Hello! Ellie's taking her seat at the conference now. We'll begin shortly!
Microsoft E3 Conference
Project Natal! MGS! Crackdown 2! Alan Wake! More!
Microsoft has delivered its E3 keynote address and what a speech we saw.
Project Natal, the motion-sensing camera, was unveiled, as was the next Metal Gear Solid game, which will also be on Xbox 360. This one won't star Solid Snake, either - but the metal-jawed chap Raiden.
Microsoft also demonstrated Alan Wake, Final Fantasy XIII and Splinter Cell: Conviction on-stage, plus announced Twitter, Facebook and an ambitious new video service for Xbox 360.
And Forza 3. And Crackdown 2. And much more.
Read on for our full, blow-by-blow account of the entire Microsoft E3 conference.
Our live coverage of this event has finished.
Coverage
We're in! We're in the second row from the front in fact, sat next to Mark Rein. "How did you get such a good seat?" he asks.
"I'm quite a big deal," I say. "I know," says Mark Rein. "I knew you were a big deal before you did."
The stage is set. There are four raised circular platforms, lots of circles and some loud guitar music. The lighting scheme, unsurprisingly, is green.
I've asked Mark Rein if he's going to announce Gears of War 4 today, or just 3. "Haha, funny," he says.
BUT! "We are going to announce a completely new game," says Rein. "It's true. We are." [Told you so! - Ed]
It's started! With a The Beatles: Rock Band trailer. Nice cartoony animations of The Beatles running from fans while "A Hard Day's Night" plays.
Mark Rein "can't wait" for The Beatles: Rock Band, Mark Rein fans. "Paperback Writer" now. The animations are cel-shaded and very cool, but is this game footage?
Trailer finishes with "I am the Walrus" and lots of clapping. "Please welcome Alex Rigopolous" plus some other bloke whose name I didn't catch.
Turns out the video we just saw was the in-game opening cut-scene. Which bodes well. Now some guys are on stage with instruments - could it be the Fab Four?
It's the Harmonix houseband. Oh. On the big screen we can see what looks like a Guitar Hero game, but with The Beatles appearing as the avatars in the background, It's quite stylised and cartoony but they're great likenesses. The Harmonix chaps are properly getting into it.
They're doing "Day Tripper". Notes scroll down the screen just like in Rock Band. Words like BASS GROOVE and UNISON BONUS flash up from time to time.
The lip-synching isn't bad. It's not brilliant, obviously, but it's still only 2009 after all.
The "infamous Giles Martin" is now on stage. "The game brings music history to life by featuring never heard before studio chat" from The Beatles.
It's the first official trailer for the game. The Beatles are playing in the Cavern, "I Saw Her Standing There". Now they're on TV - "I Want to Hold Your Hand".
"I Feel Fine" now. They're in the military jacket phase. "Day Tripper" again. "Taxman". All these are accompanied by in-game footage - more Rock Band-style stuff.
"Octopus's Garden", complete with trippy graphics. "Here Comes the Sun" and "Get Back" - now they're in full long hair and beards mode.
Full albums to download after launch starting with Abbey Road. "All You Need Is Love" available exclusively through Xbox Live, and all proceeds going to Doctors Without Borders.
It's Yoko Ono and Olivia Harrison on stage.
Paul and Ringo are on stage! The real ones! No sign of Heather.
"The game is great, the graphics are great, we were great," says Ringo.
Schappert's on stage. "You're not going to see charts and graphs," he says. Mark Rein does a big whoop and the whole audience laughs. Instead we're going to see 10 brand new games never seen before.
It's Tony Hawk! He's holding a plastic skateboard! It's the final board design, unveiled for the first time. "As you can see it looks similar to a skateboard."
This is no ordinary skateboard, though. It's got accelerometers! Tony Hawk is "really excited" and reckons "the design is really intuitive". [It's not that new, either: http://www.eurogamer.net/game/tony-hawk-ride-xbox360 - Ed]
Now we're going to see some riders checking out Ride on the big screen, Lyn-Z Adams Hawkins, for example, and Paul Rodriguez. "It's great if you want to try out skating but don't want to put yourself in the position of being injured," says Paul.
There's lots of game footage on the screen. Looks like trails of neon light follow you when you do jumps. Again, the visuals look quite cartoony.
Tony's off, presumably to hang out backstage with Ringo and Paul as they glare meaningfully at Yoko.
It's a trailer for Infinity Ward. Urban setting. A plane speeding down a runway. Helicopters zooming towards mountains. A man shoots soldiers with a gun. Operatives race across rooftops. Looks like there are urban, tropical and snow locations. [It's Modern Warfare 2 and the trailer we've already seen - Ed]
Huge explosions over what looks like a military base, and it's over. Modern Warfare 2 - 10th November, remember.
Now we're seeing the game in action. A man is crouched in a snowy mountain landscape. A plane flies overhead and he tells us to follow him as he edges round a perilous ledge. Now he's hacking into the ice and climbing up. There's an amazing level of detail to everything.
Now we're following him up the mountain. We can see our character's arms hacking into the ice with picks and pulling up.
We're skipping ahead now. Looks like a machine gun with a radar attached to the side. It's snowing again, but this time we're in a military base; jeeps and soldiers everywhere. Looks like a bit of stealth is required as our character hides behind crates, strangles enemies from behind and so on.
More creeping across the snow landscape, this time towards a fuelling station. "Things do not go as planned," reads a caption on-screen.
Looks like we're blasting our way out of the base, via the airfield. Our character blows up a plane and takes down several soldiers, then a truck.
Now we're following the original guy down a snow hill and turning back to shoot at following soldiers on the ridge. They're zooming down on snowmobiles now instead - lots more shooting and now we're jumping on a snowmobile and zooming down the mountain, shooting enemies as we go. Wicked.
And it's over. "Infinity Ward has once again outdone themselves," says John Schappert. "That was insanely good," says Mark Rein in my ear.
It's the director of Final Fantasy XIII and the producer. They ain't afraid of no swine flu, then. There's a translator too, thankfully. [It's Yoshinori Kitase and Motomu Toriyama - Ed]
It's the first footage of FFXIII on 360. A man with a big afro is jumping off a spaceship. A little yellow birdie pops up. A woman with spiky hair and a big sword says, "Heads up!" as a big arachnid-style spaceship lands on the platform they're on. It's the two heroes fighting a giant mechabot, apparently.
