[E3 09] Microsoft Press Conference Recap

[DoctorFinger]

Microsoft opened up E3 2009 with their presser, with some expected announcements and some real surprises.

- The show opened with Beatles: Rock Band (which you can read more about here). 10 of the 45 songs on the disc were announced, as well as Abbey Road as DLC. The game will support multiple vocalists, and "All You Need is Love" will be a 360 exclusive download, with proceeds going to charity.

- Next was Tony Hawk: The Ride. Mostly footage of pro skaters getting their first look at the board peripheral. Game looks solid, but not spectacular.

- Next up was the Modern Warfare 2 segment. The trailer which debuted last week was followed by a short demo. A snow level with whiteout conditions, a radar-enabled gun, a frenetic firefight and snowmobiles.

- From here on out, MS promises everything is 360-only. Up next is Epic, with their new XBLA title Shadow Complex. It's a 2.5D shooter with destructible environments and big bosses. Very smooth graphics.

- Then we get a look at Joy Ride: a free, avatar based cart racing game. It looks like a cross between Trackmania and a Road Runner cartoon. Set for release this winter, you'll be able to buy new cars, tracks and accessories. But, if a friend owns a track you don't you'll still be able to race them on it.

- A teaser for Crackdown 2 was shown. But now it has Zombies.

- Left 4 Dead 2 was announced. You can read more about it here.

- The next title to step into the spotlight was the long delayed Splinter Cell: Conviction. Set for release this fall, there seem to be a more action bent to the game. There's still a lot of stealth, but Sam is more like an unstoppable killing machine here, and he likes slamming people into walls. Still looks pretty good, although a slight departure from what we know of the series.

- Forza 3 was announced. Very slick looking. 60 frames per second, 40 car manufacturers, over 400 cars, social networking, HD Video uploads and totally customizable cars. Coming this fall

- Next is Halo: ODST. We get what appears to be the opening cinematic, as well as a little gameplay demo. You'll be investigating what happened to the rest of your squad, and occasionally the action will 'jump' back in time to show what happened to them. Halo: ODST should be out 9/22.

- Bungie then announced their secret project, Halo: Reach. A teaser was shown, but revealed little. Set for a late 2010 release.

- Remedy was there with Alan Wake. The game was very dark and atmospheric. Reminiscent of old school Silent Hill. Lots of screams, explosions and other stuff happening, but you don't see much of it at first. Eventually you encounter enemies, who appear to be damaged by light. Flashlights, flares and a spotlight seem to be big gameplay elements. Set for a spring 2010 release.

- Additions and updates to Xbox Live. Gold users will have access to last.fm. Facebook and Twitter integration is slated for this fall. You'll be able to add movies to your Netflix queue straight from your console. SkyTV was touted for UK and Irish gamers, including live TV (sports and such). You'll be able to share music and movies with friends over XBL

- The XBL video store gets re-branded as the Zune Marketplace. 1080p video, with instant start on demand for all movies and TV shows. No more waiting to DL.

- Metal Gear Solid: Rising announced for the 360, a new MGS game starring cyborg Raiden. More on that here.

- Project Natal was shown. More on that can be seen here.

We'll have more in-depth reports on may of these games coming soon

[Doctor Setebos]

Originally Posted by DoctorFinger

- A teaser for Crackdown 2 was shown. But now it has Zombies.

I think maybe you're getting the videos for Crackdown and L4D2 mixed up. I saw no zombies in the Crackdown video. It was a guy trying to run away from the Crackdown squad, who were doing crazy acrobatics and tossing stuff. Then we only saw the silhouette of something giant coming out of a manhole, and then massive explosions.

[AgtFox]

The thing I like is that they really gave no numbers and stats, they just went to the games. I highly doubt Sony won't have numbers, they love that stuff...so does Nintendo, but maybe the Microsoft precedence will change their views.

[Deadend]

Originally Posted by AgtFox

The thing I like is that they really gave no numbers and stats, they just went to the games. I highly doubt Sony won't have numbers, they love that stuff...so does Nintendo, but maybe the Microsoft precedence will change their views.

I didn't even notice that, but it makes sense.
Microsoft is doing this for the gamers, if you want numbers.. go check somewhere else, as they are doing just fine in terms of units.

I wonder if the last.fm stuff means my Zune can start using last.fm for audioscrobbling instead of Zune.net's version.

Not a ton of amazing games, I didn't notice anything from Rare, but happy to see Crackdown 2. Nothing too exciting, but pretty cool.

Oh, and then Natal, which IF it is as good as it looks, is a giant FUCK YOU to Nintendo. Skipping past the whole even using a controller bit. I just worry it will be another eyetoy.

[inmostlight]

- Additions and updates to Xbox Live. Gold users will have access to last.fm. Facebook and Twitter integration is slated for this fall. You'll be able to add movies to your Netflix queue straight from your console. SkyTV was touted for UK and Irish gamers, including live TV (sports and such). You'll be able to share music and movies with friends over XBL

Did they specify if the last.fm use will work for custom soundtracks in game? Or is it only from the dashboard? If I can do it anywhere, that is HUGE news to me, and incredibly awesome. (I prefer Pandora, but last.fm is pretty damn cool as well!)

[jeffbax]

Originally Posted by Deadend

I didn't even notice that, but it makes sense.
Microsoft is doing this for the gamers, if you want numbers.. go check somewhere else, as they are doing just fine in terms of units.

