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Best of E3 2009: Microsoft's press conference
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Alan Wake was one of Microsoft's most impressive E3 2009 press conference games.
The best of E3 2009 regarding Microsoft's conference was definitely a hard choice to make. The show was absolutely packed with content and they really went all out to both floor attendees and prove that the Xbox 360 is the place to be for great games.
You had the revival of a game we hadn't seen in a long time, a new device to compete with the Wii, a new game that came as a surprise to everyone and even a movie director showing his support for Microsoft's green box.
Here is what Microsoft announced, showed and revealed at their E3 2009 press conference.
* The show started with two new trailers for games aimed at the casual crowd, Lips 2 and 1 vs 100. The latter is a virtual "live" game show whose beta is now available.
* Microsoft showed a new trailer for The Beatles: Rock Band. The game will include 45 songs on the disc with more songs available for download, as you'd expect. The first DLC (downloadable Content) song will be "All You Need is Love" which will launch alongside the song. All proceeds from the song will go to the "Doctors Without Borders" foundation.
* Microsoft then brought out its first big-gun: Modern Warfare 2. The game was demoed on stage as they played through a single-player portion of the title set on a snowy mountain as players climbed up the ice. They announced that the Xbox 360 version of the game will have some timed exclusives in the form of new maps. The game will release on November 11th, 2009.
* Final Fantasy XIII descended on the Xbox 360 as Square Enix showed off the Xbox 360 version for the first time. They showed off the two main characters, Lightning and Sudds who took part in some battles that culminated in the reveal of the Odin Summon, who you fight alongside. They also discussed some of the game's mechanics. The game will be released here next Spring, 2010.
* Cliffy B. of Gears of War fame then took the stage to announce an awesome looking new Xbox Live Arcade side-scrolling 3D shooter/platformer known as "Shadow Complex". Which will be part of this Summer's "Summer of Arcade" line. The game has tons of secrets to find and looked like a cross between Metroid, Metal Gear and Contra. A very sweet mix.
* Microsoft announced Joy Ride, a free Xbox Live Arcade "cart racer" that allows you to race as your Avatar. It will be released this Winter.
* Microsoft then announced Crackdown 2 via a teaser trailer but didn't announce any details.
* Ditto for one of the biggest surprise announcements of the show, Left 4 Dead 2, which will only be releasing for Xbox 360 and PC. Announced via a CG teaser trailer, the game will be released on November 17th, 2009.
* Microsoft then showed off some super impressive gameplay footage of Splinter Cell: Conviction, an Xbox 360 exclusive and the latest game in the Sam Fischer stealth series. The most impressive aspect of the game was the storytelling mechanism, where the storyline is told via movies that play in the background as part of the environment literally as you walk through it. This technique will even be used to give you your objectives. Michael Ironside has also returned as the voice of Sam Fisher, and the game is more action oriented.
* Microsoft then detailed Forza Motorsport 3, a racing game sequel that will offer gamers endless customization with their cars and how they choose to paint them. The game will be released this October 2009.
* They then demoed Halo 3: ODST, the newest game in the Halo series. The game will include new visual modes such as Heat Detection and visual clues via an A.I. helper. Flashbacks will also have you playing from the perspective of other ODST team members as you try and piece together the storyline. It will also contain an all-new co-op mode. Additionally, one of the teammates of Rookie (the game's main character) is named Dare and will be voiced by Battlestar Galactica's Tricia Helfer.
* Microsoft then made a surprise new Halo announcement, revealing Halo: Reach. No details were given save the fact that those who pre-order Halo 3: ODST will get to try out the Halo: Reach multiplayer beta and the fact that Halo: Reach will be coming in Fall of 2010.
* Alan Wake then rose from the ashes to impress everyone watching. The game hasn't been seen in years but Remedy's horror title looked very impressive. You play as a writer in this psychological thriller. When your wife disappears while at a small town to get away and cure your writing block, the details of Alan Wake's novel start to happen in real-life. The most impressive part of the on-stage demo IMO was how Alan Wake will narrate as you play, and how the game's environment becomes a character itself, as the world around you morphs and grows dark along with how haunted the area is. Impressive effects were also on the agenda. This was one of my favorite games of the show. It will be released in Spring of 2010.
* Microsoft then announced the first of many new partnerships that will give the Xbox 360 a ton of new features. The first is music, which will be coming to the Xbox 360 via a deal with Last.fm. Details were slim but the ability to listen to "radio stations" online and find other music based on your tastes will be directly integrated into Xbox Live. Basically everything you can do online at www.last.fm will be available from your console including all of the music available there. No word though if you can, say, listen to last.fm music while playing games.
* The Xbox 360 deal with Netflix has been expanded. Now movies will be available INSTANTLY for Netflix subscribers and playable in high definition! This means no queue, you click and go. You still can't actually download and keep movies though.
* Live TV viewing is coming to a console for the first-time in a deal with Sky TV, allowing for streaming of all the TV shows and content directly into your 360. Coming to users in the UK and Ireland.
* The Video Marketplace on Xbox Live is now the Zune Marketplace. And although music won't be offered, videos will. And like the Netflix deal these videos will be watchable instantly and in high definition directly after purchase (now download-to-keep though).
* The online web-sites Facebook and Twitter are coming to Xbox 360. In two massive landmark deals, all the features of both web-sites will be available directly from your Xbox 360 console. Both will be available this Fall 2009.
* Switching gears back to games, Microsoft brought Hideo Kojima onboard to reveal Metal Gear: Rising, an all-new game starring Raiden. No solid details were given but it's expected to be an action game (with the tagline "Lightning Bolt Action") differing from the stealth gameplay normally seen in the series.
* Microsoft then introduced the world to their answer to the Wii: Project NATAL. This camera-and-microphone-based peripheral literally puts you inside the game and allows you to play games with your body. You can even navigate games using hand gestures and your voice.
* Two demos to show off the NATAL hardware were Ricochet and Paint Party. The former allows the player to move around a field and use their hands, feet and body to kick, punch, headbutt, balls that are flying towards you. Your on-screen Mii literally reacts just as you do and even allows you to step forward or backward to move around the area on-screen. Looked like a great work out for those who take it seriously. Paint Party meanwhile lets you paint onto a canvas by literally making motions to throw the paint onto it and using voice commands to select colors.
* Microsoft then wheeled out Steven Spielberg who praised Project NATAL and it's ability to put people in the game. "It’s not about reinventing the wheel, it’s about no wheel at all,” he said.
* Finally, Peter Molineux of Fable fame was brought out to show the best example of what NATAL can do for games yet, with his "Milo" demo. Milo is a virtual boy that players can interact with using the camera. In realistic fashion, he will respond to your questions and "talk" to you. You can even interact with his world such as touching the water around him by waving your hands in front of the camera. Even more impressive, you could literally draw a picture on a piece of paper, the camera will scan it in, and you could "give" it to him and he could recognize what you drew. It's very surreal but in reality it's like a much more accessible, impressive and realistic "Seaman".
Overall Microsoft's conference was very impressive indeed. If I had to pick a winner they would be it. Microsoft most impressed me with not only NATAL, but also Splinter Cell: Conviction and Alan Wake, who really innovated in areas of storytelling that I think are impressive and very original.
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