"One major difference is we now have four active time gauges". That means more powerful spells. Looks like familiar old turn-based battling. "Let's end the battle with a special attack." They're fighting a character called Odin, a tall dude with a big helmet. "Normally you can't summon this early in the game."
"We are targeting a spring 2010 release" for FFXIII on Xbox 360.
Schappert's back. He says everything we're about to see will be available "only on Xbox 360." To kick off, he's welcoming Cliffy B and another chap from Epic.
Mark Rein just told me the game is called Shadow Complex.
It's an Xbox Live Arcade title. It's all about "exploration punctuated by moments of combat". You play as a man called Jason Fleming.
There's footage on-screen now. Looks like a huge game map. The lighting and detail is surprisingly good for an XBLA game. Ooh, lovely waterfall.
There's a woodland scene now with our hero firing big guns at mechanical enemies. Now he's dropped into a cavern and is blowing up a huge robot spider.
Schappert's up and he's unveiling Joy Ride from Big Park Games. It's an Avatar racing game. It's out this winter. Free to download. You can share tracks with friends.
Another trailer now - we've skipped to New Orleans, looks like. Jet planes zoom over the abandoned city. Zombies are scurrying about.
Hordes of zombies now, and a group of normal people fending them off with axes and chainsaws anf frying pans. Yes, Left for Dead 2 - coming 17th November.
We had a technical hiccup and missed Crackdown 2 in there. It's exclusive to Xbox 360. There's some sort of virus and we're the cure.
Splinter Cell: Conviction now. Sam is up to his old tricks, slamming people into the piano, hiding behind pillars and attacking people from behind. Looks like he's in Washington.
"Who said anything about hiding," says Sam. He's angry and unshaven. "What happens next is up to you." Mazime Beland and Alexandre Parizeau from Ubisoft take to the stage. "Spinter Cell: Conviction has changed quite a bit."
Time for a demo of the game. Sam is strangling a chap in a men's urinal. "Sam has changed, and this time he's on a personal mission." Gosh.
He's smashing the guy's head into sinks, mirrors, and holding him by the throat. "Driven by his emotions, Sam is now the ultimate predator." He has new Mark and Execute abilities.
"The darkness is where Sam really shines." He's shooting people in the head and they have no idea where he is. He's sneaking around a large mansion in the dark. Objectives flash up as part of the background. "Get Sarah's Killer" looked like wallpaper along a corridor.
Sam's giving up the whole stealth thing now to go charging through the front door. The perspective switches to first-person as he looks through the letterbox.
Now he's kicking seven shades of business out of a bunch of men before leaping out the window and shimmying along the ledge. He jumps into another room.
He's strangling someone. "Why did you have to kill Sarah?" But helicopters are surrounding the building. "Let's bring him home," says a woman's voice.
Splinter Cell: Conviction is out this "fall", exclusively on Xbox 360.
Forza Motorsport 3 is out this October.
A very brief trailer of some cars zooming round a track. Now a screen on the stage rolls back to reveal a big shiny red sports car and Dan Greenwald.
"Forza Motorsport is inspired by all things cars," says Dan. "It's this love of cars that drove my team to create the definitive racing game of this generation."
It's gone away from the race track. Runs at 60 FPS and "is the best looking racing game on any console". It's got rewind like in GRID; player-created content.
There's a short film about car customisation now, featuring real people who like colouring-in Forza cars. It's the future, you know.
We'll be able to create and upload high-def video.
There's a video on-screen now of what people can create in their own videos. Cars racing around a city, skidding, crashing, have a good old romp.
Aha, "raising the bar" - 10 points in E3 conference bingo. "It's the definitive racing game and it ships this October."
Halo 3: ODST now. Creative director Joe Staten is on the stage. In-game footage, looks like; our character seems to be piloting a craft as it heads down through clouds. Missiles are raining down around us. There's a huge electro explosion and a missile bursts into the craft.
"Welcome to the city of New Mombasa, weeks before the start of Halo 3." It's dark, with lots of blinking lights hissing steam vents everywhere.
[Valve just press-release Left 4 Dead 2 and said it's on PC too - also on 17th November - Ed]
You get a low-light vision mode, which appears to be useful for targeting and blowing up enemies. "Any fans of the old Halo 1 pistol out there? You're going to love this one." Looks handy for headshots. Cut to our character picking up a bit of scrap metal off the floor and gazing at a huge burning object in the distance.
Now we're going to the Oni Alpha site, two hours after the drop. "Come on tough guy, we've got to blow this bridge."
Our hero races up a ladder to a higher platform, from which we can see enemies trying to cross the bridge. There's another big explosion and it's over.
Brand new co-op online mode - Firefight. ODST is coming on 22nd September.
But Bungie has been working on another top secret project, "And we're going to show you what they've been up to."
A long shot of a planet spinning through space. "There's no mistake, it's them," says a voice over a radio. Explosions on the planet's surface and as the camera pans away we see the other side is a mess of burning land. "Hal Reach" appears on the screen. Fin.
Halo Reach "falls 2010" - does that mean autumn? When you buy ODST you'll get an invite to the Reach multiplayer beta.
Now we're saying hello to Sam Lake, who's here to introduce us to a best-selling writer. They've been working on a project for a long time. It's Alan Wake.
In a voiceover, Alan explains his wife is missing. The camera pans over a sunrise over a forest, then sweeps round a mountain.
Now we're in the game. "I'd come here to meet Rusty. He knew about the manuscript, but I was too late."
Alan is creeping round an abandoned building in the woods. He's got a flashlight attached to his gun, which is handy as it's very dingy.
Alan is wearing a hooded top under a suit jacket and jeans. Inspired by J Allard?
Now Alan is racing through the forest. Trees are falling in the distance for no apparent reason.
There's strange whispering as the sky darkens even further. A burst of strings and a strange humanoid shape bursts out of the darkness.
There are more shapes now. They seem to come from nowhere and blur as they move. Alan shoots them all in the face.
