E3 Microsoft Press Conference

02:14pm by Eric

That concludes the Microsoft E3 Press conference. We had some really cool displays here, although I’m disappointed that there wasn’t any live demo of Gears of War: Judgment. There were also promises of changes to Fable: The Journey, but all we saw was a short generic trailer. I’m really excited about the new Splinter Cell game! That looks phenomenal… although we need Michael Ironside to reprise his role as Sam Fisher. However, it just dawned on me that this may be a prequel, because Sam looked much younger then in his most recent game. Halo 4 also looked pretty cool. I would not be opposed to trying it out.

As for Kinect… meh. It seemed as if voice commands were the key element being pushed. Motion control seems to be an “old” method, since only 2 motion games, 1 fitness and 1 downloadable, were talked about. On top of that it appears as if they are really pushing the “Smartglass” feature. I like it, as I’ve always thought it would be awesome to change channels using my phone instead of a different controller. I also loved the “special features”… feature(?) they showed off with SmartGlass. The whole “Hey, you unlocked some cool new Lore in this game, check it out on your phone,” seems really appealing to me.

It seems like Microsoft has takes a hint from it’s hardcore base and moved away from motion control. It’s nice to see them try to integrate other devices with X-Box with SmartGlass. Overall this conference was pretty good. I can’t wait to see what EA has to show off in about 2 hours!

02:01pm by Eric

Demo over. Looks pretty cool.

02:00pm by Eric

Escort VIP in convoy to evac. Use plane to protect the convoy.

01:59pm by Eric

Player climbs into a plane! This awesome!

01:59pm by Eric

A building falls and creates a bit of a dust storm. Player is looking for someone in the chaos.

01:57pm by Eric

Otherwise we have a standard corridor shooter.

01:57pm by Eric

Player controls an attack drone with his wrist computer.

01:56pm by Eric

Jump to a new scene. Player now in the city, not on the highway.

01:56pm by Chris

Wait, the X-Ray gun can shoot through Concrete Pillars? What the hell?

01:55pm by Eric

Player snipes enemies while his team takes president to evac. Rifle can see thorough, and shoot through, walls.

01:54pm by Eric

Truck falls through the highway, player jumps off. Some awesome hover jet flies in to pick up some VIPs.

01:53pm by Eric

Mounted SAM takes out some planes.

01:52pm by Eric

Now it’s time for some gameplay!

01:52pm by Eric

Near futuristic… and things get blown up!

01:52pm by Eric

Opens with an epic looking in game cinematic. Police escort a VIP down a futuristic highway.

01:50pm by Eric

CoD: Black Ops 2…

01:50pm by Eric

Microsoft closing with another blockbuster, not an exclusive…

01:49pm by Eric

Usher leaves. Finally. Don Mattrick is back. Mattrick not Madron…

01:45pm by Eric

Usher takes the stage to sing.

01:44pm by Eric

Usher talks about Dance Central 3, and shows off a new single.

01:44pm by Chris

South Park looks awesomely bad in an awesome way!

01:44pm by Eric

Harmonix Trailer for a new Dance Central.

01:43pm by Eric

Matt and Trey talk about how this is the first time they’ve ever had to make a layout of the town. They usually just cut to different houses and locations without thought.

01:43pm by Eric

The make fun of the X-Box syncing across tablets, phones, pc, refrigerator, oven, etc.

01:41pm by Eric

Trailer shows off some gameplay and CG! Trey Parker and Matt Stone come to the stage!

01:41pm by Eric

Kyle “I’ll do it.”
Eric “Jews can’t be saviors… Remember? Jesus.”

01:40pm by Eric

SOUTH PARK RPG!

01:39pm by Eric

This is not a game for me. You shoot cannon balls at castles to break everything. She also talks too much.

01:38pm by Eric

Some chick takes the stage to show off Wrecketeer with Kinect.

01:37pm by Eric

Leon and Helena are surrounded b a large hoard to end the trailer. No Megaman.

01:36pm by Chris

Resident Evil 6 looks full of action, lets hope it holds true to the series and keeps us on the edge of our seats in suspense and terror too!

01:36pm by Eric

QTE of Leon trying to control a helicopter. Apparently Clair is Helena… sorry about that.

01:35pm by Eric

Plane falls on an oil taker and causes a chain of explosions. Leon runs away from it toward the camera, Uncharted 2 style.

01:34pm by Eric

Headshot with a hammer!

01:34pm by Eric

Shoot the knees! Make them fall!

01:33pm by Eric

Looks a lot more action oriented then previous entries, which is awesome!

01:33pm by Eric

Zombie Hoard and Helicopter attack Leon and Clair on the streets.

01:32pm by Eric

Resident Evil 6 gameplay and Trailer follow.

