The Microsoft E3 press conference has come to an end and we’ve got the summary for you. I won’t waste your time with the usual chit chat so let’s get on with a general overview of what went down at the showing.
- Microsoft kicks off the show with a Metal Gear Solid V trailer.
- Metal Gear Solid V will also be coming to Xbox One.
- Don Matrick enters with Hideo Kojima, Kojima proceeds to give terrible speech.
- Xbox 360 super slim announced, available NOW.
- Xbox Gold upgraded to “PlayStation Plus” so it now offers two free games a month.
- Assassin’s Creed II & Halo 3 will be the first two titles, haha, you spoil us Microsoft.
- World of Tanks announced for Xbox 360, free to play this summer.
- Max Curse of Brotherhood announced for Xbox 360.
- Dark Souls 2 trailer shown.
- Long story short, Xbox 360 is basically dead by this point.
- Ryse Son of Rome coming exclusively to Xbox One at launch.
- Gameplay trailer shown for Ryse Son of Rome, a QTE disaster of a game.
- KILLER INSTINCT 3, F**K ME!
- Oh wait, it looks rubbish.
- Sunset Overdrive announced, developed by Insomniac Games for Xbox One.
- Trailer shown for Sunset Overdrive.
- Forza 5 realtime demo shown, impressive stuff.
- Forza 5 will be an Xbox One launch title.
- Phil Harrison arrives on stage, still feels weird seeing an ex PlayStation guy there.
- Minecraft Xbox One Edition announced, short trailer shown.
- Quantum Break is up next, Sam Lake now joins the stage.
- Realtime demo of Quantum Break is shown. Looks awesome!
- Quantum Break is an Xbox One exclusive to those wondering.
- D4 announced, short trailer shown.
- Project Spark announced followed by a gameplay demonstration.
- Okay they’re talking about Smartglass, no one cares.
- Killer Instinct is back now, it’s being used to show off Upload Studio.
- Upload Studio is basically the Xbox One version of PS4′s share features.
- Xbox One will allow gameplay video streaming thanks to Twitch.
- Microsoft points being dropped, will now use real currency.
- Xbox Live Gold Sharing announced, THANK GOD!
- Crimson Dragon announced from the creator of Panzer Dragoon.
- Might as well be called a spiritual successor, it’s an Xbox One exclusive.
- Oh and there was no audio during this trailer, Microsoft you morons.
- Dead Rising 3 announced followed by a gameplay demonstration.
- I think Dead Rising 3 is my favourite game of the show thus far.
- Dead Rising 3 is an Xbox One exclusive and will be available in the fall.
- Witcher 3 Wild Hunt will be coming to Xbox One.
- Trailer shown for the Witcher 3, visually very impressive.
- Battlefield 4 running on Xbox One at 60FPS, nice.
- Microsoft are having trouble getting Battlefield 4‘s sound to come out much like Crimson Dragon.
- That was awkward as hell, anyway we’re back with Battlefield 4.
- Woah, this game looks insanely good. So good it took out the stream.
- Battlefield 4 Second Assault DLC will be out on Xbox One first.
- Below announced followed by a trailer. It’s an Xbox One exclusive.
- Random teaser for an unnamed Xbox One exclusive shown, developed by Blacktusk.
- Halo 5 teaser shown, totally caught me off guard.
- Halo 5 runs at 60FPS and will be arriving in 2014.
- Xbox One arrives in November for $499/£429, f**k off.
- TitanFall trailer shown from Respawn Entertainment.
- Vince Zampella, CEO of Respawn Entertainment joins the stage.
- Time for a gameplay demonstration from TitanFall.
- TitanFall features some badass wall running and jetpacks. .
- TitanFall coming to Xbox One, EXCLUSIVELY in 2014.
- That’s your show then, now watch the sound guy get fired.
There you have it, a MUCH improved showing from Microsoft in regards to the Xbox One. The entire show was ALL ABOUT THE GAMES with only some minor mentions of Smartglass integration. Either Microsoft had this all planned out or they really took the criticism from the Xbox One reveal to heart when they came up with this show.
Personal opinions coming from this show would be that Microsoft did well, very well in fact. It’s a solid line up from Microsoft and the best E3 they’ve had in years, I imagine there is bound to be loads of happy Xbox fans at the moment although there’s still the whole DRM disaster which can’t be ignored.
My lifelong dream of seeing Killer Instinct 3 finally came true, I jumped out of my seat and made the N64 kid like tame by comparison. Unfortunately the game looks like trash and nothing like what I was hoping for, it’s being developed by Double Helix that pretty much explains it all. Still the first three seconds were very exciting and a true mark out moment for me.
Let’s see what else, ah yes TitanFall closed off the show and whilst it didn’t impress much visually like Battlefield 4, it did look like loads of fun. Very fast paced action from the guys who created Call of Duty before they left to form Respawn Entertainment. Dead Rising 3 also looked rather pretty cool so be sure to check that one out.
Despite the strong showing from Microsoft it’s not enough to win me over, the closest I got to a “system seller” was a sort Halo 5 teaser. The £429 price point is a joke, that’s actually slightly more expensive than the PlayStation 3 when it launched in 2007. The DRM issues surrounding the system is ultimately too much for me to take in and the price is essentially the final nail in the coffin.
Overall, good effort Microsoft but the damage has been done.
