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Microsoft E3 2017 live report

Cars, guns and arrows to the face (plus £449 for the Xbox One X). Everything as it happened.

And it's done. Microsoft revealed the most powerful console yet, the gloriously sleek yet curiously titled Xbox One X, all of which can be yours for a mere £449. And what to play on it? Well, you'll have a new Assassin's Creed, a new Forza and a bevvy of exciting indies. Follow all the updates as they happened.

Our live coverage of this event has finished.

Good evening everyone! I am actually a Scorpio so this is extra special for me.

Robert Purchese

We're just assembling, like the Avengers. Are you all having a splendid Sunday?

Robert Purchese

Hello all! Pretty sure Microsoft is using the same hold music they used last time.

Christian Donlan

Which reminds me of this beautiful piece on This American Life about the best hold music ever. Do links work in here? https://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/516/stuck-in-the-middle?act=1

Christian Donlan

Robert Purchese

Tom and Wes are there! But no one else is apparently.

Robert Purchese

Anyway, that's all I've got.

Christian Donlan

Hello from the Galen Center in LA! Once again Microsoft shipped in a load of fans to sit in front of the stage.

Tom Phillips

They are practising their cheering.

Tom Phillips

Greetings, Gamers! I'm hoping for the announcement of a brand new Dizzy game for Scorpio.

Ian Higton

Robert Purchese

Ian, please.

Tom Phillips

Doesn't seem like a T-shirt you'll hang onto.

Robert Purchese

Hello! We're sat inside the Galen Center in LA with 40 minutes to kill before Microsoft's Xbox media briefing begins. Someone tell a joke.

Wesley Yin-Poole

Will the Xbox Scorpio, or whatever it's called, end up costing £499? It's reportedly $499.

Robert Purchese

"Tell me a joke" "Scorpio costs £499" :(

Tom Phillips

Looking forward to seeing more of BioWare's Anthem tonight. It looked Destiny-esque last night. How similar will it be?

Robert Purchese

This is it, the big one! Microsoft's chance to bring it home with the most powerful console EVER SEEN.

Martin Robinson

Or are they going to go full Theresa May and score a massive own goal, coming out with a £499 price point and nothing more than Forza 7 while droning on about strong and stable framerates?

Martin Robinson

I'm leaning towards the latter, to be honest, but would be happy to be wrong.

Martin Robinson

We are all set up in the home team with crisps, beers (shhhh, don't tell Oli) and what I think might well be excitement.

Martin Robinson

Oh god it's the same sodding music they play ever sodding year being looped before the show.

Martin Robinson

No sign of those fabulous T-shirts on the way in - but technically we still are to witness the most powerful console ever, so.

Tom Phillips

funkstar: so Martin, no nipples at EA last night. What are the chances tonight?

I saw a couple of tits for sure last night though...

Martin Robinson

Leave my selfies alone, Martin.

Tom Phillips

New games wise, we know Anthem is on the way, plus Forza 7 and the recently leaked Ori sequel. A proper look at Crackdown would also be lovely, right?

Martin Robinson

Assassin's Creed head of content Azaizia Aymar has just tweeted that we'll be seeing a glimpse during Microsoft's show today.

Tom Phillips

Course, the internet has already had more than several glimpses already.

Tom Phillips

*salutes*

Martin Robinson

Robert Purchese

Just saying.

Robert Purchese

Oh so many ways tonight could go tits up. I can't wait!

Martin Robinson

15 minutes people!

Martin Robinson

Wouldn't it be nice if Microsoft announce they've bought IO and saved Hitman? That would be lovely indeed.

Wesley Yin-Poole

lacerz: "most powerful console ever" has officially become the most tired phrase ever.

A strong and stable observation.

Christian Donlan

The super Xbox fans in the seats at the front are doing a Mexican wave. They cheered a safety announcement. Also all are wearing those T-shirts.

Wesley Yin-Poole

Tom Phillips

Eugh, the state of that.

Martin Robinson

I was at an SOE Fan Faire one year and the crowd did a volumetric Mexican wave.

Christian Donlan

Not sure if super fans or Microsoft employees. (That's Aaron Greenberg at the top of the pic.)

Tom Phillips

*pulls cardigan over the Splatoon t-shirt I'm wearing right now*

Martin Robinson

Same.

Martin Robinson

Tom Phillips

Not confirmed, but it looks like Scorpio just leaked, minutes before the conference start.

Tom Phillips

Well there it is.

