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E3 2009 Microsoft Conference Thread

anaron

Member
Just finished the conference.

Pretty damn good showing. Aside from some dragging segments, much more impressive than last year's. Especially with Felicia involved. <3

My only real major complaint is the lack of some footage(ala MGS) and some certain titles. Also, Mistwalker. :(
 
bobbytkc said:
I am actually surprised anyone was impressed by the conference. Entertaining perhaps, but nothing spectacular.

In fact, I was quite disappointed by an apparent dearth of exciting content. And no, I am not excited about Forza and Crackdown. Splinter cell was the highlight of the show I think, but the gameplay seemed pretty standard Splinter Cell fare to me.

Hopefully tomorrow's conferences will be more exciting. I expect big things from Nintendo. They can't possibly have all their studios doing nothing with their biggest franchises!

You must be jaded if you found nothing to be excited about there.

Even FFXIII was looking excellent running on 360.
 

Nolan.

Member
I'm off to bed now but after seeing some of the stuff again I think Ms has a serious chance of giving the platform a bit more life in terms of widening the base. So far they haven't had any real problems in marketing their hardcore first party games. Nor have they had much in the way of getting them to sell generally. The whole casual side of things they've been making their intent of tapping into that market pretty clear since last year. It is a bit uninteresting to me. However I think if they figure how to spruce up the image a little, market and use what they have correctly they could pull in a fair bit of casuals. I think the sky on 360 thing alone might be bigger than some people think or at least it has the potential to be. The facebook and twitter thing I'm doubtful will do much. All in all it seems like they're deadly serious about keeping their platform afloat this generation as well as maintaining as a big player. I don't know if the approach of trying to please everyone will work. Especially as I don't recal seeing it happen, but should be entertaining to see how it turns out.
 

MechDX

Member
Meh.....Im a fucking 360 fanatic but this conference bored me to tears. Got a little excited for Crackdown 2 but thats it.


Maybe Im just an old jaded gamer that cant survive in a gaming world that utilzes waggle controls and Facebook.:D
 

Plinko

Wildcard berths that can't beat teams without a winning record should have homefield advantage
Mielke said:
The rest of the Microsoft Xbox 360 conference was unbelievable. In my 10 years covering this kind of stuff, this was BY FAR the most impressive conference I have ever attended. As a budding young game designer, I can honestly say that Microsoft had every angle covered. Just about everything they showed made me want to push my imagination farther than I ever have before, to rethink what was possible, because nearly everything they demonstrated had at the very least a practical application (Natal, interactive functionality, Netflix, Zune, Facebook, etc.) or a big fat WOW factor (Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2, the Molyneux demo, Forza 3, Kojima, Final Fantasy XIII, etc.).

smh

This is beyond ridiculous. It reminds me of the Grand Theft Auto IV hyperbole journalists were spewing before that came out.

Microsoft had a great conference, but Mielke's statement is asinine.
 
Kintaro said:
Did they explain how Facebook is going to benefit me as a gamer exactly?

Well, when talking about Facebook, there's actually 2 different things going on. There's Facebook through the dashboard, which is just the Facebook website customized for the Xbox interface, and then there's Facebook Connect, which is where the real potential lies.

With XBL<->FBC you can do a lot more than just blast out status updates. The screenshot feature in Tiger Woods is just one example. Essentially, Facebook is an infrastructure for lots of community features. Now companies will be able to leverage Facebook's Event system to manage in-game events, and get FOR FREE a web-based interface to the event system!

You've heard of cross-game invites? what about cross-life invites? A game could conceivably let me create an invite that gets blasted to people on my Facebook contact list, and if they have it set up, then they would get an SMS or e-mail. Effectively I can now send invites through e-mail or SMS for free! And send multi-SMS at that.

Essentially Facebook is already the central hub for people's social lives, now you can run your gaming connections overtop of that. Manage everything from the web when you're at work, or from within a game.

It's all seamless, connected, and has tons of potential.

Let's just hope designers USE that potential.
Screenshot uploading = lame.
 

Kogepan

Member
MechDX said:
Meh.....Im a fucking 360 fanatic but this conference bored me to tears. Got a little excited for Crackdown 2 but thats it.


Maybe Im just an old jaded gamer that cant survive in a gaming world that utilzes waggle controls and Facebook.:D

yeh, i thought the presentation was really well done. However, in terms of actual content/exclusives it was fairly underwhelming. Maybe if MS would actually put in a working browser they wouldn't need to spend time on this Facebook shit.
 

duffey

Member
I'm pretty late on this as after the conference I hung out with a friend but I was really impressed with what was shown even if most of it was sort of known about. Alan Wake looked absolutely insane and is probably the game I'm most looking forward to right now. The entire thing just blew me away. Not sure of my feelings of Natal but I dunno, I'm accepting of stuff like that generally.

