Perusing over Computer Games Online's report on events at the Game Developer Conference, day two, I came across this bit of information on an address by Seamus Blackley of Microsoft:
...Especially disappointing was the fact that Xbox marketing folks prevented him from showing any game demos, since they all have to be saved for the Tokyo Game Show next week and E3 in May. Seamus made several comments about how much this aggravated him, but pressed on with some good info about how Xbox is progressing. He showed slides of the manufacturing facility, how the motherboard and components fit into the case, how much money and time Microsoft is devoting to just the manufacturing of the unit, when development kits will be delivered (the final hardware dev kits should ship in April, and current alpha dev kits have been shipping in stages for months). The best part was when he dispelled a bunch of myths about Xbox. Xbox is on target for a fall launch this year. They'll have 12-20 titles ready to roll on Day One. No Japanese support? Seamus doesn't agree. He's been to Japan around 18 times in the last year, and he's seen what they're working on. He could only say that more will be revealed at Tokyo Game Show and E3. Will Xbox support Tivo-like recording capabilities? No. Is the green jewel thing a camera that Microsoft will use to spy on us? Uh, no, that's ridiculous. Will it play Dreamcast games or have a PlayStation emulator? Not at all. And there's no keyboard or mouse, and no modem. He wanted to talk about their online plans, and seemed excited about them, but again Xbox marketing folks wouldn't let him divulge anything...
Damned marketing people! Kill'm if you got 'em! (wink-wink Meg) So it looks like we won't see anything new and offical about Halo until at least the Tokyo Game Show. (If anyone can locate a URL for a TGS web page, I'd be eternally gratefeul) We should be seeing Seamus and Robert J. Bach talk about Microsoft's online strategy in May according to the E3 program.
The article also talks about some of the critical differences between the XGPU and the GeForce 3 for some of you doubting Thomases out there, along with some funny peacemaking practices by Will Wright (creator of Sim City and The Sims) while playing Tribes. It's worth reading. =)