LOS ANGELES - Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates on Tuesday announced a new cross-platform gaming service that integrates games played on cell phones,
Xbox 360 consoles and the upcoming Windows Vista operating system.

The "Live Anywhere" service will be available as part of Windows Vista, Microsoft's next-generation PC operating system. The consumer version is scheduled for release early next year.

"It means that you have one online community," Bill Gates said in a news conference. "This platform can really unleash developers to do amazing new things."

The system would extend the company's existing Xbox Live service for the Xbox 360 console into millions of Internet-enabled PCs and cellular phones. No pricing information on the new service was announced.

"The vision here is each platform plays its own role. We really think we're in a unique position," Gates said. "Microsoft is probably the only company that can pull this off."

In a demonstration, an Xbox 360 gamer using Live Anywhere was able to send an invitation to a friend on a PC. After the PC user agreed, the two connected for a cross-platform online gun battle.

In another example, a race car's stats were modified on a cellular phone, its appearance was edited in a paint program on the PC and then it was raced on a track on the Xbox 360.

Microsoft said it has sold about 3.2 million Xbox 360s so far — about half of them are used online. By this time next year, the company expects to have sold 10 million units and have 6 million online subscribers.

Microsoft Vice President Peter Moore said the early launch of Xbox 360 gives the company a huge advantage going forward, saying the company was already on the "second generation of the next generation."