Yesterday, Microsoft launched an all-new Xbox 360 experience including the first group of new custom applications from world leading TV and entertainment content providers on Xbox LIVE.

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You can watch music videos on a 50-inch plasma TV in the MTV Booth, or go gaming at the XBOX Kinect Room, a new sports experience that uses your voice and facial expressions to play table tennis, beach volley and even participate in track and field events.

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The company has trumpeted enhanced video and memory capabilities on the new system as a way to provide an experience that's at least on par with the rival Microsoft Xbox 360 and Sony Playstation consoles, which are preferred by many diehard gamers.

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So, while the Xbox 360 experience still has a few unique elements that can't be matched by the brand-new Echo -- the animated transitions are still something almost no other set-top box can do -- we found the overall experience more enjoyable than what we've become accustomed to recently.

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