Martin Robinson

That's a dinky little thing.

Martin Robinson

And quite a sexy one. Where do they fit all the graphics?

Martin Robinson

I guess they're all kept in the cloud.

Martin Robinson

With controller for scale, it looks tiny. Incredibly impressive.

Tom Phillips

I like the insouciant way the controller is leaning on it. Practically smoking a Gauloises.

Christian Donlan

We're currently speculating how they'll do the reveal - whether they'll have it stored inside an OG Xbox One.

Martin Robinson

Or - this is my bet - after 30 minutes of talking, Phil Spencer will reveal he's been holding one in his cheeks the entire time and regurgitate it on stage.

Martin Robinson

Huge wedding cake and it pops out on a spring.

Christian Donlan

And we're off.

Tom Phillips

Kicking off with a look at how pixels have grown over the years.

Martin Robinson

Big cheers here for the ultra 4K message.

Wesley Yin-Poole

It's how the quality of the pixels has improved that really wows me though.

Martin Robinson

Big cheers for Chief.

Tom Phillips

Some hardcore motherboard and silicon love too. Get in.

Martin Robinson

And big cheers for a glimpse at Master Chief. Still a fan favourite.

Wesley Yin-Poole

And the picture is real.

Tom Phillips

This is all a bit Project Natal.

Martin Robinson

And there's the dinky box.

Martin Robinson

Fans in the front are very, very excited.

Tom Phillips

Phil Spencer, everyone, sporting an Xbox controller t-shirt.

Martin Robinson

Renegades, the lot of them.

Tom Phillips

And a jacket that looks a bit Bovingdon market circa 1996. Quite a radical look all told.

Martin Robinson

Xbox One X. Hmm. Not sure...

Wesley Yin-Poole

That's.... Not a great name.

Martin Robinson

xox Kisses!

Oli Welsh

Robert Purchese

Kareem looks *so* Microsoft.

Martin Robinson

People are cheering tech specs. I guess this is what we are now.

Martin Robinson

One important fact - it's out November 7th.

Martin Robinson

Will be fully backwards compatible, of course.

Martin Robinson

Still no word on price...

Tom Phillips

And people without 4K TVs will see the benefits.

Martin Robinson

Whoops and cheers for the liquid cooled vapour chamber.

Tom Phillips

Also the Xbox One X vapes.

Martin Robinson

It's the most powerful Xbox ever, and the smallest.

Martin Robinson

Is it the most expensive though?

Martin Robinson

They're leading with Forza.

Martin Robinson

I like racing games, but even I'm not that excited by a new Forza.

Martin Robinson

It does look small indeed. That's perhaps one of the more impressive things about it.

Wesley Yin-Poole

The headline from that is truck racing.

Martin Robinson

You're going to sell your new console with truck racing?

Martin Robinson

I came here for games, Microsoft, not real life cars. Come the fuck on!

Wesley Yin-Poole

And here's a new Porsche. It looks like every other Porsche, because they all look the fucking same.

Martin Robinson

Are they seriously selling their new console like this?

Martin Robinson

Anyway, dynamic weather is back having been cut from the last Forza.

Martin Robinson

The Nurburgring does look super dramatic with its moody skies. 150 cars around the Nordschleife for the true N24 experience please?

Martin Robinson

There'll be some 700 cars in this.

Martin Robinson

Well, that's a new Forza. It's out October 3rd.

Martin Robinson

Surprising it's not day and date with X.

Tom Phillips

42 games inbound, 22 with some form of Xbox exclusivity.

Martin Robinson

A new 4A game - this is how you do a technical showcase, for sure.

Martin Robinson

Eye stab is the new neck stab.

Tom Phillips

It's a new Metro - so super impressive techincally, and super grimy. A rat just got stabbed in the eye.

Martin Robinson

So basically you shoot rats.

Martin Robinson

And a big mole.

Martin Robinson

Metro Exodus, everyone.

Martin Robinson

Assassin's Creed up next, for some real diversity after the rat killing and the cars.

Martin Robinson

You get to slide down pyramids.

Martin Robinson

Think you can stab a rhino in the eye too.

Martin Robinson

Creative director Jean Guesdon now rocks up with some very gallic distressed jeans.

Martin Robinson

Roll us one would 'ya?

Martin Robinson

The name Xbox One X is so dumb poor Guesdon couldn't even spit it out without choking on a bit of his sick.

