Nintendo's press conference has just come to a close, but the day is far from over; Microsoft is just minutes away from blowing the lid off
Xbox 360 for their second time E3 in a row. Unlike Nintendo and Sony, their machine is already on the marketplace, so we'll be seeing our first glances into second-generation games being developed for the machine. As with all the other conferences, we'll be updating live from the event, so stay tuned for all the breaking announcements.
11:27 A.M.: The conference should be starting in a matter of minutes -- well, as long as we don't have another PlayStation incident. We're already situated with our notepads, cameras, and Wi-Fi.
11:38 A.M.: Ready? Looks like everything's rolling into motion starting...
now. We're starting with a new trailer for Epic Games' Gears of War, which 1UP editors are describing as "looks f*cking awesome on the screen." Following the trailer, we've got the famous CliffyB coming onto the stage and he's actually playing the game up on the stage, kicking down doors and running around as a plane overhead drops a bomb that rocks the environment.
Sam Kennedy is freaking out while CliffyB shows off the game, describing it as "it's like that killzone trailer but in realtime" and the best game he's seen on next-generation hardware yet. Other parts of the demonstration include sawing an enemy in half with a chainsaw attached to the bottom of his gun during a close up attack. While running towards a chopper, a huge "spider monster" drops down before the presentation ends and Peter Moore comes out on stage.
11:47 A.M.: Wow, what a rush. Moore is now talking how Gears of War represents the second generation of next-generation games, and how this E3 represents the first time all
Microsoft games are under one umbrella.
The usual PR talk commences, with Moore discussing the company's feelings on
Xbox 360's worldwide launch. "Xbox 360 is off to the fastest start in console history," he says before mentioning the company has shipped more than 5 million units in six months, reportedly a faster pace than both PlayStation 1 and 2. Microsoft also predicts they'll hit six million members on XBL by year's end and mentions how the service is changing everything -- "true entertainment."
Onto
Xbox Live Arcade -- Pac-Man, Frogger, Galaca, Sonic the Hedgehog, Super Street Fighter II Hyper Fighting, Time Pilot, Ultimate Mortal Kombat, Scramble, Dig Dug, Rally-X, Contra (will the Konami code work on XBL?), Ms. Pac-Man, Root Beer Tapper and Paperboy. All the games will be updated for HD and loaded with achievements. Microsoft is also working to create an environment for independent studios on XBL Arcade and have already signed parterships with 100 developers.
More announcements coming -- Lumines Live (with a Madonna music video playing in the background). Why? They've signed a deal with Warner Music Group to use their music and videos in Lumines Live.
We're now onto a video trailer of new games coming to Xbox 360 -- Lost Planet, Tabel Tennis, Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway, NHL 2K7, F.E.A.R., Too Human, Viva Pinata, MotoGP 06, Lord of the Rings: Battle For Middle-Earth II, Sonic the Hedgehog, Madden NFL 07, World Series of Poker, Saint's Row, WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 07, John Woo's Stranglehold, Enchanted Arms, Test Drive Unlimited, NCAA Football 07, Dead Rising, DDR Universe, Prey, Superman Returns: The Videogame, NBA 2K7, Crackdown, Ninety-Nine Nights and Gears of War.
Microsoft is promising to have more than 160 games on Xbox 360 by the holiday season, and says Konami will be debuting Pro Evolution Soccer's next-generation makeover on Xbox 360.
12:03 P.M.: Time for a new game: Fable 2 from Peter Molyneux and Lionhead Studios, a recent acquisition by Microsoft. Not much is shown outside of a teaser trailer for the game, and mentioning how the original game sold more than two million copies on Xbox.
Unsurprisingly, Microsoft is also moving forward with Forza 2 -- sorry, no sign of
Che -- and the game will feature more than 300 cars. You'll also be able to race against up to 11 people on XBL simultaneously when the game shows up on Xbox 360 during the holidays. In conjunction with Forza 2, MS will also be releasing a wireless racing wheel.
Other accessories coming down the pipe this year are the already expected web camera and a brand-new headset.
Moore just gave props to Hironobu Sakaguchi, the man behind the machine's upcoming Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey, who is currently sitting in the audience. We're also now looking at a new trailer for Blue Dragon, which is confirmed for a release this holiday in Japan -- doesn't look like we'll be getting it until 2007, though.
