Some people have wondered why Microsoft is revealing some major Xbox One news, such as the $399 version of the console without the Kinect controller, just a few weeks before its June 9th E3 2014 press event. But the company seems to have dropped a hint of just why it is making these announcements ahead of E3.
In the latest episode of the popular Major Nelson podcast, its host, Microsoft"s Xbox Live director of programming Larry Hryb, made this rather cryptic statement about a project that he is working on for E3 2014. He stated that it would be "pretty awesome" and added, "It"s going to be the first time this has ever been done at E3. Ever."
That"s all he was willing to reveal during the show, but one of the Major Nelson co-hosts mentioned that several years ago, Activision put in a full half-pipe skateboarding setup on the E3 show floor for Tony Hawk to use. That could be a hint about the scale of what Microsoft has in store for E3 2014.
Besides their E3 press conference and exhibits, Microsoft also has plans for a number of Xbox One community events, both in LA and in other locations, during the gaming expo. More details will be revealed about those events before the show begins.
Update: It looks like Hyrb is doing some damage control on that E3 2014 project. In a post on Reddit he states, "In the podcast, I said I was doing something never done before. When I said "we" it was in the context of the podcast...not the overall Xbox business." However, that"s not exactly what he said during the podcast. It"s possible he may have revealed too much too soon.
Source: Major Nelson podcast via GameSpot | Image via Microsoft