Martin Robinson

Looks a bit Witcher 3 this, doesn't it?

Wesley Yin-Poole

feistycheese: That wasnt very impressive. Anybody who thinks otherwise is in De Nile. Sorry.

I love you!

Robert Purchese

Requires 8GB of Ramses.

Christian Donlan

I'd say the handling of that horse looks off. Needs a bit of toe-in on the front hooves maybe?

Martin Robinson

Real trend this generation for collecting the things you just shot people with.

Christian Donlan

You can arrow people in the face.

Martin Robinson

Oh and there's Destiny-style loot, so there's some of that diversity for you.

Martin Robinson

Come on video games, you can do better than this!

Martin Robinson

I think Ubisoft have the Cheops to pull this off.

Christian Donlan

That was a video game.

Martin Robinson

Player Unknown's Battlegrounds, a genuinely exciting get.

Martin Robinson

Unless this is like that time everyone was scrabbling to get Dean Hall and DayZ on stage at a console holder's conference only for it all to come to naught.

Martin Robinson

But! This is coming out exclusively on Xbox later this year. So there's hope!

Martin Robinson

Ah, as some of you are pointing out it's console 'launch' exclusive - so it sounds like it will be coming to PS4 at some point too.

Martin Robinson

It's No Man's Sky with mini-guns!

Tom Phillips

This is Deep Rock Galactic.

Martin Robinson

And quick as a flash we're onto State of Decay 2.

Martin Robinson

Which is a genuine Xbox exclusive.

Martin Robinson

So rack up zombies next to the cars, rat shooting and big annual franchises.

Martin Robinson

Credit to Microsoft, though - they've kept the focus firmly on the games so far with no real filler.

Martin Robinson

Wouldn't mind some more imaginative games, though.

Martin Robinson

A zombie just ate a man's face.

Martin Robinson

Spring 2018 release for Xbox - and as you've noted, it's Xbox play anywhere so PC too. Though I think that's the case for all Microsoft Studio games?

Martin Robinson

There's a really angry man shouting on the stage for some reason.

Martin Robinson

I was quite enjoying this until the guy by the side of the stage started screaming.

Tom Phillips

I have no idea what's upset him so much.

Martin Robinson

He's gone now. The game he was angry about was called The Darwin Project. He really looked like he didn't like it.

Martin Robinson

There's your meme from tonight's conference, anyway.

Martin Robinson

So here's Minecraft.

Martin Robinson

It'll have more graphics on Xbox One X.

Martin Robinson

Aaaaaaand, a special new graphics mode. It introduces even more graphics, and they're super duper apparently.

Martin Robinson

People are clapping that you can pre-order new games.

Wesley Yin-Poole

It's the innovation corner, starting off with something new from Japan.

Martin Robinson

Those Dragon Ball games that come out every year and you don't care about? Yeah, they're coming to Xbox One X.

Martin Robinson

I can't believe they're doing this.

Martin Robinson

And that's the sound of the barrel being scraped there.

Martin Robinson

Black Desert Online, the MMO that caused ripples a few years ago, is up next.

Martin Robinson

'It costs £6.99 on Steam' says Donlan.

Martin Robinson

Now here's something special - which will be familiar if you were at EGX a couple of years ago. The Last Night.

Martin Robinson

It's been doing the rounds for a while, and it does look absolutely gorgeous.

Martin Robinson

The Annapurna Interactive logo, something which increasingly gets my attention - they have exquisite taste and have been behind some of this year's most interesting games.

Martin Robinson

Artful Escape is the most Bertie game I have ever seen.

Tom Phillips

It's a preface to The Artful Escape. Another one you'll get on PC, but it'll be console launch exclusive on Xbox One.

Martin Robinson

Here's some more Bandai Namco stuff we typically only see during Sony's TGS conference given some airtime - Code Vein.

Martin Robinson

Sea of Thieves though!

Martin Robinson

Sea of Thieves is a shared world adventure. Last time I heard the phrase shared world was when Activision announced Destiny...

Wesley Yin-Poole

Lovely water.

Martin Robinson

If they'd have led with that water I'd have been much more hyped.

Martin Robinson

If they'd have just streamed two hours of that water lolling around I'd be pre-ordering an Xbox XOXOXOX right now.

Martin Robinson

Kami: I'm just realising most of this will be on PC, won't it?

Yarp.

Martin Robinson

Now *this* does look exciting and original.

Martin Robinson

Although I've probably seen enough now thanks.

