No X04 Event, Says Microsoft

The popular European "X" event won't see a 2004 outing, but there will be smaller events in each territory instead.

It emerged this morning that Microsoft has ruled out the possibility of an X04 event, and that instead, smaller events will be held in each European country to showcase forthcoming games and possibly announce new ones.

The news comes as a bit of a disappointment to the games media, which has previously enjoyed three of the massive, glitzy European spectacles - X01 in Cannes France, X02 in Seville, Spain, and X03 in Antibes, France.

The memorable X02 took place at La Isla Magica in Seville.

It also rules out any possibility of an early Xbox 2 announcement as some had speculated might happen at an X04 event.

However, Microsoft also confirmed that several country-specific events will take place instead, showcasing the big Xbox games for this Chistmas and beyond to the industry.

The beautiful setting for last year's X03 in Antibes, France.
Ah, there's always X05...

The smaller events, incuding the inevitably flagship UK event, are roughly scheduled to take place in October or November, and will perhaps end up being dubbed as X04 anyway (unless a more catchy official name is used, of course).

Either way, large-scale announcements such as the X02 Rare bombshell are very unlikely. And as for Xbox 2 - it's now most likely to debut in announcement form at CES in January 2005, after the key Xbox Christmas push is complete.

Meanwhile, the next month's Tokyo Game Show will provide an update on lots of anticipated Xbox software - and as always, we'll be there to deliver the goods directly.

Adam Doree
Director, Kikizo.com