Hand-held gaming received a lot of attention this year at E3, with both Sony Computer Entertainment and Nintendo Co. introducing new portable gaming devices. But don't look for Microsoft Corp. to launch a dedicated portable game player of its own.

"For us, and my group, we're focused on Xbox," said Robbie Bach, Microsoft's chief Xbox officer. "Deciding to go into another dedicated gaming device would be a big, tough row to hoe. We're more interested in making the smart investment we made in Xbox pay off in a big way over the next three or four years."

The company will be involved in simple, casual games for small devices, such as mobile phones, Bach said. Microsoft has also said that its Portable Media Centers -- movie and music players to debut this year from a variety of hardware manufacturers -- ultimately could be used for playing games, as well, though not initially.

But in terms of hand-held devices designed primarily for games, Microsoft plans to remain a bystander

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