Amsterdam confirmed as venue for X05 event

Microsoft has confirmed that it will be inviting industry leaders and journalists to Amsterdam this October 4th and 5th to hear the company's vision for Xbox 360 at X05 - and get the chance to play some of the first games.

If it hasn't already done so, Microsoft will very likely use X05 to announce the launch date and/or price for the console, too - although the expectation is that at least one of those details will be revealed beforehand.

The location of the event had been a closely guarded secret until last week when analyst PJ McNealy let it slip in an advisory. X0 events have previously taken place at Pierre Cardin's Bubble House in Cannes, La Isla Magica theme park in Seville and a beach club in Juan-les-Pins.

Naturally it's all for the good of the brand and very serious work gets done. "To tell you our rational for choosing Amsterdam would reveal some of our plans and we want to keep those as secret as possible!" said regional VP of Xbox for EMEA Chris Lewis. We can probably hazard a guess, Chris.

Invitations to the event will be sent out in the coming weeks.