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Microsoft E3 2015 conference live report

Gears of Four, Halo 5 and a couple of neat surprises - Microsoft's conference as it happened.

The first big conference of the show is done, and it was something of a corker. There was the expected reveals of Halo 5's campaign, Gears 4 and Forza 6, but the stars of the show were Rare's new IP, Sea of Thieves, Minecraft being shown on HoloLens plus the announcement that early access and backwards compatibility are coming to Xbox One.

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Our live coverage of this event has finished.

Good afternoon from not-so-sunny Brighton. Oli and Tom are our team on the floor in LA, while over here we'll be eating crisps and watching the livestream alongside you all when it kicks off in an hour and forty minutes.

Martin Robinson

Before all that, though, I have to attend to the important task of getting some snacks to get the Brighton team through the night. Beyond the obvious, such as meth and Doritos, what's going to be keeping you going up to the end of Sony's conference in the small hours of Tuesday?

Martin Robinson

FogHeart: Just popping off to the kitchen. Can I make anyone a tea?

Yes please! Milk, no sugar and a tab of acid please.

Martin Robinson

camo_kill: How do you decide who gets to go to LA? Is it a 'you went last year so this year you can sit it out?' or is it down to an arm/Jelly wrestling competition?

It's decided in an epic game of Towerfall. Actually, it's more about rotating between us so no-one gets burnt out - it can be seriously tiring covering the show.

Martin Robinson

Cimeas: What level of hotel quality does EG pay for? Are we talking Holiday Inn or Intercontinental here?

Airbnb all the way in LA - you'll get sneaky looks at it in some of the video that Aoife and Johnny put up this week. Here in Brighton I'm staying in a no expense spared budget Ibis.

Martin Robinson

Snack news: Bertie's been given a load of Butterkist after he accidentally tweeted on the official EG account a recipe for homemade popcorn.

Martin Robinson

Chris Bratt has an appetite for ginger beer, while Donlan has revealed an addiction to the 35p energy drink from Easy Hours downstairs.

Martin Robinson

We're close to seeing Donlan in the throes of Blue Rat madness tonight.

Martin Robinson

joesploggs: How long is the conference? 2 hours?

Microsoft tends to log in at the industry standard of 90 minutes, while Sony pushes it a little to two hours. That's not set in stone though!

Martin Robinson

I spent last night in an Ibis Budget Hotel in deepest, darkest France on my own with a box of wine, watching the amazing Cirque du Soleil Kinect reveal.

Martin Robinson

It really is a treat. "What if the next object wasn't an object at all. What if the future of humanity was humanity itself?"

Martin Robinson

I do kind of miss the crazy of 2010 Microsoft. Maybe we'll see a dose of that tonight with Kudo and HoloLens?

Martin Robinson

Under five minutes. So, what are your predictions?

Martin Robinson

Gears of War reboot and a new Rare game seem like dead certs, on top of the usual suspects.

Martin Robinson

Will Metal Gear or Dark Souls make an appearance in Microsoft's conference? SHENMUE 3?

Martin Robinson

The dub has begun, this is getting real.

Martin Robinson

Tom Phillips is on the show floor, and says it's pretty much a full house.

Martin Robinson

Also, he's wearing a light-up 'medallion necklace'. It's not quite the space ponchos of 2010, but I'll take it.

Martin Robinson

And the lights are down... And we're go.

Martin Robinson

Kicking straight into some Tomb Raider action - it's part of a montage, which features some Hans Zimmer Man of Steel action.

Martin Robinson

Marcus Fenix is in there, so looks like Gears is guaranteed to make an appearance.

Martin Robinson

God I'm a sucker for this stuff. The necklaces have lit up, hailing the appearance of Bonnie ross of 343.

Martin Robinson

Let's go straight into some Halo 5.

Martin Robinson

Tom Phillips can see the teleprompt, through the glare of the medallion he's been forced to wear.

Martin Robinson

What was that sci-fi film where people were made to wear necklaces that exploded if they misbehaved? Well, that.

