TGS 08: Microsoft's Keynote Report

[DoctorFinger]

Microsoft held their keynote address at today (well, tonight's) Tokyo Game Show. Some of the highlights from John Schappert's address.

- Star Ocean: The Last Hope coming exclusively to the 360 on February 19th in Japan and March 3rd in the US.

- Resident Evil 5 has a release date: March 12th.

- 99 Nights 2 is coming to the 360.

- Tekken 6 is coming to the 360 in Fall 2009 (as well as the PS3).

- New XBLA classics: Space Invaders Extreme, Arkanoid Live (w/ co-op play), Metal Slug 7, King of Fighters '98, R-Type (w/ new 3D graphics and co-op play) & Meteos Wars.

- Xbox Live Experience: launching worldwide on November 19th.

- Halo Wars coming "early next year".

- The new Halo title - which we saw the teaser for a week ago - is Halo 3 Recon, told from the perspective of an ODST recon marine and set between Halo 2 & Halo 3. Coming Fall 2009.

Source - Major Nelson (http://majornelson.com/archive/2008/10/08/tgs-live-blog.aspx); 1UP (http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3170456).

[Xerxes]

TEKKEN 6?! Burns doesn't it Sony.
- The new Halo expansion is Halo 3 Recon, told from the perspective of an ODST recon marine and set between Halo 2 & Halo 3.

Called it. Now is it going to be as bad ass as I imagined. Although I was hoping ODST squad play.

[violent]

S'ok. Let's see what the other two got in store.

[Xerxes]

S'ok. Let's see what the other two got in store.

DSi and Little Big Planet. :o

[violent]

DSi and Little Big Planet. :o

Well you were right about Halo so predictability is in the cards.

[TheEvilNarwhale]

I was most stoked at the metal slug 7 announcement. The Halo thing should be pretty cool. But I'd like to have more details.

[TrackZero]

Hello @ R-Type. ;)

[Zero]

Wow. Tekken 6. That's pretty big. Well, I guess Tekken used to be bigger but I think it's still shocking.

[violent]

Wow. Tekken 6. That's pretty big. Well, I guess Tekken used to be bigger but I think it's still shocking.

Exclusivity of fighting games makes no sense to me whatsoever. It just seems like the type of genre that one plays because they love fighting games, not because of it's inclusion in their console of choice. I do believe that Tekken has always been a Sony franchise but I could be wrong. If that is indeed the case then yeah, it's somewhat of a deal but really, it's Tekken.

[Xerxes]

Exclusivity of fighting games makes no sense to me whatsoever. It just seems like the type of genre that one plays because they love fighting games, not because of it's inclusion in their console of choice. I do believe that Tekken has always been a Sony franchise but I could be wrong. If that is indeed the case then yeah, it's somewhat of a deal but really, it's Tekken.

Next up cross platform DOA. But if that happened, it's only cause Tecmo is doing whatever the fuck they want.

[fitbabits]

R-Type and NXE are the only things on the list that have me intrigued.

[violent]

Next up cross platform DOA. But if that happened, it's only cause Tecmo is doing whatever the fuck they want.

It makes sense especially with DOA. Seeing as previous iterations have been on Sony plats and the latest on 360, they're going for sales. I say, go for sales.

[Xerxes]

NXE intrigues people. meh.

[Xerxes]

It makes sense especially with DOA. Seeing as previous iterations have been on Sony plats and the latest on 360, they're going for sales. I say, go for sales.

Itagaki is gone so it's doable.

[violent]

What the hell does NXE stand for?

[fitbabits]

What the hell does NXE stand for?
New Xbox Experience.

Keep up! :)

[Philonious]

Doesn't really seem like they had much to offer the Japanese crowd that they didn't already know about, which is too bad seeing as that they have been making progress lately. Not that Halo is anything to scoff about, it just would have been done more justice if it had been announced at E3 and directed towards it's target audience.

[jeffbax]

TEKKEN 6?! Burns doesn't it Sony.

Being that PS2 was the platform with 90% of the exclusives, I fail to see how this is surprising to anyone. It was destined to happen this generation as there was no way Sony would be able to repeat PS2's dominant lead.

[violent]

New Xbox Experience.

Keep up! :)

Gah, that's a shitty name indeed. Good thing it's a cool acronym.

[Zero]

NXE intrigues people. meh.

I would also like to chime in with a whoopty-fucking-doo.

[Xerxes]

I would also like to chime in with a whoopty-fucking-doo.

That was my point.

[Zero]

That was my point.

Yeah, I was agreeing.

[Gerbs]

So is Halo 3 Recon DLC or stand alone?

[violent]

I believe standalone.

[Gerbs]

I believe standalone.

If this is the case why not just call it Halo: Recon? Drop the three altogether. Well anyway I didn't expect this to be so far off, but I guess they need something to hype till next fall.

[violent]

If this is the case why not just call it Halo: Recon? Drop the three altogether. Well anyway I didn't expect this to be so far off, but I guess they need something to hype till next fall.

I think it's supposed to be a prequel so I wouldn't be surprised if MC makes an appearance and let's face it, starting something new they're gonna play it safe and connect it to their bread and butter as much as humanly possible. Otherwise all they've got a lone marine FPS story. I think Haze was too.

[Food Nipple]

So is Halo 3 Recon DLC or stand alone?

Sounds like both to me. At the very least, the multiplayer is cross-compatible. I'm betting it'll be a similar situation as this was:

http://xboxmedia.gamespy.com/xbox/image/article/605/605242/halo-2-multiplayer-map-pack-20050418054120362.jpg

[TheFlyingOrc]

Hmm. Better than I expected.

Microsoft's plan this generation is to have either a Gears or Halo title every Christmas. :)

[violent]

Hmm. Better than I expected.