Now Alan's activating a generator to shed some light on the situation, before pulling a switch to make some kind of cable car work.
He's cruising over the mountain now, but the car stops moving as strange black shapes zoom across the sky.
Now Alan's holding a flare, lighting everything around him with a strange red light. The blurry enemies seem frightened of it and creep away.
Alan takes cover in a building but a bulldozer appears from nowhere and starts racing towards him, headlines on. "TO BE CONTINUED." Spring 2010.
Back to Schappert. He's going to talk about Xbox Live now. Is it time for the funny new camera?
Exclusive partnership with Last.fm. "Instant access to millions of songs." Available around the world later this year for "no additional charge".
Now we're onto Netflix. "Netflix has been a huge hit with our US members." Yes, John. What about us? You'll be able to watch stuff instantly. IF YOU'RE AMERICAN.
Now he's talking about the Sky deal for the UK announced last week. "This is a watershed moment for our industry." We knew before, John.
He's on about the video store now. We've heard you say "I can get a picture on my disc" and "it's not available in my country".
They're relaunching the video service as Zune Video this fall. Full 1080p videos, first of all. Second: all movies and TV shows can be enjoyed instantly - no downloads, no delays. Third: They're more than doubling the number of countries the Store is in, from eight to 18.
It will relaunch this fall.
You'll be able to enjoy music, TV and movies with your friends via LIve Party. We've seen this already as part of the Sky deal - you'll be in a virtual sports stadium or cinema with your friends' Avatars.
Oh! A partnership with Facebook! How contemporary. To show us how it works it's Felicia Day, creator of The Guild. I am bit gay for her.
Felicia has been a gamer for years, she says, and social networking has taken over her life.
Once again, it's familiar menu with options such as Home, Friends, Profile, Photos - just like on internet Facebook.
She's showing off the Friend Licker. Sorry, Linker. You can see your friends from Facebook on the PC and Facebook on the 360 in one place.
You can also view photos and see status updates via your Xbox 360. It's "really exciting and super convenient," says Felicia.
There's something else called Facebook Connect coming - you can post screenshots and texts to your profile in real-time, starting with Tiger Woods PGA Tour [10, we guess - Ed].
In addition to Facebook, Xbox Live is bringing you Twitter. Even more contemporary! Felicia's Avatar is shown on a lovely sky blue page next to a load of Twitter updates. "Tweeting on Xbox is really simple."
Twitter and Facebook are coming to Xbox Live this fall. Bye bye Felicia, nice shoes.
Hello, John Schappert. He's telling us about all the marvellous things we've seen - "But we're not done yet." Here comes Don Mattrick!
"John, this morning's announcements were truly historic... But we're missing one crucial piece of the puzzle!" Hideo Kojima creeps up behind him and taps him on the shoulder.
"It's my honour to introduce the creator of Metal Guild [sic] Solid." Oops!
Hideo: "It is my pleasure to announce I'm bringing the Metal Gear Solid franchise to Xbox 360." What about Metal Guild?
It will be called Metal Gear Solid Rising, says Kojima. Mattrick is "honoured" and "Can't wait" to see what the future holds for Solid Snake.
"But Don, I didn't say anything about Solid Snake!" Footage now of clouds, a weird metal monster, a single amber eye gazing out from underneath white fringe... "Raiden is back." And so is Kojima: "It is a completely new Metal Gear experience, and you can look forward to many great things."
"We can finally say our platform is complete," says Mattrick. From Paul McCartney to Hideo Kojima... Who would you rather have dinner with?
Hideo's off and it's just Mattrick now. "People ask me, can you add a motion controller? I say, of course we can." But the controller is a barrier, says Mattrick. So they asked new questions - "Can we go beyond a controller? Can we make you the controller? We can." YES WE CAN, DON.
On screen we see a big telly with a tiny camera underneath. A teenage boy walks into the room. An avatar challenges him to a fight. Now a family are driving a car just by leaning left and right on a sofa and holding invisible steering wheels.
Now the Dad is shooting an invisible machine gun. Then the son starts punching a giant monster as it smashes up skyscrapers. Or is he being the monster.
The Mum and daughter are kicking imaginary footballs. Now the teenage boy scans his real-life skateboard. It appears on screen and he starts doing jumps in his lounge, on his invisible skateboard. Or something. The teenage girl is talking to one of her friends.
They are showing each other possible outfits for the party and trying them on virtually. Back to the whole family now, who are pressing imaginary buzzers during a quiz show. Voice recognition knows which person is answering.
Looks like you can use voice control to pick and play movies, too. "Goodnight," says a lady, and the movie ends. Gosh.
It's codenamed "project Natal", apparently. "The only experience you need is life experience," is the tagline. "This is controller-free games and entertainment."
Natal will work with every Xbox 360 they've sold. "We can leap into a new era without having to launch a new console," says Mattrick.
Steven bloody Spielberg is here! That beats Paul and Hideo put together!
He's looking well. Perhaps he's going to apologise for The Crystal Skull at last?
"The vast majority of people are too intimidated to pick up a controller," says Steve. "60 per cent of households do still not own a games console."
So, says Steve, you have to make the technology invisible - and make it recognise not just your thumbs but your "entire being".
When shown Natal, Steve felt he was in "a historic moment" - just like when the movie screen went from square to widescreen and then to Imax.
"It's not about reinventing the wheel, it's about no wheel at all," says Steve, before congratulating Don. Perhaps later Don will go back to his house for a cocktail made of gold.
Turns out Project Nadal is the work of Kudo Tsunodo, that bloke who always wears the big glasses and the big chains and the rap clothes even though he's white.
Hello, Kudo! "You have control over your Avatar in the most natural way imaginable." First he's going to show us a demo of the Dashboard.
The Xbox now instantly recognises your face and signs you in automatically. When you move in real-life your avatar instantly mimics you on-screen.
You can choose between categories on the dash just by waving your hand, and wave left and right to scroll through.
Time for a tech demo fo something called Ricochet. "This is in Unreal Engine 3," says Mark. "I'm so proud!"
An Avatar is in a gym, kicking balls and whacking them against moving blocks with her hands. You will get "true physical play", says Kudo.
"This isn't a game where you end up sitting on the sofa doing some pre-set waggle dance," says Kudo. Take THAT, Nintendo!