We're moving onto talking about Dead or Alive Xtreme 2 and Splinter Cell: Double Agent. You can check out Itagaki's latest already on 1UP's front page, but now we're seeing at new trailers for Splinter Cell: Double Agent, Viva Pinata and an assortment of other games we've already checked out before.
12:18 P.M.: Moving onto the Xbox Live Marketplace, the company is emphasizing the service's "true digitally distributed content" with over 18 million downloads on the marketplace and over 1,000 different options available for download. "We're redefining digital entertainment delivery," says Moore. Apparently the release of the Fight Night: Round 3 demo ended up amplifying pre-orders for the games five times over.
The next round of HD content will start tonight with a documentary on Gears of War, which will start on Xbox Live and finish up on MTV later this week. There's also promised content from Disney and others in the coming months.
The much talked about HD-DVD players will be coming in times for the holidays, and Moore is actually showing off the device now. Microsoft expects more than 150 movies to be available on the platform before the end of the year. No price has been announced yet.
12:23 P.M.: Moore takes a small jab at Sony and himself while talking about rubber ducks and tattoos -- and then announces Grand Theft Auto 4 is coming to Xbox 360 with exclusive episodic content via Xbox Live on October 16, 2007. That's right -- more than a year from now, but Moore is so confident about the game he's already slapped a GTA4 tattoo on his arm. How come Sony didn't mention the game? Could be a timed exclusive for Microsoft, but at the very least they're counting on exclusive content bringing people to their side.
12:25 P.M.: With that bombshell out of the way, Microsoft is moving onto talking about their upcoming OS, Windows Vista, and describing the new Games for Windows brand that will be on game boxes. To showcase what's coming with Windows Vista, they're showing Electronic Arts and Crytek's upcoming shooter Crysis.
12:34 P.M.: The much rumored Shadowrun from FASA Studios is finally making an appearance -- coming simultaneously to both Xbox 360 and PC in January 2007 with multiplayer (duh?).
It's also confirmed that Microsoft has picked up Max Payne developer's next effort, Alan Wake, for release exclusively on Xbox 360 and PC.
12:38 P.M.: Bill Gates has now taken the stage -- looks like we're on the verge of a big announcement. He's not ready to drop any bombs yet, but he's talking about how the future of gaming involves software and for Microsoft, "building platforms is what we're all about." The point is connecting people, which is why MSN will start interacting with XBL to make "gaming attractive to people of any age."
Microsoft is also working on bringing Xbox to other parts of the world, as South Africa, Chile, India, Poland, Brazil, Hungary, Czech Republic and Slovakia are all places the machines will be showing up at next. With those places, Microsoft expects to have more than 10 million Xbox 360s in place worldwide before the competition even kicks off.
Expanding Xbox Live is also a profound goal of the company. "What's the most dramatic thing we could do to take live to the next level?" says Gates. "It's Live Anywhere." The mantra of "Live Anywhere" will be a significant part of Windows Vista when it starts shipping in early 2007. Microsoft wants a singular online community that moves with you from device to device. "The strength of Xbox Live and the strenght of Vista really levering off each other," he says.
Another way to expand the experience is via Windows Mobile, where you can start a game on one platform and continue it an another. Because of the resource Microsoft has at its fingertips, Gates believes Microsoft is one of the only companies that could really pull this type of experience off properly.
An example of this connectivity will be present in Shadowrun. Gates is showing how you can access your friends list on Windows Mobile to see who's playing the game, and if you're messing around on your desktop, you can access your friends list and invite people who are playing on Xbox 360 to join you for a game on the PC. Shadowrun will also include voice chat across the two platforms, as well.
Xbox Live will also be coming to cell phones -- for example, you could purchase the marketplace game Zuma on Xbox 360 and play the game later on your phone, too. It's basically the typical Xbox 360 dashboard brought onto a mobile screen, and you can even interact with your friends rocking out on Xbox 360 simultaneously.
Microsoft is also showing another example with Forza 2; you could receive a message invite on your cell phone, share vehicles across platforms, start messing around with customizing your vehicle on Windows Vista and transfer it back onto Xbox 360.
12:56 P.M.: Gates has invited Moore back onto the stage. "Live Anywhere unites all gamers," says Moore. Time for what everyone's been waiting for -- Halo. Gates and Moore are presenting a short trailer with in-game footage from Bungie's upcoming science fiction shooter and it looks "awesome." Apparently the game's coming in 2007, confirming suspicions everyone already had.
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