Martin Robinson

Sorry, while I've been rifling through IMDB trying to remember we've just got an introduction to Halo 5.

Martin Robinson

I'm getting a big ODST vibe from this, which is of course A Good Thing. Nathan Fillion's presence helps, as does the presence of squad mates.

Martin Robinson

Well, it looks like a very glitzy Halo. That's not a bad thing, of course.

Martin Robinson

Though I'm not really a fan of all this scripted stuff - the beauty of Halo is when you've thrown into the sandbox.

Martin Robinson

tubeoftoothpaste: the film is WEDLOCK

You're a hero.

Martin Robinson

I hate to make lazy comparisons, but I do it all the time and I kind of hate myself - there's a strong Call of Duty vibe to this.

Martin Robinson

Nice area of effect attack. Reminds me of... Can I say it? The supers in Destiny. (Sorry)

Martin Robinson

Stealth Destiny livechat.

Tom Phillips

Well, that looks like a very pretty first person shooter. It does look like it's lost a little of that Halo identity though.

Martin Robinson

Warzone is being announced, a new bridge between single-player and multiplayer.

Martin Robinson

It's big player versus environment maps.

Martin Robinson

A new IP now.

Martin Robinson

From Keiji Inafune and the makers of Metroid Prime (obviously not Retro - I guess it's Armature?)

Martin Robinson

It's really hard to tell anything from this CG trailer, other than it's got a woman and a robot in it. Anyway, that was Recore.

Martin Robinson

It's out next Spring. Don't want to wee on the parade, but be reminded that Comcept was behind the not so great Ninja Gaiden Z.

Martin Robinson

Anyway, here's Phil. He's hiding his t-shirt, the cad.

Martin Robinson

What's under the fleece, Phil? Banjo Kazooie? Grabbed by the Ghoulies? SHENMUE 3?

Martin Robinson

Also we can't see how many watches he's wearing, which takes away some of the fun.

Martin Robinson

Wow. Xbox One is backwards compatible from today with Xbox 360 games.

Martin Robinson

That is quite the thing.

Martin Robinson

Incredibly strong play from Microsoft. You can't play from disc, it seems - about 100 games at the start.

Martin Robinson

If you have the disc it'll unlock the download.

Martin Robinson

It makes PS Now look a little second rate with its sky high (placeholder) rental prices.

Martin Robinson

And of course there's a dig at Sony's PS Now service too - which is fair enough.

Martin Robinson

Elite controller is the next announce, a pad with swappable components.

Martin Robinson

Todd Howard, who's already taken to the conference floor last night, is presenting Fallout 4. Any exclusivity deal would be a hell of a boon for Microsoft.

Martin Robinson

I missed the Bethesda conference last night, so this is my first look at Fallout 4 - and I'm quite impressed. The facial animations are a big step up from Skyrim etc. There's a lot more character in it.

Martin Robinson

This is new footage too.

Martin Robinson

frunk: This "new footage" looks very familiar - from last night :)

Whoops, my mistake if so - I haven't caught the whole Bethesda conference yet.

Martin Robinson

Fallout 4 is certainly looking a lot shootier today.

Martin Robinson

vert1go: Can Forza 6 please have a dog that can hang its head out of an open window? We need to complete the set.

Oh yes oh yes oh yes.

Martin Robinson

'The most ambitious game world we've ever created'. There's something so hollow in that. I wish someone would just hold their hands up and say they didn't try as hard as last time.

Martin Robinson

Fallout 3 is coming alongside Fallout 4 on Xbox One.

Martin Robinson

And.... PC mods are coming to Xbox One. That's another corker. Will that be on PS4 too?

Martin Robinson

Peter Moore onstage now. Interested to see if he goes for a costume change before his own conference tonight.

Martin Robinson

Let's keep tabs - for now he's wearing a quite dour grey number.

Martin Robinson

This is primed for Titanfall coming on EA Access.

Martin Robinson

And there it is.

Martin Robinson

It's live this week.

