14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft has announced that it is planning to organize an Xbox 360 focused gaming expo in San Francisco during February. The first meeting of the same name was held in Cannes in 2001 and since then Microsoft has organized one every year in Europe until 2006, when the X conference and expo took place in Barcelona. Smaller events took place in 2007 and in 2008 in Canada and now the Xbox 360 showcase is moving to the United States for the first time ever.
The list of titles Microsoft is planning to show off at the officially named Xbox 360 X10 Media Reception are pretty varied. Alan Wake, a perpetual show star, will get a preview, as will Crackdown 2 from Realtime Worlds, Fable III, the Project Natal-enabled experience from Lionhead and Peter Molyneux, Halo: Reach from Bungie, Splinter Cell: Conviction from Ubisoft, Final Fantasy XIII from Square Enix, and Left 4 Dead 2 from Valve.
The Game Room service for the Xbox 360 will also be detailed and a few games will be shown for it. It's not clear whether Microsoft plans to offer new information for all the titles featured or whether it will only show off how they are better on the Xbox 360.
It's interesting to note that the company has sent out press invitations presenting 2010 as being “the biggest year in Xbox 360 history.” Without reading too much into the announcement of the X10 event, the software giant might be feeling some pressure from Sony and the PlayStation 3, and is responding by upping the hype level for the biggest games on its own platform.
Since the release of the new Slim version of the PS3 and the cut in its price, Sony’s gaming device has become much more competitive. Some analysts are saying that the PS3 will actually beat the Xbox 360 during the first six months of this year and Microsoft is probably aiming not to let that happen.