Also, Major Nelson is watching us! This is from his twitter:

Reading the NeoGaf thread on our briefing. heh.
 

FrankT

Member
strange_booj said:
BLaZiN PRopHeT what site is that schedule from?

EDIT: Nevermind found it. IGN.

Is anything else scheduled to demo tomorrow at that time we didn't know about before E3 and that was the listed today, aka Forza 3 or Crackdown 2 or something? Just to make sure there isn't some crossover here or something.
 

bobbytkc

ADD New Gen Gamer
SonOfABeep said:
You must be jaded if you found nothing to be excited about there.

Even FFXIII was looking excellent running on 360.

FFXIII was already running excellent on the PS3... 2 months ago.

Seriously, I think a few peeps here share my sentiments. Too many people are just sucked in by the hype, when there's really not that much in there.

Of course,I'm not saying that they had NOTHING to show. Just to clarify
 
Jtyettis said:
Is anything else scheduled to demo tomorrow at that time we didn't know about before E3 and that was the listed today, aka Forza 3 or Crackdown 2 or something? Just to make sure there isn't some crossover here or something.


Didn't George from Rare hint that they were working on a new PD and Kameo 2?
 

AZ Greg

Member
Can someone clarify whether or not the video party streaming is only for Netflix videos or for any videos including those on your HDD?
 

yoopoo

Banned
MS wins E3, no bs with boring speeches and sales crap (both of which will be at Nintendo and Sony conferences)...just game after game. Plus the definitive racing sim on 360.

Btw...where be Rare games?
 

FrankT

Member
BLaZiN PRopHeT said:
Didn't George from Rare hint that they were working on a new PD and Kameo 2?

Oh they are working on some things no doubt about it and weird not to see anything from them from E3 yet. Just trying to eliminate any other possibilities that listing could be referring to as well although I would love for it to be something from Rare.
 

bobbytkc

ADD New Gen Gamer
yoopoo said:
MS wins E3, no bs with boring speeches and sales crap (both of which will be at Nintendo and Sony conferences)...just game after game. Plus the definitive racing sim on 360.

Btw...where be Rare games?

Somehow,I don't think Sony is in the mood to talk about sales though...
 

Jetku

Member
Suburban_Nooblet said:
Still can't find any where to download the damn thing. Gamespot and G4 claim they are still "encoding". Nothing on gametrailers, any suggestions?


IGN has 'part one' up, which is the first hour and 22 mins.
 

GashPrex

NeoGaf-Gold™ Member
Plinko said:
smh

This is beyond ridiculous. It reminds me of the Grand Theft Auto IV hyperbole journalists were spewing before that came out.

Microsoft had a great conference, but Mielke's statement is asinine.

so that's your opinion as a game developer right?
 

Everdred

Member
BLaZiN PRopHeT said:
Didn't George from Rare hint that they were working on a new PD and Kameo 2?
If it is a Rare game I'm very confident that it will be Perfect Dark 2. It's the best game they have that could potentially steal Sony's Conference thunder. Kameo certainly wouldn't do that.

BenjaminBirdie said:
Uh, pretty sure that's just because the schedule was written before the conference. Could be Forza III.
Damn, you're probably right. I got too caught up. I just really want to see some new Rare games.
 

AniHawk

Member
Conference was all right. Not a whole lot I personally care about, though I realize there's a lot to get excited for for other people (particularly Crackdown 2 and Halo Reach). I like the possibilities behind Natal, and Shadow Complex looks cool. The biggest negative I can think of was that it makes 2010 look great and 2009 look pretty barren.

Won't be easy to beat, although I have low expectations for the rest (sales charts are definitely happening with Nintendo). I'm guessing the final standings will be MS > Sony > Nintendo.
 

Kogepan

Member
bobbytkc said:
FFXIII was already running excellent on the PS3... 2 months ago.

Seriously, I think a few peeps here share my sentiments. Too many people are just sucked in by the hype, when there's really not that much in there.

Of course,I'm not saying that they had NOTHING to show. Just to clarify

yeh, i still can't figure out why people seem so satisfied. No new first IP, a couple sequels annouced and the 'natal' stuff. Solid, but nothing game changing.
 
Kogepan said:
yeh, i still can't figure out why people seem so satisfied. No new first IP, a couple sequels annouced and the 'natal' stuff. Solid, but nothing game changing.