Martin Robinson

And Dragon Age Inquisition follows later in the summer - just in time for them to sell some more DLC for it, as Tom P points out.

Martin Robinson

orangpelupa: hey TITANFALL is awesome and innoativer than cod

It's the innovationest.

Martin Robinson

Wasn't Garden Warfare 2 announced already? I think I'm confusing myself. Anyway, here's our first look.

Martin Robinson

Right, that's that, and now we're into Forza Motorsport 6.

Martin Robinson

The new Ford GT is the cover star of this, hence this fluff.

Martin Robinson

Is Dan Greenawalt in that car?

Martin Robinson

Oh god I hope he's not under it.

Martin Robinson

Ah, here we go. It's Henry Ford III. So another sequel on the Microsoft stage.

Martin Robinson

I had a peek at this over the weekend while I was at Le Mans, and I'm sad to say I came away underwhelmed (I won't be able to tell you why 'til after the conference).

Martin Robinson

Anyway, I'm fairly sure that's Brands Hatch in there, so they can just have my money.

Martin Robinson

Microsoft has Dark Souls 3.

Martin Robinson

Will it be an exclusive? That'd put the crap among the pigeons.

Martin Robinson

Miyazaki is onboard for this one, so it's The Real Deal (though I admit I don't understand why Dark Souls 2 gets fo much hate - it's a great game, just not quite as good as Dark Souls).

Martin Robinson

Also also, is Dark Souls a yearly franchise now?

Martin Robinson

So strange to see this go the way of Call of Duty. Anyway, this is another CG trailer, so it's hard to care too much about it.

Martin Robinson

Admittedly, it would be hilarious if films started announcing themselves with completely unrelated snippets of gameplay.

Martin Robinson

The Division is up next - we'll have a more in-depth look at this on the site later tonight.

Martin Robinson

The beta for this is coming to Xbox One exclusively.

Martin Robinson

And it's this December - which suggests the game proper is a while away.

Martin Robinson

The backwards compatibility is the backbone of this conference - Rainbox Six Vegas 1 and 2 are coming free with Siege later this year.

Martin Robinson

Ah, it's that game that was announced at GDC that I'd already completely forgotten about.

Martin Robinson

Er, what's its name again. Anyone?

Martin Robinson

Gigantic! Yes! How could I forget some of the finest owls I've seen all year.

Martin Robinson

And I've seen some fine owls this year, let me tell you.

Martin Robinson

Indie montage time!

Martin Robinson

Goat Sim, Superhot, Ark, Cuphead. There are some games.

Martin Robinson

Chris Charla comes onstage, and Ian wonderfully mutters to himself 'this guy's going to get fired'. Not on-stage, I hope.

Martin Robinson

Tacoma, the new game from Gone Home developers Fullbright, is on-stage. Very excited about this.

Martin Robinson

'They've remade BioShock *again*'. A little helping of Darkside Donlan there.

Martin Robinson

Sammoore: speaking of Ian, what were his thoughts on Doom?

I just asked him and his face got all excited and he just bellowed 'PUMPED'.

Martin Robinson

Christ, I just look back at the livestream and everyone's faces have gone. What fresh nightmare is this?

Martin Robinson

Ashen, a rather lovely looking indie. Beyond Eyes is next, which I had a look at earlier this year. It's lovely stuff.

Martin Robinson

Chad and Jared! The cuphead chaps whose names, said together, have a wonderful cadence.

Martin Robinson

Microsoft is doing well to give these smaller devs some serious on-stage time. Nice one.

Martin Robinson

It's out next year.

Martin Robinson

And Early Access is coming to Xbox One, via Xbox Game Preview.

Martin Robinson

Obviously they trailed this last year with The Master Chief Collection lolololololol.

Martin Robinson

Elite Dangerous and Day Z are part of this. Will it now come out on Xbox One before PS4 thanks to this?

Martin Robinson

Elite Dangerous is available this afternoon on Xbox Game Preview.

