的控制台程序上先索尼一步，但是，上个月，索尼宣布他们已经发布一种叫做PlayStation Home的新的Internet服务，此项服务能在某些功能上超过Xbox Live。即时通服务似乎是微软对此举动作出回应的一部分。