The demo is over and Kudo is going to show us something called Paint Party. Also in Unreal Engine 3. An African elephant is on a big canvas.
An Avatar is throwing white paint at a canvas to make clouds on a blue sky. Now he's throwing darker blue paint for mountains, and brown for earth. Doesn't really look like earth, to be honest, looks more like... Never mind.
Now he's throwing on green paint for grass, and using brown to create a tree trunk in the foreground. He's like a next-gen Rolf Harris. He shows off the stencil feature, where you can use your body to make "any crazy pose you want".
Demo over. Peter Molyneux's coming on stage to show us how it's really done.
"That thing in our hands that has evolved and got more complex" has become "a barrier", he says. Natal will "change the landscape of the games we play". Lionhead has been playing around with it for a while.
In a video, Molynoire introduces us to Milo, a boy who can recognise and interact with us. A virtual boy, obviously.
A girl called Claire is chatting to him. She can tell he's worried about something, says Molynoire. "This is about you meeting a character, a person."
Milo is wandering round a lake along a rocky path. He and Claire chat about going fishing. He throws her some goggles and she puts on some invisible ones.
Milo invites Claire to peer over the edge and down in the water. Her real-life reflection appears in the water. Now that's cool.
She can swish the water with her hand and touch fish, with her real-world movements recognised on-screen. Gosh.
Claire draws a fish on a piece of paper and holds it up to Milo. Natal scans it in and Milo is able to see it. "This is true technology science fiction has not even written about, and this works, now, today," says Molynoire.
The film ends, and real-life Molynoire is back. "We're showing this behind closed doors, at E3, to a selected audience, and they'll be able to meet Milo himself."
Molynoire's off, Don's on. "Now, Xbox 360 is home to every hit franchise."
"The best controller ever invented," says Mattrick, presumably referring to Natal and not the Wiimote.
And it's over. What would you give that conference out of 10? Mark Rein says, "11; that was over the top."
Latest comments
I jest. I think it looks neat and there's a lot of potential there. Much like the Wiimote, it's going to catch on and make mega bucks or be Microsoft's Virtual Boy. Here's hoping for the prior.
Facebook Twitter in game? Any game? In the mini blades?
If that's true then it's an impressive addition with a clear edge over the browser approach.
Hope they sort out the 360 on screen keyboard tho'... that thing is a nightmare to use... my brain wants to explode when I use that thing
Maybe not so important for us gamers... but it greatly expands the social network aspect of Live.
agreed... it's an impressive addition and in tune with the way all this social networking stuff is going.
This is totally different. People on Facebook will now be able to see what you are playing, your avatar, game movies, screenshots, probably achievements you are getting and you will be able to chat with you while playing. It is just a logical extension of Facebook and Twitter addicts that want their friends to know what they are doing. This is a huge addition for Live since all the people on Facebook who have no 360s *might* be tempted to "join the fight"
Maybe not so important for us gamers... but it greatly expands the social network aspect of Live.
..nicely put and much more concise than my waffling
@trebell
I am multi platform and I expect to see stuff I will be playing this year and a bit of tech from the future. As it stands MS showed little that you can only play on 360 this year and some tech that IMO seems a long way off from being in our living rooms.
Sure Facebook and Twitter are good additions but we can use those services on Wii and PS3 and they're (quite rightly) filling in that hole because they don't have a browser built in.
It's not bias, I have all the consoles, I love games and I don't care who wins the console war. I enjoy games on all systems and I can see strengths for all the systems but... I have a question.
What did Microsoft announce @ the press conf. that was new and exclusive and in shops this year?
That's the stuff I get excited about, and if Sony and Nintendo do the same today I will be bitterly disappointed in them too.
Sorry if I seem a bit Jaded... I'm not... I'm just trying to keep a real perspective on what was announced last night, I'm managing my own expectations if you will... Halo ODST is an expansion and the Halo Reach is just a trailer. I'm stoked about Crackdown 2 and I hope that's not 2010. Alan Wake I expected more to be honest, I'm not the only one where I work that feels the same. Forza looks good but I didn't like the Xbox version or Forza 2 (PGR was more fun for me) plus the new one is more of the same.
The MGS game is also an unknown at the moment but I look forward to that when it arrives (late 2010 at a guess).
I'm not bagging on 360, these are facts and how I feel about them... but 'teh biased' ... nah... I'm too old for all that
Come on sony and nintendo, blow me away like microsoft did.
Or people are genuinely not impressed by a by the numbers show with a gimmicky tech demo... TBH though, these shows are generally rather uninteresting with the dick waving by all the players. The 'stealing' of exclusives used to make it somewhat interesting for platform loyalists (or people that think one box in the living room should be enough) but these days it's all about graphically updated sequels.
Seriously, hardcore games? Check. Casual games? Check. Exclusive games? Check. Exclusive third party games? Check. A lot more entertainment stuff? Check. More social networking? Check. New technology that could change the industry? Check.
May even play a few rounds on-line....Hmmmmmmmm
oh yeah... no idea what that is, as far as I'm concerned that will be winter 2010 and at the moment is nothing more than a trailer.
2009 is a bit bare tbh
I think I'm getting old. I used to get really aroused by this stuff. Now I just see the upteenth graphical improvement on the same franchise, and lots of games for fifteen year old boys. 25 Years of gaming and devs still can't come up with anything else than some gruff sounding pumped guy smashing another guy with a cliche lisp's face in. At least the narrative of Splinter Cell sounded interesting, the part where they didn't actually play the game that is. CoD MW2 could be somewhat interesting too. The rest was pretty tosh, safe for maybe the shadow-thingy metroid clone.
Project Natal is just Eyetoy 2 and will be just as successful, MS still doesnt seem to know why Nintendo is doing so well. And Milo is shenanigans, this will only work when completely customized to someone's voice and if the story is progressing in the desired direction.
Natal was cool if can be done, and done well within other applications - my biggest gripe with the wii atm is very few games use it well enough.
2 things drew me in more than anything else - Splinter Cell and Beatles RB - obviously sequels, but theres something about seeing sam fisher smash the guys head through the sink and the objectives appering in the scenary. The beatles of course, awesome to hear those tracks and the multiple singers.
