Gates gives CEOs peek at Xbox 360 games

That's because Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates showed off a montage of new game demos as part of his exclusive yearly gathering of chief executives here. However, during that part of his keynote speech, the video feed being shown to a handful of reporters abruptly halted. For several minutes, all that was shown was a disclaimer.

"Due to the proprietary nature of the content being televised we must temporarily suspend the audio and video portion of the broadcast," the message read.

But some hints of the games the executives saw could be gleaned from comments Gates made after the video feed resumed.

"You're seeing a couple of things there--one is the realism," Gates said, apparently in reference to some kind of auto racing game. "For example, with those cars, you can pick any car you want; you can put your decals on it. If you even get in a wreck, It's very realistic. Your car will be damaged for all time. It's just at a whole new level. Those are just previews of the work people are doing with our development kit."

Gates also talked about some of the communications features in the new gaming system, including the ability to stage contests or watch others compete as a spectator.

While it is unclear how many likely customers were among the 100 or so CEOs in the crowd, the battle for the next generation of gaming hardware is clearly heating up. Microsoft announced its plans for the Xbox 360 last week, a move that was quickly followed by Sony detailing plans for PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's announcement of its own forthcoming game console.