Next Xbox may contain motion camera

Microsoft Corp. said the next version of its Xbox, the world's No. 2 video-game console, might offer a camera that lets players use body movements to control games.

The camera, mounted on a TV to capture a player's gestures, would rival Sony Corp.'s EyeToy, said J Allard, who helps run the Xbox unit.

Microsoft has sold about 20 million Xbox units globally and is adding features to bolster the popularity of the next edition, due as soon as this year. Sony, maker of the top-selling PlayStation 2 games console, also plans to unveil a new version of its device.

"We're trying to take some learnings from what our competition has done" with cameras that let players control games, said Allard at the Games Developers Conference in San Francisco. "We've got a couple of those answers. We're going to turn that into a couple of solutions."