Written on February 23rd, 2013 by Jennifer Viez

Internal Microsoft event for Xbox to be held from March 4-7

Posted in News Tags: , ,
xbox 720

Microsoft could be showcasing the new Xbox internally according to an event agenda leak.

The event will be held at the Sheraton Seattle Hotel on Monday. The dates are from March 4 to March 7. The event is called START FY14 and attendance is by invitation only.

“The purpose of START (Strategies, Tactics and Regional Targets) is to bring together all levels of employees from CCG to share high-level corporate direction as well as Business Group and segment product strategies and details necessary to build out timely, comprehensive and integrated business plans,” the description on the website reads, as spotted by GAF.

Furthermore, the interesting thing is the event agenda which can be found in this pdf.

xbox event

It clearly mentions “Xbox” and “Xbox games” and considering the event will be held internally, and considering the rumours that the system will be unveiled in April, everything falls into place. Think of this as a test start before the real thing.

  • Bill G

    hope i’m invited

  • DSR

    “Gold & Entertainment”
    Whoops…

    Looks like they’re still more interested about sucking our money out than providing us a gaming platform. Not a huge surprise. Sony, at least, was subtle.

    • Thomas

      If through entertainment contracts MS is able to enter more homes, then Sony’s approach will be worthless. So go ahead and be with your nearly bankrupt company’s core gaming platform. It’s your financial loss when they go under so nobody here cares.
      People who want an all-round set-top box that replaces almost all devices and includes next generation games for the next 5 years will truly appreciate what MS has done with the next Xbox.

      • Lemondish

        Nearly bankrupt? Do you have a source for that? It sounds like you don’t really know what that means, but you keep using it.

        What type of entertainment contracts are you talking about?

        Let’s tackle your points though. You essentially said that if people want an all-round-set-top box that replaces almost all devices look to the next Xbox. First, you’re speaking as if you know what Microsoft will show, yet provide no facts or empirical evidence as to why we should believe you. Second, I don’t want a device to replace all my other devices – I want something that INTEGRATES all my other devices. How would a console replace my tablet, laptop, pc, or smart phone? Answer: it can’t. Sony showed off ways that the PS4 can integrate the devices you already own rather than trying to compete or replace them. Second-screen capability is pretty robust with Sony’s offering, especially when we compare it to Msoft’s already launched Smartglass application. Finally, you mention how MS would be able to enter more homes through entertainment contracts. What do you mean by that? Keep in mind that Sony has managed to dominate in this regard by tapping into the greater Sony services library through Music and Video Unlimited (think of Music Unlimited as Pandora with the ability to play any song you want at any time). This domination is also partly because they don’t put their streaming services behind additional paywalls. PS3 is the number one TV-centric platform for Netflix streaming, something that I would have thought neither the 360 or PS3 would be able to state given how cheap and ubiquitous the Wii is.

        I think you’re just really excited for the next Xbox, but I feel as if this discussion and analysis should wait until Microsoft actually shows something off. At this point, we don’t know anything but random rumours.

        • Ray

          Yeah, Sorry, but NO.

          I’ll tackle your points instead of him

          I don’t know if Sony is nearly Bankrupt, but I do know they have about $140 Billion in liabilities and have to cover interest on that with a credit rating that is lower than worthless. The companies’ total asset worth was about $160 Billion last year and they have had to sell many non-critical assets and value bonds to just raise money. That $20 Billion difference is shrinking fast.

          They’re in a very troublesome reorganization and even managed to make losses last quarter when most Japanese companies were making large profits again. That’s a big failure.

          Nobody wants the kind of sharing integration Sony proposed at their boring conference. Why the fuck would you want to? Oh right, PlayStation fanboyism. I for one don’t welcome that level of privacy invading integration AT ALL!

          The Vita is a failure and now they are forcing devs to sumit PS4 games with Vita remote play certification. That’s just gay!

          SmartGlass is just for (web)media and not for games and that is logical as nobody likes controlling those games with a tablet or phone. The no applause reaction of the audience during the presentation gave that away easily.

          Sony hasn’t dominated anything in medialand. MS has about 40 more services on the 360 worldwide in comparison to Sony and Sony’s own store pales in comparison what MS Zune Music and Video already offers in terms of amount of content and presentation. I guess that’s what he was referring to. Probably also because the next Xbox will have tuners inside them per default (rumored) and there are rumors many TV service providers will be launching the next Xbox as their settop box of choice.

          Sony’s going to fail, they’re nothing but overhype that underdelivers, time and time again. Heck, even their CEO’s are lying and twisting facts now.

          • Killjoy

            I agree, Sony underwhelmed at their presentation. It’s good that we now have progress though. But the Sony and PlayStation brands are just nowhere near as powerful as they were last century. After the turn of the century it all went downhill. The company’s worth barely 10% of what they were in 2000 with lack of vision and malpractice. It’s beyond me why there are still people following them like crazy. The competitors are just miles ahead of Sony (maybe not in the case of gaming, but that only takes time). Sony lost so much market share this gen in their gaming alone (both console and handheld).
            We’ll see what the future brings, but I won’t be a brainless bot, like most Sony fans seem to be on the internet and follow Sony wherever they go. They could be going to hell for all we know (looking at their financials).

19 queries in 0.354 seconds.