Microsoft's plan this generation is to have either a Gears or Halo title every Christmas. :)

You didn't hear the announcement? Gears of Halo Christmas day.

[Troggles]

Is it sad that the most exciting news for me was Metal Slug 7?

[violent]

Is it sad that the most exciting news for me was Metal Slug 7?
It's called taste my good man. Sometimes we gotta do it alone.

[TheEvilNarwhale]

Is it sad that the most exciting news for me was Metal Slug 7?

Not at all. I agree completely. I just wish it was here now. I wonder if it will be the same as the DS one that is coming out soon.

[vuk]

Yay for Star Ocean! Another RPG I'll buy and never get around to starting.

Oh, and Tekken! I love fighting games, too bad I'm not very good at playing them.

[The Continental]

I know the Tekken franchise has been on the declining end of the bell curve for a while now but it still makes me excited to see it going multi-platform.

[DeathtollWRX]

R-Type is my favorite shooter of all time and it's now co-op? interesting because the game itself was difficult.

The ODST game could be interesting. Since they aren't as tough as as Spartan I'm hoping it's going to playu like Xcom UFO defense or even Space Hulk, either way I pray that it is not just another first person shooter.

Tekken, I was never a big fan as I enjoyed virtual Fighter more... but nowadays I'm not into fighters at all , with the exception of SF4 which I will gladly buy.

I'm begining to think PS3 will eventually have little or no exclusives in the next year or so. It just doesn't make sense to limit yourself to one console.. Hell if I was Sony I'd make 360 games and vice versa.


GOD I love R-Type musak!

[VerseD]

A new Halo game might be fun, but I'd much rather see Microsoft take off Bungie's leash and let them make something new.

[Adam Blue]

R-Type and Metal Slug 7...hell yes.

[HALO 32]

Um...Halo...Co-Op...that's enough for me.

[The Iron Weasel]

A new Halo game might be fun, but I'd much rather see Microsoft take off Bungie's leash and let them make something new.

Microsoft doesn't own Bungie anymore, so the leash is off.

[Camel]

The thing that sticks out the most to me is that 99 Nights is getting a sequel! I can't believe it sold well enough to warrant one.

[Iron Past]

Microsoft doesn't own Bungie anymore, so the leash is off.

Took the words out of my mouth. Or... keyboard. I'm still surprised it's so far away.

[Grifter]

Brothers in Halo?

Halo in Arms?

Either way this could be the first Halo game with a single player campaign that's just as good as the multi-player and we get co-op.

Tekken 6 does nothing for me but the fact it's going multi-platform is big news.

R-Type of course is the most awesome news of all.

I'm not normally against JRPG's and their incredibly stupid/over dramatic story deliveries but any game who's lead character looks like a 10 year old...man and is named "Edge Maverick" needs to be boycotted. Sorry Star Ocean, a gamer can only take so much.

[Norse]

I'm most excited by the XBLA titles. R-type, Space Invaders, Arkanoid? HELL YEAH!!!

[MagGnome]

The only thing on that list I'm really looking forward to is the NXE.

Not because of the ugly new interface, but because of the Netflix integration. That's it. :p

[Wackman3000]

Star Ocean is a 360 exclusive? That really blows.

[Inspector Fowler]

The only thing on that list I'm really looking forward to is the NXE.

Not because of the ugly new interface, but because of the Netflix integration. That's it. :p

Me too. It's the reason I switched away from Blockbuster and the in-store exchange program. I've tried those "awesome" solutions that let me stream the movies from my computer to the 360, but for some reason, bandwidth-wise, it just can't keep up and the movies end up looking worse than You tube. I don't have a problem streaming other content from my comp to the 360, just Netflix stuff.

So I'm pretty excited for the official solution here.

[Gorvi]

Star Ocean is a 360 exclusive? That really blows.
It's 360 only right now, they've been very careful not to use the word "exclusive", both MS and SE. I'd bet it'll end up like Eternal Sonata and get a PS3 release eventually, MS probably just gave them the $$$ for a timed exclusive.

[bapenguin]

Halo Recon trailer is up. Posted a whole story about it.

[Housemixer]

Tekken was one of the few reasons for me to get a PS3, I'm glad that it's coming to the 360 (and thus saving me a lot of cash).

[TrackZero]

Me too. It's the reason I switched away from Blockbuster and the in-store exchange program. I've tried those "awesome" solutions that let me stream the movies from my computer to the 360, but for some reason, bandwidth-wise, it just can't keep up and the movies end up looking worse than You tube. I don't have a problem streaming other content from my comp to the 360, just Netflix stuff.

So I'm pretty excited for the official solution here.

Have you tried the standard media player library sharing? I've gotten really high bitrate stuff to play just fine to my 360 (720p content).

[Mike Kelehan]

- New XBLA classics: Space Invaders Extreme, Arkanoid Live (w/ co-op play), Metal Slug 7, King of Fighters '98, R-Type (w/ new 3D graphics and co-op play) & Meteos Wars.

With the exception of KOF, I'm very, very excited about all of those. Very.

[bean]

The Halo Recon announcement is interesting, but the rest of it is just release dates for games we already knew about. I'm always hoping to hear about new RPGs at TGS, so I'm a little disappointed.

[Morratut]

R-Type is my favorite shooter EVER!!! It's the only shooter I have completed fully I think. I can't wait to snap that up.

Halo 3 Recon is going to be good. I would love a real gritty shooter in the Halo universe. I hope it will be really hard to take down a Elite or Brute as a ODST. I'm sure they will look bigger at least :D

I can imagine every now and then you will a big event from the previous titles in the background with the odd glimpse of the Chief. /drools.