Microsoft is preparing an event this week, and there are rumors that the company could highlight the next generation Xbox, dubbed the Xbox 720, to select members of the press. This could be interesting, as Microsoft needs to draw momentum away from Sony and the PlayStation 4.

"Wait, select press are going to be at the Microsoft fiscal year 2014 event this week?" Superannuation Tweeted. "I thought that it was MS partners only. Hmm. There are a bunch of invite-only sessions about Xbox." Since the tweet also states many Xbox studios are going to be at FY2014, something is definitely going down.

Usually, Microsoft does not talk about games at its annual fiscal year events, as it is mainly reserved for investors, partners and other people in expensive suits. However, this year could be an exception, as Sony has showed its hand and is getting a lot of attention for it. Needless to say, Microsoft has no choice but to give a brief glimpse of the next generation Xbox or risk going back to the days when the first Xbox only managed a little over 20 million units sold.

Then again, Microsoft could very well wait until that rumored reveal in April. Many reports claim this would happen, as Microsoft's event planning partner has recently registered an XboxEvent.com domain.

The next generation Xbox is expected to be less powerful than the PlayStation 4 with its rumored 1.6GHz 8 core AMD Jaguar processor, 8GB DDR3 RAM, 800MHz AMD GPU, and a fancy new Kinect device. Microsoft has little choice but to top Sony's event if it wants the next Xbox to be seen as a viable competitor to the PlayStation 4.