Martin Robinson

Aaaaand it's been pushed back to early next year.

Martin Robinson

And now, Tacoma - the new game from the Gone Home people.

Martin Robinson

Which ticks my original/exciting boxes too.

Martin Robinson

Now, a fox.

Martin Robinson

It's not Tails, I'll tell you that much.

Martin Robinson

It's a Rare-style platformer, but not by Rare. And it looks very much like Lucky's Tale, the Oculus launch game.

Martin Robinson

Oh, it is Lucky's Tale 2. For all those who were after a sequel.

Martin Robinson

Cuphead! The super pretty platformer that now has a release date - September 29th.

Martin Robinson

Crackdown, now starring Terry Crews. I'll have some of that.

Martin Robinson

All is forgiven Xbox best console evaaaa Phil SPencer 4 life

Martin Robinson

It's by Sumo, it's got Terry Crews in it, it's got orbs. Nothing can go wrong, surely.

Martin Robinson

Have they ditched the city-levelling tech though? We're not seeing any of that here.

Martin Robinson

November 7th release date - so alongside Xbox OXO cube.

Martin Robinson

'And now, here are some games on Steam'. Donlan again there, whose burns I'm not afraid to steal.

Martin Robinson

It does look like it's been significantly downgraded from the original reveal. Let's hope there's more to show, though!

Martin Robinson

The Annapurna logo again!

Martin Robinson

This is Ashen, by Aurora 44.

Martin Robinson

*also available on Steam

Martin Robinson

The Life is Strange prequel now.

Martin Robinson

Life is Strange Before the Storm, a three-parter coming out the end of August.

Martin Robinson

More Mordor.

Martin Robinson

Shadow of Moredor amitrite.

Martin Robinson

weebleman: "Shadow of Moredor amitrite." Those beers going down essy martin?

Essssy indeed.

Martin Robinson

lacerz: 7 minutes until the $399 reveal, because that's all Microsoft has. This has been shite.

We've been told this one will run longer than 90 minutes. How much longer I don't know.

Martin Robinson

I've been lukewarm on this as I'm not a fan of the excessive violence. That Orc is making me want to get involved, though.

Martin Robinson

Also, I didn't say - stunning jacket on that Mordor chap. The fashion highlight of the show so far.

Martin Robinson

Ori Ori Ori!

Martin Robinson

Good lord this is a splendid looking video game.

Martin Robinson

Phil takes to the stage again, which makes me think we're close to wrapping up.

Martin Robinson

Biggest cheers of the conference for OG Xbox.

Tom Phillips

Original Xbox games are now coming to Xbox One for backwards compatibility.

Martin Robinson

They'll be improved in the emulation. And Crimson Skies is heading up the line-up.

Martin Robinson

Yes please.

Martin Robinson

Gears of War 4, Forza Horizon 3, Minecraft, Killer Instinct all getting 4K updates for the Xbox Bisto.

Martin Robinson

$499.

Martin Robinson

That's the price that pretty much killed the Xbox One, so....

Martin Robinson

Here's Patrick Soderlund, who has puzzlingly long thumbs.

Martin Robinson

He's here to show us Anthem.

Martin Robinson

It's a Frostbite game, obviously - and it looks like it's first-person.

Martin Robinson

Also, it looks gorgeous

Martin Robinson

Facial animation that Mass Effect Andromeda could have benefitted from, and an incredible fidelity and detail in the world.

Martin Robinson

And yeah it's Destiny basically.

Martin Robinson

With added Ubisoft simulated bantz.

Martin Robinson

Sorry, it's Destiny plus jetpacks times graphics.

Martin Robinson

Worth reiterating that it does look absolutely gorgeous.

Martin Robinson

LividCarrion: Is it me or does this look gorgeous?

It's not just you!

Martin Robinson

Rayza: I sense a downgrade coming

I think this looks legit - and after the Watch Dogs fiasco I don't think anyone would want to repeat that trick. I am super naive though.

Martin Robinson

Does Microsoft have any of its own games to end with? Or are we done?

Martin Robinson

Thanks for joining us! See you again later for Bethesda!

Tom Phillips

I think that's it. I think that counts as officially underwhelming - not seeing the game that's going to make you want to part with 500 sheets for a new console.

Martin Robinson

We'll wrap up here. There'll be more comment and analysis coming, plus we'll be dragging ourselves up in a few hours for Bethesda's conference. Tara!

Martin Robinson

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