Microsoft Press Conference

I’m sitting here at the Microsoft Press Conference waiting for it to start. This is going to be a point-by-point blog of the updates and information as we discover it here at E3. I’ll post all of my impressions as the conference starts and goes, and we’ll see where it takes us! (- Dave)

Read on for the entire story!

- Conference just started now. A little later than I thought. Call of Duty Black Ops trailer is kicking off the event. Same trailer as revealed before, looks good on the big screen. We start seeing gameplay, takes place in a jungle cave. Flashlight/gun combo, similar to tacitical knife, but with a flashlight. Skip ahead, stealing a Hind using a noob tube. Game looks great in the jungle environment, I’m liking the change of pace for CoD. Now flying in the Hind, I believe you control the gunner. Looks good!

- All CoD add-ons and mappacks will now launch first on XBox 2010-2012. Exclusive deal between Microsoft and Activision.

- Hideo Kojima introduces Shigenabu Matsunabu to show of Zan-Datsu. Zan = To Cut. Datsu = To take. You cut up the enemies an take there abilities. Game is: Metal Gear Solid: Lightning Bolt Rising. You can cut at will. Slow-mo an enemy and choose your slice. Show off slicing an enemy and choosing your cuts. Slice up a watermelon, very cool.

- Cliffy B comes on stage. He is giving a live showing of 4-player co-op gameplay. Showing is in a jungle setting. There is a “Retro Lancer”, Cliffy choses to use. New tentacle/laser creature comes out and attacks. New monsters pop and explode, and can mutate. Giant monster comes out, they shoot it and bullets bounce off, then run away. Hammer of Dawn attacks, cannot kill creature.

- Peter Molyneux comes out to show off Fable III. Can you finally cut down trees? Takes place in Albion. I can’t tell too much from the trailer.

- Microsoft’s “new partner”. Crytek shows of Codename: Kingdoms. Spartan standing and bleeding, gorgeous graphics but probably not in-game.

- Bungie comes out, 2 Billion online hours played of Halo, Halo: Reach is introduced to the show. We start by seeing assault rifle, pods dropping off Elites on Earth. Player sprints into action. Melee attack has been extended, animation where you stab the enemy from behind. Big thing: Controlling a space ship in space and having a space battle. Space battle looks like the most interesting and new component of the game.

- Microsoft rep comes out to talk about Kinect (Previously Project NATAL). Kinect works for entire 360 menu. Wave, and it recognizes you and signs you in. Browse with your hand in new Kinect menu. Voice recognition works as well.

- Shows of Zune. Shows how easy it is to use your hands to watch a movie, fastforward/rewind with a hand motion and use your voice to pause/play. Starts playing Justin Bieber music…

- Shows off Video Kinect. Laura comes in to talk about it, she has zillions of gamer points, no joke. Shows off video chat , Lollip0p is the username, save it and friend her. Essentially Skype on your 360. You can choose a video, and watch a video together while talking. Or even play a game. (Didn’t show it, though). Sound quality is actually pretty good. Kinect automatically follows people around as your move. Creepy?

- ESPN on 360. Can watch live events on demand. Little conference room area where your avatar hangs out, and you can even make your avatar join a sports team. Shows percent of fans on each team. You can talk and tell Kinect to replay when you want. Real time polls/trivia/etc. will go on during the game. You can check out scores of other current games, and switch on the fly to another game. FREE for all Xbox Live Gold members!

- Kinect (Project NATAL) games shown. Kinectimals shows a little girl playing with her pet (in-game) pet tiger “skittles”. Can talk and use hands to interact. She shows skittles motion, and skittles follows. She hides from skittles, he goes up to camera to start looking for her.

- Rare studios shows Kinect Sports. Pump up the crowd by talking to them. Show off track game, they run in place, jump for jumping over hurdles. Chariots of Fire song sounds off at the replay. Kinect Sports includes: Track and Field, Soccer, Bowling, Ping Pong, Boxing, and Volleyball. Uses your avatar, looks like the new Wii Sports.

- Kinect Joy Ride shows off a racing game, use your hands like you’re using a steering wheel. Push your hands forward for a boost. Looks like an arcadey racing game, where you can do crazy tricks.

- “Kinect Adventures!” is next. Looks like an obstacle course, try to collect pins and avoid obstacles. Friends can play together. A friend walks in, and it automatically goes to split screen. First adventure is a moving platform with obstacles. Looks like a fun dodging type of game. Next is two girls on a raft trying to collect pins, work together to jump and move around. Pictures are taken mid-gameplay. You shift side-to-side to move around. Reminds me of Disney Quest, but in your home. Very cool.

- More Kinect games from other studios. Ubisoft shows off a cool looking work-out game. No in-game footage is shown in commercial, Very Wii-like commercial. “Your Shape Fitness Evolved”. You walk into your gym. Girl is wearing sweater, and takes it off. The game can sense it. Body scanner scans various parts of your body, and identifies muscle groups. Takes measurements of your arm-span, body, and dimensions. Fitness classes, Yoga, and gym activities. (Seems like a similar set-up to Wii Fit). Shows your… muscleish body glob in the screen so you can see how you look on screen with the in-game characters. Game-like combat training to make working out seem more enjoyable. Zen game ends the demo. Game tracks your joints to make sure you are doing it properly.

- MTV games and Harmonix (Guitar Hero/Rock Band) are next up. Show off Dance Central. Tracks your movements as your dance. Essentially the Guitar-Hero of dance. Looks like you have stars that you earn, just like Guitar Hero. Little movement chart on the right shows you what to do. Makes you come out like a dance star. Very cool. No pads, no mats. Full body dancing. Big pop tracks are included, authentic choreographers and original music video dances are in the game. “Break it down” mode helps do it slow, and one-move at a time. Beginner moves eventually lead to complex routines. Can do very basic moves and advanced moves for skill level. Not gonna lie, this looks AWESOME. Now I just need a bboy game for myself.

- Kinect, LucasArts, and Microsoft present Kinect Star Wars game. Essentially a forward moving 3rd person game. (You move back and forth only). Looks like the essence of an Arcade game, but on a console.

- Forza Kinect game is up next. Looks gorgeous, no steering wheel. (Which could be bad not having the physical object). You can walk around the car, look at the car and inspect parts of the car. Porn for a car nut, basically. Get in the car, then start it. Coming 2011.

- New XBox 360 is announced. Built-in WiFi N. 250gb harddrive included. Same price as normal XBox 360. $299. Shipping new 360 to retailers TODAY. Available in stores later this week. Microsoft pulls an Oprah and ships one to everyone in the convention center.

Conference is over. Looks like the focus was on Kinect. Some cool hardcore games, a lot of casual games. But, admittedly, these games look very tight!

- Dave

Tags: 360, E3, microsoft, Press Conference, xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox360

This entry was posted on Monday, June 14th, 2010 at 12:36 pm and is filed under Press Conference. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.