Wednesday 17th March 2004
XBOX 2 GDC CHATTER REACHES MELTDOWN
Microsoft engages in semantic warfare as speculation over new hardware at the San Jose event spirals out of control
18:46 The games industry was today thrown into turmoil as mixed messages emerged regarding the potential unveiling of Xbox 2 at next week's Games Developers Conference in San Jose.
In response to reports from the UK trade press that no details of Xbox 2 will be revealed at the event, a Microsoft spokesperson commented to us a few moments ago: "What we're not talking about [at GDC] is Longhorn, we're not announcing the next Xbox and Bill Gates won't be there.
"At GDC we are going to talk about the role software (including DirectX) can play in mitigating some of the daunting issues our industry faces - soaring consumer expectations, discontinuous technology shifts, the intense amount of time it takes to develop cross platform etc."
Do the three statements in the above quote mean that Xbox 2 will not feature at (and, crucially, around) GDC? No, and Microsoft has been studiously careful in its choice of words. Whilst it would be patently ridiculous to expect the company to pull out the box and go "Check out our awesome console, man!" there is a precedent - Microsoft's original unveiling of Xbox hardware at GDC in previous years where technical demonstrations of future hardware were on display.
While Microsoft itself refused to elaborate on the above statement, senior sources have stated they will be amazed if "Xbox 2" is not present and correct in some shape or form - at some location or other - in San Francisco next week. Whatever, we'll keep you full posted on all developments as and when they happen.
Johnny Minkley