Be interesting to see what comes new from the other 2 this year, again its lining up to be a great year for gaming already, and leading in 2010, if natal arrives and works - could be an important year.
I suspect that natal may just slide into the release window the nxt box, i dont see much point for peripherials that arent set standard, they'll never get the support it needs to launch epically.
I love all the naysayers just knocking every bullet point of the list.
Good to see the enthusiasm for gamin still, and for all the cries aboot M$ forgetting anything but the waggle crowd, the conference was pretty full on for normal games.
Pretty poor showing really. I'm looking forward to Crackdown 2. I can't see how anyone can get excited about Left 4 Dead 2... more of the same by the looks of things. Halo looks... well... just like all the others... no improvements there.
Alan Wake is next year :/ . The Facebook and Twitter apps may be ok if they fix their on screen keyboard layout and make it in-game.
The highlight of the MS conference has to be Project Natal and I bet we won't see that untill at least late next year... and will it work? ... The whole Milo thing... scientists have been trying to do this sort of thing for a while and it's never convincing enough IMO.. credit to them if they pull it off.
So we have:
o Crackdown 2
o A glorified Halo expansion pack
o A better version of Forza with "The best graphics in a racer this generation" (just don't tell them about NFS Shift)
o Natal - A tech demo of something we wont see for a long time yet (cool but ages away)
o Alan Wake (did it really take 3 years to do that) - oh and it won't be this year
o A non Kojima MGS spinoff - oh and it probably won't be this year
o Instant On 1080p over my DSL connection... I'd like that to be true but I can't even play iPlayer smoothly over DSL these days... that's a f'ing pipe dream.
All in all... I ask myself... what are we going to get this year that's cool and exclusive?
That is all
But Kojima and Microsoft = master trolls. lol
Roll on Alan Wake, L4D2, ME2 and of course MGS:R lol, good stuff. I love these conferences.
http://videogamesatemybaby.wordpress.com...
Of course they did. Sony has not even had there conference yet but MS have put ore dirt on there coffin. Surely people should wait until all conferences are finished??
Whatever...hoping for some suprises tomorrow
I agree that the jumping around in front of the TV aspects of Natal will appeal more to kids but I don't think you're seeing the bigger picture.
Whilst holding an imaginery steering wheel doesn't appeal personally, I can get behind head tracking with racing games that allows you to look around in the cockpit view without clumsily clicking buttons or using the analogue stick. Another example would be using hand gestures to order AI team mates in games like GRAW. Surely you can see the benefit of stuff like that?
apart from the people making it.. and the publisher... and their families.. and...
God, listen to yourself man. Your talking out of your arse. YOU DIDN'T KNOW. Until he walked onto that podium, nobody knew.
Yeah.. okay.. you got me.
We'll see.
Personally there wasnt much in the presentation for me. I was hoping for a lot of new games, as i've been playing 360 more and more of late. But the first section of new games just all seemed to be the same game to me with different graphics - the few games i wanted arent out until next year!!!. The section on twitter/facebook - i can see the appeal - not for me. And Natal looked f-ing brilliant tech, but not the sort of thing i'd buy for myself.
I dont know what to expect from nintendo or sony tommorow - especially after last years bore fests for both of them.. But i'm hoping at least ONE of them will show me a GAME i want to play...
I didnt "hate" on project natal. I said it's a impressive bit of tech, and i'm ALL FOR IT. I think it's GOOD for the xbox to have it. But I personally wont be buying it (as i'm a grown up who doesnt want to be jumping around in front of my tv to play games), it'd be perfect for my 6 year old neice and nephew though.
And the same for the "other game" which i'm not going to mention any more. I dont own that either, but it was perfect for my neice and nephew.
Sheesh.. And they say playing games is bad for your inteligence!
(sic)
(holds my breath.. counts to ten.. ah fuck it)
... Geesus.. are you fucking dim or fucking something?
beemoh - could you explain it to this retard? I've lost the energy.
Splinter Cell sounds good in theory, but after AC and FC2, I have no faith in Ubi Montreal anymore. Hitman this won't be.
Alan Wake looks alright, from the little that was shown, but not exactly special. Hope it's more than a super-natural Max Payne.
Not interested in all the non- and metagaming nonsense.
I cant see how anyone in to Wii games can dismiss PN without giving it ago
I just get rhiled up when i see people (not you) slagging off wii music as "shit" when they probably havent even seen the box for it - let alone played it (or watched kids play it... erm.. not in a creepy way *smile*).
And i get rhiled up when gamers get snobbish on forums about this type of thing - as they're not "real games" in their eyes.. which of course is bullshit - and there is a much bigger market for these types of games than yet another fucking fps game.. (as seen by even wii music's sales figures).
Project natal - not for me.. i'll have a bit of a play with it - no doubt i'll have fun.. doubt i'll buy it though.
And out of the rest of the games.. Only Alan Wake (and maybe final fantasy) really had me even half interested - and that's not out until next year...
- that makes me sad. I dont know what i *WAS* hoping for, but this wasnt it.. And certainly not the "best conference ever" most people are talking about it being on other forums..
(and i'm scared of saying that in case some retard jumps in and starts saying im a nintendo fanboy again)
GAAAAAAHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wii sports was free with the machine, wii play gave you a free controller. My point was that:
1) it was insanely popular
2) it was good (if you're 6)
3) its a good thing for microsoft to be doing this
Fucking hell, it's not fucking rocket science is it?
Okay.. i forgot.. Rodchenko didnt just call me a nintendo flag waving fanboy? Check context before you start pointing out what i am/am not saying please.
>Thought you might be interested.
I am.. it shows that even though everyone gets dissing the (great imho) kids game - wii music as being shit - it sold more than fable 2.
proves my point well.. cheers
Whats your point exactly?
Uh oh! Did I forget to empty that, rather large, box? Regrets ordering 1,000 suppositories online... :/
go to sleep little man, grown ups are having a conversation
I *TOTALLY* agree - i couldnt give a shit about it either. But i CAN see there's a market for it.. And I *DO* think it's a GOOD thing. I can see my neice and nephews loving it!
