As you may know, Microsoft is launching a big Xbox update, and rolling out a whole bunch of entertainment apps. Along with all of that, of course, comes plenty of advertising.

Microsoft’s Shawn McMichael talks about this on the company’s advertising blog. He says the launch “represents a new era of interactive TV advertising and a couple of firsts for advertising on Xbox Live.”

These would be standard TV ad spots within traditional TV content on Xbox Live, and Kinect-enabled branded destination experiences on Xbox Live.

“This makes Xbox LIVE the largest next generation TV platform to offer advertisers the ability to purchase 30 second TV spots within entertainment content. It also makes Xbox the only place on TV where advertisers can use the power of gesture to engage with audiences!” he says.

“From the moment Kinect launched, a little over a year ago, the industry has been asking us, what does this mean for advertisers?” he continues. “There has been a lot of talk about how Kinect voice and gesture controls have the power to transform TV and, in truth, the creative possibilities are endless. But we needed to develop formats to help advertisers take advantage of those possibilities and today I’m pleased to announce that we’ve delivered on that promise. At launch, we now more than 100 unique campaigns running with Kinect-enhanced BDEs, reaching the highly engaged audience of 35 million active Xbox LIVE subscribers around the globe.”

Content providers (like The Today Show, for example) are also partnering with Microsoft to sell standard 30-second ad spots within their content on Xbox Live.

The launch of all of the new apps will certainly make the Xbox a much more accessible to a wider audience, and that definitely means more ad appeal.