MTV X360 show 'a sneak peek'
They're saving the really juicy stuff for E3, according to a marketing bigwig.
With less than a month to go until Xbox 360 gets its first unveiling on MTV, Microsoft has revealed a few more details of the planned special - hinting that it'll be more of a taster than a full rundown of the console's capabilities.
Speaking in an interview with US website GameSpot, corporate VP Peter Moore described the half-hour show as a "sneak peek."
"We'll talk name. We'll show the hardware - as much as you can do in a television show," he said.
"You'll get a little glimpse of the games, but we're saving most of that for [specialist press] at E3."
Microsoft will "do a real deep dive and will show the games in their full glory" in an pre-E3 event on May 16, said Moore. "And, of course, then on the E3 show floor itself... Where we can really show you the power of the platform."
However, he was keen to state that Microsoft knows where its focus needs to be. "It's the consumer that has the power... [We] have got to find ways of talking to them in a relevant and entertaining manner.
"We won't do anything that is boring or feels like an infomercial," he promised.
When asked if the decision to show off Xbox 360 the week before E3 was part of a cat-and-mouse game with Sony, Moore replied: "Not really."
"A number of people have asked me: "Was this in response to Sony moving their press conference and getting first place for the unveil?" I don't know.
"Regardless of what our competition wants to do, we had a very clear plan in mind that goes back a year now."
But Moore made it clear that Microsoft will fight Sony all the way in the battle for next-gen supremacy. "We're the thought leader in [the current] generation," he said.
"We need to turn that into market leadership in the next generation and this is just one small example of how we will do that."
So is the ourcolony.net viral campaign another example? And what will happen to the site come May 12?
"Don't know," said Moore. "Have to keep watching... I'm not quite sure about that thing. It's difficult for me to follow. I'm from a different generation. It's way too complex."
There you have it - Microsoft bigwig in "I'm just an old fuddy duddy, I don't understand all this new-fangled Inter-Net Web Paging nonsense" shocker. Anyone would think he was bluffing...