Do you not remember every Microsoft press release since before the Wii took over the market? They loved the numbers while they had them.

[Rune_74]

Their numbers are trouncing the ps3.

[DoctorFinger]

Originally Posted by inmostlight

Did they specify if the last.fm use will work for custom soundtracks in game? Or is it only from the dashboard? If I can do it anywhere, that is HUGE news to me, and incredibly awesome. (I prefer Pandora, but last.fm is pretty damn cool as well!)

That was not mentioned, so assume for the moment that you need to be in a player of some sort (like Netflix) for it to work.

[Chris_D]

Wow, this is the best e3 showing MS has had for a few years I feel. Another Halo from Bungie is huge, and Halo ODST will do well I bet.

Alan Wake, finally!! Crackdown 2 will sell to a few fans too. Kart racer could be cool.

[KamaItachi]

Pretty solid showing, but I had expected something to really wow me considering how quiet they have been.

All complaints are moot through, since personally they could have just shown Crackdown 2 and I would have been happy. I'm sooooo glad that's coming out

[Chris_D]

There is also tons of other cool stuff coming (admittedly multiplatform) like Dragon Age, Assassins Creed 2.. others I guess? I think 360 owners will be happy over the next couple of years.

[Orca]

The all new graphics engine isn't the end of the changes. Tire deformation and physics tweaks galore - apparently more info coming in the next few weeks. They want to play up the 'action and accessible' part of the game first, to avoid scaring off the casual gamers

[KamaItachi]

Originally Posted by Chris_D

There is also tons of other cool stuff coming (admittedly multiplatform) like Dragon Age, Assassins Creed 2.. others I guess? I think 360 owners will be happy over the next couple of years.

Having a look now, it certainly looks like it's going to be another good year where I had expected nothing too exciting. Dragon Age has certainly won me over from the recent previews and I'm certainly hyped for Mass Effect, mother-humping CRACKDOWN 2 and even a little buy-curious about L4D2 and ODST.

I had predicted Alan Wake for next year, but finally getting a release period for it is actually quite comforting. I'd rather they not talk up Reach for a while yet, considering how far off it is.

Not too bad when the only things on my radar so far had been Ghostbusters and Batman.

[Karak]

Originally Posted by Chris_D

There is also tons of other cool stuff coming (admittedly multiplatform) like Dragon Age, Assassins Creed 2.. others I guess? I think 360 owners will be happy over the next couple of years.

Ya. I am really surprised by the unhappiness...and its mostly here. I was blown away to see the exact opposite at many other forums where people were pretty stoked about the conference.
For the amount of surprises, the rare uncomfortable moment, and the new stuff, I am amazed at how well it went.

[johnperkins21]

Originally Posted by Karak

Ya. I am really surprised by the unhappiness...and its mostly here. I was blown away to see the exact opposite at many other forums where people were pretty stoked about the conference.
For the amount of surprises, the rare uncomfortable moment, and the new stuff, I am amazed at how well it went.

I wouldn't say I'm unhappy, it's just that they only showed one game that really has me excited (Alan Wake), and two that I'm kind of interested in (Forza and Shadow Complex). Everything else was either a sequel to a game I didn't like, games I'm not interested in, or added features to the dashboard (which I will never use mainly due to how slow the dashboard is).

[Wolvie]

Holy crap, a Halo game in 2010? Geez, Bungie has been busy. Since it's on reach it has to be a prequel. Very cool, maybe we'll see and play as other spartans... oh the wheels in my fanboy brain are a turnin now!

[Gorvi]

The two exclusives I'm excited about are Crackdown 2 and Alan Wake, that's more than enough for me. They had a good show, much better than last year, I just could have done without all the social networking garbage.

The motion camera has potential, I'm just curious to see how they expect to get it into people's homes. The Wii Fit balance board is an exception with selling an after market peripheral, they're going to have to make that damn appealing to purchase for the 30+ million current 360 owners in order for it to gain any significant install base. The EyeToy had the exact same problem.

[CES]

Originally Posted by Wolvie

Holy crap, a Halo game in 2010? Geez, Bungie has been busy. Since it's on reach it has to be a prequel. Very cool, maybe we'll see and play as other spartans... oh the wheels in my fanboy brain are a turnin now!

I forsee it being the last half of the Fall of Reach novel, only from the perspective of the Spartans fighting on the planet which will suck due to the simple fact that we know how it ends. Still, more Halo is always good for console sales.

[Philonious]

Like I said in another thread: They showed some solid games, but nothing too unexpected. Where they failed is by front-loading the games and then ending with all the casual shenanigans. Natal is geared to the casual crowd and Milo seems neat, but not exactly fun. My point is that by putting all the lame stuff near the end they may have partially killed their own buzz. EA made the smart move by starting lame and finishing strong.

[DoctorFinger]

Originally Posted by Philonious

Like I said in another thread: They showed some solid games, but nothing too unexpected. Where they failed is by front-loading the games and then ending with all the casual shenanigans. Natal is geared to the casual crowd and Milo seems neat, but not exactly fun. My point is that by putting all the lame stuff near the end they may have partially killed their own buzz. EA made the smart move by starting lame and finishing strong.

I'm not so sure that part was lame. In fact there has been more buzz around that than of MS' games for the most part.