Microsoft Resurrects 'X' Press Expo With X10 Next Month

After a hiatus of over three years, Microsoft is relaunching its series of "X" press expos to promote the Xbox platform. The company will hold X10 in San Francisco next month. Fully titled the Xbox 360 X10 Media Reception, it is Microsoft's first main "X" event since X06, which took place in Barcelona in September 2006. The traditionally European series dates back to X01, held in Cannes shortly before the original Xbox launched in North America. The main X07 event was canceled, and smaller shows were held in Canada for 2007 and 2008. This year's X10 is the first time an "X" show will take place in the United States. Because of the series' shifting scale, it is unclear whether the San Francisco iteration will bear more in common with its European or Canadian forbears, but Microsoft began its press invitation with a declaration that 2010 will be "the biggest year in Xbox 360 history." That enthusiasm continued with a description sent to Gamasutra of the planned expo slate as "the most anticipated Xbox 360 lineup ever." The company will show games including Remedy's Alan Wake, Ruffian's Crackdown 2, Lionhead Studios' Fable III, Bungie's Halo: Reach, Ubisoft Montreal's Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Conviction, Square Enix's Final Fantasy XIII, upcoming downloadable content for Valve's Left 4 Dead 2, and the recently-announced retro-focused Game Room.