Martin Robinson

Microsoft has got Dean Hall, and he's been working with Improbable - you'll be hearing a lot about these people in the future - to make his new IP.

Martin Robinson

TeaFiend: Destiny name drop.

Dude, we're not allowed to talk about that game anymore.

Martin Robinson

Dean Hall's new game has a space vibe. It's Ion. What a get.

Martin Robinson

Tomb Raider - the Xbox 'exclusive' - is getting its gameplay reveal.

Martin Robinson

Is this gameplay or CGI? Not in terms of how good it looks - it's impressive - but I can't see much room for the player in this.

Martin Robinson

I mean, it looks like someone could feasibly be pushing up in this section.

Martin Robinson

'It's the last game with a bit of snow on it'. More Darkside Donlan for you.

Martin Robinson

I'd be more surprised if she actually caught onto a ledge and it didn't crumble at this point.

Martin Robinson

Well, for how impressive the visuals were it wasn't really that exciting. I was kind of bored.

Martin Robinson

Here's the Rare collection, coming out to celebrate the company's 30th anniversary.

Martin Robinson

RC Pro-Am, Perfect Dark, Banjo Kazooie - all the games you'd expect, within reason (no StarFox Adventures or GoldenEye, obviously).

Martin Robinson

30 games in total, and it's out early this August.

Martin Robinson

Oh, and no Donkey Kong Country, obv.

Martin Robinson

Now it's Rare's new IP - a shared world adventure.

Martin Robinson

It's the most ambitious game they've ever created!

Martin Robinson

Is this an open world Grabbed by the Ghoulies?

Martin Robinson

Oh wait, pirates! This looks astounding.

Martin Robinson

Sea of Thieves, an MMO-esque adventure from Rare. No word on release date, but that's okay. That looks like a whole lot of fun.

Martin Robinson

Fable's leg ends now.

Martin Robinson

vert1go: This is the most ambitious Fable Legends trailer they've ever created.

Haha, it looks that way.

Martin Robinson

Kudo on stage, sans sunglasses.

Martin Robinson

He's got lovely eyes. Why hide them all that time?

Martin Robinson

He does have something of the cuddly techno Jesus about him.

Martin Robinson

Yet another megatonne - both Valve and Oculus VR have partnered with Xbox.

Martin Robinson

Minecraft on HoloLens is first up, which is probably the very definition of a killer app.

Martin Robinson

Hello the future, you're looking fine!

Martin Robinson

The best VR experiences I've had so far have been with third person things like this - when you're looking into a world rather than looking around it.

Martin Robinson

Seriously impressive on-screen showing from HoloLens, and not a space poncho in sight.

Martin Robinson

This will be the Gears of War remaster. And it is. Out on October 25th, in 1080p and 60fps and there's a beta starting today.

Martin Robinson

Plus, here's a look at the new Gears of War.

Martin Robinson

Which has flowers in it!

Martin Robinson

And we're getting proper, legit gameplay. Nice to see something that isn't a CG trailer. Very ambitious - well done.

Martin Robinson

It has graphics! It has moodiness! It has buildings crumbling!

Martin Robinson

Daeltaja: Almost as windy as The Witcher 3

Surely the new metric by which we must measure all future games.

Martin Robinson

Press x to prod pustule.

Martin Robinson

Oh god. 'I'm beginning to think we're not the hunters anymore'. Such chundersome dialogue is then met with the introduction of a frog/dog... thing.

Martin Robinson

And that's out first look at Gears of Four.

Martin Robinson

Which looks very serious and moody, with none of the muscly excess of old. For shame.

Martin Robinson

Phil's on stage wrapping up. He's revealed the t-shirt too - a Rare number.

Martin Robinson

He's still keeping the number of watches he's got on under the wraps though.

Martin Robinson

That was pretty rocking.

Martin Robinson

A steady stream of announcements, some crowd-pleasing surprises.

Martin Robinson

It will take an awful lot for Sony to best that - and I can't wait to see them try.

Martin Robinson

Join us at *gulp* 2am for that one.

Martin Robinson

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