Microsoft Media Press Conference at E3 This year's Electronic Entertainment Exposition saw quite an impressive lineup from Microsoft's Xbox 360. Microsoft plans to continue to bring in new titles, expand Xbox Live's social network, expand Live's marketplace content and bring more gamers to the 360. And the largest announcement, saved to the very end:
Square Enix announces Final Fantasy XIII will be made available for the Xbox 360. Check out all the
E3 footage at
GameTrailers.com
Live Gameplay Demos: Fallout 3 - A highly explorable world. You can go almost anywhere and perform lethal attacks with a vast array of new weapons.
Resident Evil 5 - Team up with a friend via online coop and complete missions in varied new ways with your partner's help.
Fable II - Play a unique character in your own unique universe. Buy a house, get married, raise children or play ball with your dog. And join your friends instantly with coop mode.
Gears of War 2 - Destruction on an epic scale. Gears 2 brings large scale battles into gameplay as you use new tactics and ways of using a chainsaw to cut down the Locust.
Xbox Live Marketplace Welcomes...
NBC Universal Joins the Xbox Live Marketplace. New content will be available as of today including movies and television. NBC Universal makes shows like Monk and movies including "The Fast and the Furious" and "The Bourne Supremacy"
Fall Xbox Dashboard Update
This Fall, Xbox will launch a brand new dashboard unlike any previously seen. The new system will use customizable avatars and social Parties, up to date 8 players connected & sharing the same experiences. Xbox Primetime will launch as a massive multiplayer gameshow and will give away real prizes.
Xbox Live Arcade
- Geometry Wars 2: Retro Evolved
- Galaga Legions
- Portal Still Alive from Valve
- South Park arcade game coming in 2009
- Xbox Live Community Games created by community members using downloadable software development kit
Exclusive Partnership with Netflix
Xbox 360 users will now be able to link their Netflix account to their Xbox 360. Watch movies from your Netflix account straight to your television or use the party system and enjoy your movies with your friends. This partnership has doubled the selection of content available for the Xbox 360.
Upcoming Games for Xbox 360 Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts brings back everyone's favorite bear. Banjo's previous adventures will also be made available for download on the Xbox Live Marketplace. Xbox 360 Exclusive.
Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise takes you back to the pinata's island. Xbox 360 Exclusive.
Scene It? Box Office Smash allows you to answer trivia from your favorite movies. A special Xbox 360 controller will be made available with the game, specially design for quick gameshow action.
You're in the Movies utilizes the Live Vision camera to record you and your friends performing tasks for points. At the end, the Xbox compiles your video recordings into a short movie film. The Vision Camera will be packaged with the game upon release.
Guitar Hero: World Tour expands the already impressive Guitar Hero series with another release.
Lips Karaoke features microphones and singing as you attempt to perform some of your favorite artist's songs.
Rockband 2 features new equipment, the biggest set of songs ever released and continued expansion planned long into the future. Xbox 360 Exclusive.
Square Enix's Upcoming Titles: Infinite Undiscovery - September 2nd, 2008 (Xbox 360 Exclusive)
Star Ocean: The Last Hope - Spring 2009
The Last Remnant - November 20th, 2008 (Xbox 360 & Games for Windows Exclusive)
Final Fantasy XIII will release for Xbox 360
Quote:
The Microsoft Press conference just wrapped up, and as the crowd files out, conversations are all over the place. The news that Final Fantasy XIII will be available Day 1 on the Xbox 360 generated huge buzz as the attendees filed out, but fact that the New Xbox Experience update coming for the Xbox 360 is akin to launching a new console generation without requiring anyone to actually buy a new console is definitely attraction big attention.
We saw games we’ve been anxiously anticipating. The first-ever live demo of Fallout 3 showed stunning post-apocalyptic detail. Guitar Hero World Tour is bringing us The Eagles and Metallica, and Rock Band 2’s going to deliver AC/DC and a debut single from Guns n’ Roses. We also got a look at some awesome new titles, including the incredibly cool looking party game Lips, the hilarity of You’re in the Movies, the fast-action of Geometry Wars Retro Evolved 2, and the Xbox LIVE Arcade update of one of my all-time favorite games, Portal: Still Alive. Plus, a South Park game coming in 2009!
A highly anticipated update to one of last E3’s crowd-pleasers: Resident Evil 5 is coming in March, and will feature co-op play! Peter Molyneux always gives good demo, and after seeing him show how “ambient orbs” make connecting with your friends in Fable 2 for co-op play an unobtrusive experience that never pulls you out of the game, October can’t come quick enough. Following the co-op theme, Epic’s Cliff Bleszinski showed an amazingly intense Brumak battle and announced 5player co-op in Gears of War 2’s new “Horde” mode. Are you sensing a theme here? Nobody can touch Xbox LIVE’s multiplayer experience now, and it’s getting even better.
Not just through games, either. The “new Xbox experience” isn’t just going to put a better-looking, easier-to-navigate face on Xbox LIVE, it will also add some slick features like LIVE Parties that can join games together, avatars, and the new Xbox LIVE Primetime channel where hundreds of players can join together in games like 1 vs. 100. One of the coolest things mentioned, though, was the ability to combine a LIVE Party with the new support for Netflix instant watch to let you watch and chat about movies at the same time with friends all over the country. Virtual MST3K, anyone?
Those are just some of the highlights. My “Insider Moves” cohost Ryan Treit was at the conference as well, and once he pulls his jaw off the floor, he’ll be posting a full report on the event in the Articles section soon. --Denny Atkin, Gamertag: Editer |
Microsoft's E3 2008 Press Conference 
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