At noon ET, Microsoft will reveal a gigantic 40-foot-long replica of the new console it has dropped down in Vancouver in a parking lot at 1001 Seymour Street (at the corner of Nelson and Seymour near Yaletown) and gamers will be invited to help open its doors. There are a variety of ways to do that, but they all involve a sort of crowdsourcing where players input their Xbox Gamertag online as a way of “voting” for the big box to open.
This is a Canada-only campaign, and when the hatch opens, all we are being told is that there will be an “experience” inside (but seriously, it would be insane to do this if they had no games in there, and Microsoft is not insane). Craig Flannagan, Director of Marketing, Xbox, Microsoft Canada is coy about exactly which titles might lurk inside that massive black box. Also, he won’t get specific about what will make the opening “pretty incredible and immersive in some ways.” What he does know is that it’s the biggest launch, in terms of money spent and scale of the promotion, Microsoft has ever done in Canada. “This is far and away the biggest, maybe the biggest thing done in Canada for [the games] industry.” (You can see a short “
making of” promo video here.)
So, how do you help crack open this mega box? Either boot up your Xbox 360 (the Xbox Source tile should have appeared on the start screen), log in to Xbox.ca or show up in person in Vancouver (note, the pledge feature does not appear to be live yet). Once you pledge your tag, you can follow the status bar on Xbox.ca/onesource or on your 360. You can also follow the #XboxOneSource hash tag on Twitter, and Xbox Canada’s Facebook page will have details too.