As part of their CES keynote, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and Entertainment & Devices President Robbie Bach detailed the company's plans for a retro gaming-themed "Game Room" virtual environment.
"Game Room in some ways is sort of a retro approach," Bach said. "There's a generation of people...who grew up with a set of games like Centipede. ...Game Room is the idea of bringing that back to the market, and bringing that to a very broad audience."
Game Room will be a virtual environment were PC and Xbox players will be able to play titles like Asteroids Deluxe and Centipede showcased in their original cabinets in 1080p for up to two players.
The new service will launch with 30 arcade titles from publishers including Atari, Intellivision and Konami and Microsoft hopes to introduce more than 1,000 games within the service's first three years.
Game Room games will priced between 240 and 400 Microsoft Points (3 to 5 USD), but you'll also be able to play a single game for 40 Microsoft Points (50 cents).
Each gamer will have his own Game Room space where he can showcase his customized game cabinets to his friends who can try them before buying copies for themselves.
"I think what we're gonna find is that when people can get 30 or more of these games, they're gonna love it for the experience," Bach concluded. "And it's not just you and I who are gonna love it. Even the people who would call themselves 'hardcore gamers' are gonna say, 'Oh wow, this is fun!'"