Unlike most people on forums and can look past what I PERSONALLY want, and what is/isnt good or bad...
After all, if all games were fps games and racing games.. where woudl we be? Oh right - the 360 *wink*
(for the hard of thinking - last sentence was tongue in cheek)
*sigh* fuck off child.. read my posts.. you'll see i'm sticking up for "casual games" (and in this case wii music - which everyone is quick to pounce of for being "shit" despite most people never playing it) not for any particular company.
But I forget that you're not allowed to have an opinion against "popular internet nerd" opinion on a game forum - or somehow you're in "league" with the opposition.
I suggest you go out and grow some pubes or something you intollerable child.
I never said Wii Music was bad. I think it is kind of neat and I mean that in the kindest possible way. But as you guessed yourself, I am not 6 years old and henceforth my dislike of the direction newfangled gizmos and body recognition software might take me. In ten years time I will probably be up in arms for camera movement as input, but right now no.
Kids like it, good. Good for them. Nothing against that.
Crackdown 2 - Looking forward to this.
Halo ODST - Looks a bit average.
Splintercell - Looks ok.
Forza "The best graphics in a racer this generation" - Looks pretty amazing (I hope it lives up to that claim.. some of us have played PGR4 and GT5 Prologue)
Alan Wake - oh wait that's 2010 too.
hmm... not much then... oh and Epics XBLA game.
Thought the Natal looks amazing tech... if it actually is that good... and Facebook / Twitter integration could be huge.. but only if it's accessible during gameplay.
Shame there was no XNA or Zune HD game stuff.
The MGS announcement was a bit predictable "we've got MGS too" - and we have no idea when that will come out... late 2010 i would imagine.
all in all ... pretty good showing... nothing for Sony or Nintendo to worry about tho' to be honest.
Haha. Here you go little one, and here, have some useless plastic scissors that'll take you an hour to crudely carve what resembles a robot's eyes and mouth. Then you can run around the house with the box on your head annoying everyone with it!
Thats a fair point, it doe's only seem like yesterday that the 1st was released, and it's not like Killing Floor is as good IMO, although i only played it at a friends house, but i too was suprised to see a sequel so quick. Heres hoping i suppose.
However - I couldn't care less if someone doesn't like causal games. As I said I'm not really a fan of most of them and thus do not buy them. However - a lot of the comments made in this thread are far more than just disliking casual games. What I dislike is the comments that are looking down on casual games like they someohow are inferior and will taint the console that has them. It is one thing to just not like them, another to actually getting upset that MS is also trying to get those types of games - like the fact that theya re on the plattform somehow will affect the gaming experience of others.
It is the notion that having casual games on a plattform somehow is a bad thing that is pissing me off. And that has nothing to do with just not liking casual games. If the Wii had enough more serious titles that appealed to me I would buy it again in a heartbeat regardless if the rest of the catalouge doesn't interest me.
As for Wii Music. In my opinion it got panned because it was a bad game whit a lack of content and interaction. I guess I can agree that you can call it "Too casual" just as a game like Steel Battalion was "too hard core" but I really do not see what it has to do with anything I guess as I see each of those games as extremes on the opposite side. We've had pretty non-interactive games before (remember all those horrible FMV-mobies games on the PC for example) so I do not see Wii Music as some sort of trend.
There arent THAT many games out there which sell more than a million, let alone 3 million. Sure it's not as big as wii fit (but then neither is the ps3!!!), or mario (no brainer), etc etc. But for a brand new piece of IP (or for ANY game) 3 million is f-ing impressive.
So it's no wonder microsoft want some of that pie.
(and no - not slagging off microsoft there - i think broadening the market is a good thing)
Give a 6 year old a musical instrument.. and they'll create a noise - and get bored because it doesnt sound like anything.
Give them a toy where they can easily "make" music which sounds like something half good (While learning about keeping good rythm and stuff), and they have GREAT fun.
Your argument just doesnt work. Thats like telling adults not to bother with guitar hero, etc.. people enjoy it.. but it's too complex for kids. I see wii music as guitar hero "baby edition". It's just fun.
Dont get me wrong.. I wouldnt buy it myself - and it bores me BECAUSE i'd prefer a more "well rounded" proper gaming experience. But then - i'm not 6 years old.
no it will be on PC as well as 360, i just meant a sequel so soon, thats not their style. i wonder how much of a real sequel it will actually be
Surely L4D2 will be on Steam at release, i can't see Valve dumping on their core market (at least i hope not)
we get it you love microsoft, now get to bed. we all saw the conference we dont need your propaganda to help influrence us.
alan wake was the stand out title, lengthy wait though. as for left 4 dead 2, well thats not like valve at all
Only as speculation and rumour.
"Hi smelly how are you today"
"hi little boy - would you like to play with my puppies?"
"i dont understand smelly"
"why dont you fuck off and die little boy?"
"i dont understand smelly"
"little boy - please drop your pan.." (actually maybe im taking this joke too far)
Yeah.. But most people on forums seem to want to compare tellytubbies with terminator 2 (or something)
- my point still stands that wii music IS a GREAT piece of entertainment (for 6 year olds)
And I dont see any reason why the same cant be true for natal..
The next Xbox will have an intergrated AI that will know you and can hold up a conversation to you. It can connect to other electric equipment in your house and turn it on or off.
After that we shall see this AI in holographic equipment, possibly full body size. And then, we will be attacked by strange alien beings with energy swords...
Onwards to Assassin's Creed 2 and other actually good games!
Spielberg telling everyone that this is a new age in gaming - classic hyperbolic PR. Its a new camera and (hopefully) some clever software... eyetoy evolved. Did they mention, when and how this "project" will become a product?
The Exclusives:
I'm exited for Forza 3 and Alan Wake and want to see Crackdown 2 gameplay.
Splinter Cell is wierd in an interessting way (why is this xbox exclusive?).
Shadow Complex could be fun.
I don't play multiplayer-shooters, so I don't care for L4D 2 or Halo Reach.
Halo ODST was just boring.
Verdict: Some great games and an interessting tech demo. A good show.
Therefor - it's not aimed at you!
Not ALL games have to be aimed at teenagers you know!
