It’s here. After months of speculation and fevered guesswork, Microsoft today unveiled its latest machine poised to take on Sony’s incoming Playstation 4. At a special event in Seattle, journalists from all over the world were packed into a tent to to be shown…well, it’s a cable box that also plays games.

Ladies and gentlemen, the Xbox One.

It’s a giant black box, that’s for sure. The smaller section is actually the new Kinect, and it forms an integral part of the new system. In fact, it’s mandatory, and every part of the One is accessible via custom gestures. Full details after the jump.

– It will be able to control your TV as well as your games, allowing for voice-activated real time switching at the drop of a hat.

– The menu panels look like a cross between the current 360 Dashboard and the huge solid colour squares from Windows 8. You can swipe them with your arms, from TV to games to movies to music to…Bing.

– It has 8GB RAM (with references to multiple simultaneous operating systems apparently speeding up processes), 500GB HDD, Blu-Ray drive.

– It will deliver TV via your cable provider or the internet.

– 15 games confirmed for launch day, including a very shiny Forza 5. 8 of those titles are brand new IPs.

– Activision showed off a special version of *Call Of Duty: Ghosts* that will use the new architecture. Realistic hair and dog scars. It’s the future.

– Lots of focus on new television. NFL, ESPN, Halo TV show…Microsoft aren’t even hiding their aspirations here.

– EA Sports rolled out some typical hyperbole about the new FIFA being more real than life. Or something.

Further internet reports have unearthed a few more facts:

– The console will likely require an internet connection to install a game.

– Each game will install completely to the HDD. You will not be able to resell your games or lend them to your friends without them paying a fee.

The whole presentation was completely centered around their concept of the Xbox One being the single entertainment device in the living room, being responsible for TV, music, films, Skype, internet and even, you know, games. It was in marked contrast to the Sony reveal from earlier in the year. They may not have had a console, but it did seem at least that they were catering for what gamers want from a new generation.