^this year?well,better than Sony
bye

Yeah, why not? The customers play games they otherwise wouldn't be able to to and then get to spread information via word of mouth.

Pleasing your customer base is one of the best ways to keep them loyal.

I am pretty sure MS are no longer attending CES and instead will be having their own event.

Sony should throw together a showcase for the Vita for both Gamescom and TGS

It's like E3 but for the public. Biggest gaming convention in the world.

For the media mostly EU specific games are being announced there and especially Sony makes some bigger, worldwide announcements there like slim model or price cut.

I remember hearing that.

I guess they will unveil it at their own conference.

why can't they otherwise? we get them as demos some weeks before release...why do i have to play forza if i can at home as demo? and like i said, people who don't own consoles don't go to the gamescom. not that late in this gen. sure with new consoles i think it's important, that's why i said sony should be there for vita and nintendo for wii u if they really think people will like it if the play wii u demos. but i see not much microsoft could do there, even if they would have many more games. not for millions such a convention will cost a company. will they sell 2k 360s  to the 250k visitors and their friends after that? not very important.

€dit: ok you said please the customers i read over that. yeah ok this is maybe a point but not sure if really so important anymore.

Saarbrücken lol.
Still a few kilometers to Cologne but far better than driving to Leipzig.

Did you camp in Leipzig or did you go into a hotel ?
I was in the crowd when GIGA Games broadcasted their show on a Sunday morning at 9am in 2007. Probably my favourite moment ever (at GamesConvention/Gamescom). When I went there on a Saturday I could only play about 2 games and both sucked (NFS Pro Street and PES 2008). Then on Sunday I could basically play everything I wanted without having to wait longer than 10 minutes.

It never becomes no longer important to please your customer base.

When you think it is no longer important is when someone else takes the opportunity to swoop in and grab all the attention, and when it comes to gaming, mindshare is very important.

 Yeah, they might not always have the newest and the latest and greatest to show, but at least it lets your fanbase know "Hey, we are still here guys and we still have things to share with you". I feel this is better than showing in Feb. at CES, June at E3 and then dissappearing.

Even so, let us see what they mean when they speak of local events and such, maybe Microsoft still have something planned between now and early 2013.

That's a damn pity really -killing your presence in one of the 3 biggest gaming conventions in the world. That's just bad for business and a sign of giving up on certain territory.

Bad business move Microsoft. Any advertisement is good advertisement and you're just willingly giving that spot light to your competitors.