Just because a game is aimed at children, for children to enjoy (Which they do), and you dont like it - DOESNT mean its a bad game.. It's just not designed with YOU in mind. Would you watch thomas the tank engine and complain that it bores you and therefor isnt a good tv show? Millions of young kids would disagree
Oh, and wii music is in the top ten best selling nintendo wii games.. cant remember numbers but it's more than a million
Microsoft, shut down your stall this year, any attempt to outdo Sony will result in painful shame to you and your fanbase.
@CountFapula...Silly isnt it?
If you look for those comments you will find them. Chill out, enjoy the conferences and be a gamer. God that sounded corny
@Smelly
That may be the case for you. Despite how much I might enjoy watching my siblings having fun with Wii Music it bores the hell out of me at the end, not because they enjoy it but because I can see straight through those controls and how simple it is. They might as well be playing Spice Girls on the PS1 (I think it was PS1).
Well that should fix things. Sounds expensive though.
Genius!
Great technology it is but its only going to be as good as the developers who make games for it and apart from a few tech demos software seems a long way off.
agreed, but they could make a killer wii fit game but its too late for that now
Wii music sold a fair bit i think you'll find.
And it was PERFECT for it's target audience.. Put it in front of ANY 6 year old and tell me it's not a fun piece of entertainment...
I've been on presentations for the eyetoy and the demos they did today looks far better and advanced than any of the eyetoy demos.
We'll see how well the technology works but I think that MS has done the right thing by not simply copying either the Wiimote or the eyetoy (like they did with the vision camera) but instead try to create something that could be called the next step in motion-controll. Considering how people always are accusing them of copying it is nice that they at least try to do something different.
It probably needs a lot of processor time as well which will likely limit the complexity of the games it can be used for.
i agree!
Complex games require buttons could you imagine how hard a duck and cover shooter would be if you had to scan a piece of cardboard and hide behind it every 10 seconds.
On the video footage, there was a bar under the tv of everyone playing.. Looks like a large sensor thing. I'd guess about 20 inches long, 4 inches high (from videos)
So yeah.. deffo need new hardware.. it's not gonna be cheap.
Thus the problem. (unless nintendo do something stupid like release the motionplus at $50 - rather than just giving it away)
I agree, it is nice these things are moving forward. Many of the new functionalities shown I like, but will I use them and will they get in the way? Integration of all things digital into a home console is not black magic it is just something console makers have previously restrained from including into the "core" experience. But most of these additional features still take a while for gamers to truly accept, especially gamers who for example grew up with a Nintendo 64 or PS1.
Still, a feature is a feature is a feature until it becomes a bullet point to a marketing department. Fortunately natural selection usually takes it course and cuts the bullet points down before they become ingrained into every game we play. Hopefully.
/ goes back to coding game from magazine on a Texas Instrument TI-99/4A
Not a terrible conference by any means but there wasn't really much exciting there for me I'm afraid bar the Project Natal stuff.
yep, I'd take a Trico or a new orignal Wii title over all the yearly Halo updates microsoft can pump out, as well as an eyetoy advanced
I sold my Wii because I simply didn't find enough good games to keep it from getting dusty while waiting for the next game that interested me. The 360's advantage here is that it still has a catalogue of "regular" games that will appeal to the more hard core gamers while at the same time, if it works as well as it looks it does, being able to take a shot at the Wii-waggle-gaming-market.
I personally think it looked real cool and far more fun that than the Wii-mote. But I trust Eurogamer will bring us some more info on how well it actually works soon. And the Milo-thingy - my impression was that it's not a proper game but more a tech-demo to test the Nadal.
I think it was a great pressconference. Some very nice games (crackdown 2, Alan Wake and Forza M 3!!), some good reveals (FFXIII in spring 2010) and some cool non-gaming stuff (Last.fm = YES - how about doing the same for Spotify??, Movies and TV in Sweden = I hope I hope I hope, Facebook/Twitter= not so bothered but nice) and the Nadal (I'm actually really looking forward that = Minority Report style of navigating = Win for me).
It will be interesting to see what Nintendo and Sony have up their sleaves.
glad you noticed that, something that not even sci fi writers have thought of supposedly! LOL!!
oh dear peter, get some rest
wait your being serious.
By which time nintendo would've come up with the next wii too...
Milo is a good test for which forumites you should listen to... anyone who thinks that is credible has NO IDEA what they are talking about and should be disregarded forever
Alan Wake and Splinter cell might make me buy a 360 again.
Still think sony will show games tomorrow that will surpass those.
Uncharted 2 is still my tip for game of show.
with some original games
how much will it cost? and are we likely to see it on the next 360 and not this one?
lets see if nintendo's will be the boring one again, and sony...well they go last again so i suppose it will be short of genuine surprises (unless their motion controller is good to go this year) and not so much vapourware...
Sony will have God of War 3... M$ have a Wii rip off and a peado simulator.
it really would be hard for sony to follow with a motion camera, when they did it 5 years ago on the PS2
Sony have already done it.. it's called the eye toy..
microsoft have just copied it and improved the tech (not hard considering how old the eye toy is).
And just like the eyetoy - it wont work half as well as you thought it would, and all the games will be a bit crappy for it.
(But I stand to be corrected)
Im intrigued by how much of it is typical molyneux bollocks and wont ever even end up even close to that.
so to top that sony have to have a halo game presented by john lennon controlled by his mind tomorrow....
So, let me ask you, you started by complaining why they were wasting so much time with the Beatles, than you said Xbox is but shooters, and for the big finale you complained about an impressive family friend tech. What would have pleased you?
Fuck sake what a load of SHIT >
They could have stopped at last.fm and I would have been sorted.
I dunno.. it's OBVIOUSLY a cross between eye toy and wiimote. And i'm sceptical that it'll even work properly all the time (lighting conditions, etc).
But I'm for it... At least it's not another shooter (which everything seemed to be until alan wake).
But they're missing the BIG thing about the wiimote - which is the pointing device (perfect for shooters - which the 360 has millions of?)
I can see them pulling this off in a few years... but I guess you have to start someday.
Looks a bit creepy to me,great technology for people with no real friends.
Can see pedos everywhere buying that game.
******* May fucking well depend on your fucking broadband provider.
Noooooo.....my days of playing 360 in the nude are over with all this camera malarkey!!!!