01:32pm by Eric

CAPCOM takes the stage! No Megaman news I bet!

01:32pm by Chris

Capcom!

01:32pm by Eric

It’s called Matter… for Kinect.

01:31pm by Eric

Gore Verbanski is behind game 3. Looks like a scifi marble madness…

01:31pm by Eric

New game about an assassin named Iris. She’s a robot. LocoCycle…?

01:30pm by Eric

Medieval Fantasy combat with skeletons and giant things with horns. Looks like god of war only a little more far fetched. I’m Interested.

01:29pm by Eric

Next 3 games are world premiers… First up is Ascend: New Gods by the studio behind Toy Soldiers…

01:28pm by Eric

New games? You mean, there are games that aren’t sequels?

01:27pm by Eric

DLC exclusivity on X-Box 360. Lame.

01:27pm by Eric

How she makes it out of this game alive is still unknown to me…

01:26pm by Eric

Backup chute saves the day!

01:26pm by Eric

Lara is being whisked down a river into a crashed plane

01:25pm by Chris

Lara Croft is like the female version of Daryl from the Walking Dead kick ass with a bow and arrow when everyone else uses guns!

01:25pm by Eric

Flaming Arrows, Shotguns, and some awesome melee kills! This game looks amazing!

01:24pm by Chris

Bad Guys have such bad aim, seriously they have automatic weapons and still can’t make a kill

01:24pm by Eric

Looks like it’s taking some cues from Uncharted. Which is a really good thing!

01:23pm by Eric

Lara uses her bow to silently take out a few guys, then goes in for a melee kill.

01:23pm by Chris

I can’t wait for this! It looks like Crystal Dynamics took the best parts of Tomb Raider and mixed in all the best parts of games like Uncharted and Assassins Creed to make Lara Croft bad ass again!

01:23pm by Eric

Crystal Dynamics takes the stage to show off some Tomb Raider gameplay!

01:22pm by Eric

Smartglass will integrate with Windows 8.

01:21pm by Eric

Use Kinect or Smartphone to control the web browser.

01:19pm by Eric

Web browser coming to X-Box. Finally.

01:18pm by Eric

Uses SmartPhone to control X-Box. Will work with Windows Mobile, Android, and I believe he said iPhone.

01:17pm by Eric

Unlock data on game, check it on tablet.

01:16pm by Chris

Alright, it was cool for the TV, but games really? I don’t want to play my xbox with my tablet I want to use a controller, if I wanted a touch screen to play games on I would be playing a tablet or cell phone game dammit!

01:16pm by Eric

Call plays with your tablet, instead of the controller or Kinect. Sounds like someone is trying to compete with Ninteno’s WiiU controller…

01:15pm by Chris

Assuming you have the devices that this SmartGlass will work on it will be worth checking out and definitely looks interesting.

01:15pm by Eric

Interactive map is demoed for Game of Thrones, looks interesting. Now we get to see games!

01:15pm by Eric

Play something on TV, both tablet and phone sync up and provide info on the show.

01:14pm by Eric

It syncs up phones, tablets, pcs, and consoles, as one universal device.

01:13pm by Eric

Xbox smartglass apparently makes everything better… let’s watch a demo.

01:12pm by Eric

Marc Whitten takes the stage to talk X-Box Live.

01:11pm by Chris

The people who follow E3 are either Gamers, or journalist that write about stuff for Gamers with very few exceptions. So why is Nike here tell us about being an athlete? Yea it looks cool and may sell well if marketed right, but E3 would be better served with more core gamer stuff since that’s who’s watching and reading.

01:10pm by Eric

Nike+ Kinect Training will sync with your phone and help keep you in shape.

01:09pm by Chris

The Special Kind?

01:09pm by Eric

Good news Walnut! You’re an athlete! Sign up for the Olympics, now!

01:07pm by Eric

Stefan Oelander from Nike come to talk about Kinect.

01:06pm by Eric

Oh… it’s more fitness training…

01:06pm by Eric

1 More announcement, and a look to the future from Yusef.

01:06pm by Eric

It’ll sync to X-Box, PC, Tablets, and Phones.

01:05pm by Eric

Yusef talk X-Box music. Because we all need another digital format to buy out Music from!

01:04pm by Eric

Trailer showing people talking to an inanimate object and watching sports on TV.

01:03pm by Eric

ESPN available 24 hrs a day on X-Box 360.

01:01pm by Eric

Kinect understands multiple languages. And will offer a whole bunch of entertainment options, ie. TV on demand.

12:59pm by Chris

Totally don’t want voice controls in a game, but If I can lay in bed and tell my Xbox what to play? Hell yes I’m down for that!

12:58pm by Eric

More Kinect voice functionality being displayed.