Interactive.....the possiblities are endless.....Shamon!!!
Coop with Gary Glitter, Chris Langham and Jonathan King. Kind of like a nonse L4D.
But demo wise it is very well done. The AR is nifty and a cleaner version of some of the AR bits I've seen demoed.
lol, you can't imagine how deluded that sounds, you should've said that before the conference!
Ringo Starr, Spielberg, who's next? The Pope?
I'll give 4:1 on Susan Boyle coming out to present Lips 2
Satellite link-up from the Priory.
Why all the Natal hate anyway? If they can make it work they could be a few more stupid Guitar Hero like party games and it doesn't look as if the hard core controller loving gamer is being abandoned.
(lol)
I'll give 4:1 on Susan Boyle coming out to present Lips 2
okay - i'm not so against it any more
And now you can upload your sex face on Facebook \o/
This had better be fucking good.
Load of bollocks eyetoywiimote shit.
okay - i'm not so against it any more
Ohhh, and green.
What a douche!
Looks like something some potential demographic would love though..
Good conference though, bit of something for everyone in there, well everyone but die hard, blinkered, Nintendo lovers.
I don't know if the spazz was deliberate, but it just lost any credibility.
... and not since nintendo were succesful at all...
/crosses fingers
Best comment.
(sigh)
/crosses fingers.
"this is controller based entertainment"
(waits for clap.. no-one does)
So he starts clapping and everyone gets the hint
Its bad enough when the wiimote doesnt recognise your waggles...
Thank fuck!
Err . . . OK.
looks a bit too much like excercise for my liking
I'll stick with waving my arm around. :-D
WTF is it being developed by a Boer or something?
; )
McCartney can get fucked as far as I'm concerned!!! Though it would be amusing to ask him if he'd "ever go down on one knee again" (and pray for the "her name is Heather" response!!!)
lmao.
well if it has a pointer like the wiimote - i'm all for it..
Or lack thereof.
Stop talking show the goods.
Yeah, I thought that as well.
"all 360 owners wanted to play mgs" apparently
(i didnt, thats why i got 360)
It'll probably come out on PS3 as well, or Ps3 will also get a new iteration. I don't think the Japanese would stand for it.
k - edit - Not MGS 4, a spin off possibly? During the events or just before 4?
(hoping.. it'll be great for shooters)
Actually it didnt look bad.. i was just being grumpy - it looked like the contorls werent great... and too many cutscenes...
but that's just what i got from video.
Stone me, I was right!
Oh dear.. NEOGaf meltdown.
They didn't just do that.
They didn't O_O.
MGS -> X360 O_O
My thoughts exactly.
Yeah, I agree. Especially if you can stream whilst playing games... \o/
Yeah sure, Microsoft, will they offer the exact same hi-def audio and video quality as 30 to 50 GB Blu-ray (BD) releases and with subtitles (something none of their current movies have), P-i-P and all the extras too? My guess is that these movies will still be heavily compressed and inferior to watching them on a disc. How can they not be? Fine, if that's what you want but, puuuuuuuurlease, they definitely won't be better than watching them on a disc, something you can watch whenever you want not have to rent. That's just an outright lie, probably aimed at belittling Sony's BD format.
LOL
Nice feature but I imagine the poor girl has no idea what it means.
yes i have.. my pc is attached to my 52" 1080p tv...
Eugh, hate it, but it's big.
Irony. OVERLOAD.
That's illegal.
(erm.. why?)
sigh grow up.. i've stated NUMEROUS times that i've spend more time playing 360 than wii.
child.
Just because i dont do the "cool internet forum nerd" thing by slagging off nintendo all the time (and will poitn out when people are doing so) - it doesnt mean i prefer one over the other (if i did - itd be 360... When it's not broken down)
*sigh* - fucking children
I wasn't in the slightest bit impressed with what I saw of Halo 3 ODST but then I've played Crysis and Warhead on the PC so everything other FPS, Killzone 2 included, just appears inferior IMO. It lacks the kind of attention to detail I expect from a current FPS as I see buttons and levers are still magically used without any actual physical interaction, which kind of looks silly these days. Yes, it's only a minor thing but it destroys any semblance of reality. The game doesn't look rubbish or anything, granted, just a little predictable and uninspired from that demo footage I saw, albeit that's just a very small section of the game. Didn't particularly like Halo 3 so I doubt I'll be bothering with this new game at all.
But SPRING 2010! :'(
it looks like alone in the dark
That will be all.
Likewise.
And Tricia Helfer
hawt
The guy doing the demo sounds like a complete douche.
Plus Los Campesinos!
Bagpuss: buddy, he said loud and clear, 60fps.
Modern warfare looks great but it looks just the same as the last two where is the originality?
... i'm just bitter that my x-box just broke.
Got to say I like that they show gameplay for all the games instead of just prerendered trailers .
God bless you Valve and your laziness in making a sequel to the best multiplayer game ever when you probably should be making HL2: Ep 3!!!
Is that a euphemism?"
Post of the thread.
And shooters dont?
EDIT:
Actually Dead Space was quite good at merging the hud with environment.
Looks.
Fucking.
Amazing.
Sorry I doubted you Ubi.
And the PC of course.
Is that a euphemism?
bows to the masters of video gaming.
/faints
I bet he hates those Infinity Ward guys!
God that ice-climbing in MW2 must me boring to play.
Why not skip that whole section entirely? Way to follow up the Beatles with a Gamestation employee playing a sidling sim.
it's like the spectrum all over again...
Everything.
I think your telling porkys.
// "Now give me my half-million dollar check"
Who's that?
Don't say that, it makes you sound like a big headed git.
How much do you reckon the Beetles will get from this?
MS on spending spree...
Stupid Microsoft and their stupid internet.
Crappy GT, IGN and G4TV!
It's a bit flaky though.
Maybe killer instinct maybe.
I'm heading out in 5 mins!
ROLL on MS show and I m curious what they had been keeping hidden?!
For the live video feed, apparently.
Looking forward to reading this while listening to the audio heavy parts of the conference :]
No need to read it anymore
Gametrailers is where I'll be watching, but I'll also be following the livetext here for the giggles.