12:58pm by Eric

So far no Kudo Tsunoda. This conference is looking god so far.

12:57pm by Eric

Yusef Mehei come to the stage now.

12:57pm by Eric

Forza Horizon. October 23rd 2012.

12:56pm by Eric

And queue the Wub Wub! Also, it’s prerendered.

12:56pm by Chris

I don’t do a lot of racing games unless my driver is Yoshi, but god damn does this look pretty.

12:56pm by Eric

Looks pretty, but is it pre-rendered or live gameplay?

12:55pm by Eric

New racing game trailer.

12:55pm by Eric

Young Baird looks snide as ever.

12:54pm by Eric

Gears of War: Judgement trailer!!!

12:54pm by Eric

Talking up Halo 4 some more, and even Fable: The Journey.

12:53pm by Eric

Phil Spencer takes the stage.

12:53pm by Eric

Fable on rails trailer shows off some nice graphics, but lackluster gameplay.

12:53pm by Chris

How’s a game that is suppose to be all kinds of Open Ended and what not be an On Rails title?

12:52pm by Chris

Another Fable Kinect video? Did we see this last year?

12:52pm by Eric

Madden on August 28th.

12:51pm by Chris

I’m just not into voice commands, it’s just so gimmicky

12:51pm by Eric

Touchdown!

12:51pm by Eric

Joe Montana call out plays to specific players in Madden.

12:50pm by Eric

Joe Montana takes the stage with EA Sports to talk Madden.

12:49pm by Eric

Madden 13, most impressive version ever?

12:48pm by Eric

You can call out new plays in FIFA without pulling up menus or pausing the game.

12:48pm by Chris

EA’s turn to tell us about Kinect voice commands in Fifa. I guess if you’re a soccer fan and you have a Kinect this is cool? Right?

12:47pm by Eric

EA Sports take the stage to show off Kinect support for FIFA and Madden.

12:47pm by Eric

Expect it Spring 2013!

12:47pm by Chris

Microsoft is looking way better this year, then they did last year. Lets hope it keeps up!

12:46pm by Eric

Sam Fisher is not voiced by Michael Ironside anymore… kinda depressing…

12:45pm by Eric

Sam uses his camera to look under the door and mark his enemies.

12:45pm by Chris

They had me until they threw in Kinect Voice, luckily it most likely won’t be required.

12:45pm by Eric

Again, using Kinect, you can call out some special tactical abilities.

12:44pm by Eric

Sam has some cool new detective vision going on, ans some really awesome execution style kills!

12:44pm by Eric

Kinect allows you to call out to enemies to draw them out.

12:43pm by Eric

Sam shows off the new mark system for the new game. Looks awesome!

12:42pm by Chris

It still looks really f’ing good though!

12:42pm by Chris

Splinter Cell has always been a badass game, and I remember when Sam Fisher looked awesome. This game doesn’t look nearly as impressive graphically as it should.

12:42pm by Eric

Yeah it’s Sam Fisher in a really new war torn setting!

12:41pm by Eric

Looks like Sam Fisher maybe?

12:40pm by Eric

Onto some more trailers. A man carries another though a checkpoint. He looks hurt.

12:39pm by Eric

Halo 4 is the lead title, and flagship of the X-Box. Hopefully not having Bungie won’t ruin the series.

12:38pm by Eric

Don Madren hits the stage to talk about X-box and such.

12:38pm by Chris

Halo 4 looks promising, I’ve enjoyed the previous 3 main entries so here’s hoping 4 keeps looking as good.

12:37pm by Eric

Master Chief get’s ambushed. Demo ends. Now a video kicks in.

12:36pm by Chris

Definitely not covenant. And whatever it is it’s definitely not organic.

12:36pm by Eric

Chief chases after the enemy with a new “Light Rifle.” Looks pretty sweet!

12:35pm by Eric

Enemies are defined as not Covenant. Interesting. One comes in close and shows off a cool skull face behind a mask.

12:34pm by Eric

Some unknown figure helps out the Chief… Wonder who it is.

12:34pm by Chris

If that’s gameplay they’ve definitely stepped things up for this installment. The HUD looks a little cluttered though. It’s been a while since I played Halo but I don’t remember it feeling so full. Guess it’s kinda cool, like you’re really in the suit.

12:33pm by Eric

In game footage of Halo 4 kicks in. It looks pretty.

12:33pm by Eric

Master Chief looks on as a large ship falls on a plant. Then a giant sphere emerges and flies off.

12:33pm by Chris

Master Chief is back!

12:32pm by Eric

Yeah, it’s Halo 4.

12:31pm by Eric

High end CG with Live actors on a spaceship. Maybe an ad for Halo 4?

11:14am by Chris

We’re a little more than an hour away from the start of the Microsoft Press Conference!