I would say Natal can be game changing. It will be up to developers to find its use in games. But as in all great ideas, it's true only when we get it in our hands. Will have to wait for it.

Yeah, looks like MS doesn't have anything left to show for 2009 (other than may be Rare project) and had to give too much time to third party games on stage as usual.
 

AniHawk

Member
quadriplegicjon said:
:lol i find it hilarious how people are claiming victory from MS without the other two players having even done their conferences yet..

As far as hype and flash and style, yeah, they definitely won early on. It's kinda like Sony's 05 show. Great presentation.

I think Sony will have a very impressive performance tomorrow. They have a lot of games coming out, way more than MS showed off (and all first-party-published). But because MS has Natal, and a new MGS, I think that's where everyone's attention will go.
 

lowrider007

Licorice-flavoured booze?
Kogepan said:
yeh, i thought the presentation was really well done. However, in terms of actual content/exclusives it was fairly underwhelming. Maybe if MS would actually put in a working browser they wouldn't need to spend time on this Facebook shit.

Exactly how I feel, very well presented show but I was really expecting more on the software front (exclusive-wise), games for live arcade for example hardly even got a look in, Last.FM, FaceBook, Twitter, 1080p movies, the motion camera etc are fantastic ideas for helping expand the user base and make the platform more appealing for the casual gamer but they didn't do enough for me on the gaming front.

The thing is, (and I'm honestly not trying to rustle any feathers here), after today's show the 360 in terms of being a multimedia device has definitely gained more respect from me, but If I'm going to be relying on 360 to satisfy most of my multimedia needs I also want a system that isn't inherently flawed, becuase atm that seems to be the only real issue they have left that needs fixing permanently, if MS had announced a new streamlined version of the 360 at the conference that was quieter, and more reliable, then I would of bowed down at their feet, but as it stands it doesn't matter how many awesome features they streamline into the system, they are ultimately building those features on top of a faulty foundation, they are innovating on the software front (features & services etc), now innovate on the hardware, give me a system that I can put under my TV and be confident that I won't need to replace the core component of my entertainment & multimedia needs every few months and I'll declare MS a winner.
 
MirageDwarf said:
I would say Natal can be game changing. It will be up to developers to find its use in games. But as in all great ideas, it's true only when we get it in our hands. Will have to wait for it.

Yeah, looks like MS doesn't have anything left to show for 2009 (other than may be Rare project) and had to give too much time to third party games on stage as usual.


I think you overestimate how much is left at Rare after the MS house cleaning....

There has not been a peep out of those guys lately. I wonder if multiple projects were shitcanned, leaving the studio basically starting over...
 
I really enjoyed the conference even though most of the games shown are not from genres I'm normally interested in. This is the exact kind of format every E3 conference should be in (minus the super long Beatles stuff in the beginning).

I felt sorry for Square. The FFXIII demo was by far the weakest and least interesting ("major") part of the conference even though it's probably one of only two or three games shown that I even plan to consider buying. It just didn't seem that exciting and at times, it was painful to watch; I cringed when the demo showed Lightning striking the anime pose cliche with a big monster summon standing right behind her while the Square dudes tried to make the gameplay seem current or revolutionary. It was a crystal clear exposition of why the jRPG is rapidly losing relevance in western markets.

Of course this doesn't reflect my personal feelings as I love nearly everything shown of the game so far but Square Enix and other jRPG developers are in dire need of a new way to present their titles.
 

daegan

Member
Plinko said:
smh

This is beyond ridiculous. It reminds me of the Grand Theft Auto IV hyperbole journalists were spewing before that came out.

Microsoft had a great conference, but Mielke's statement is asinine.

Just read that blog and completely agreed.

The most exciting stuff was Alan Wake and Splinter Cell Conviction. I don't think we really saw a game-changer today, just a very well-oiled show that showed many solid games. And there's nothing wrong with that, but all this "OMG WHAT WILL SONY DO" sentiment is pretty... out there.

If you really need to tweet from your XBox, or post a screenshot on Facebook to stay interested in your games...I can't help you. It's a cool idea but it's an obvious one and one that doesn't add substance.

What Sony will do is show a few multiplatform titles (like MS did) and the PSP Go (obviously) and then show a metric ton of compelling first-party titles as they've done the past couple years. I really think its going to be games gunning at games, but what better state would there be for us to be in?
 
Rancid Mildew said:
I really enjoyed the conference even though most of the games shown are not from genres I'm normally interested in. This is the exact kind of format every E3 conference should be in (minus the super long Beatles stuff in the beginning).

I felt sorry for Square. The FFXIII demo was by far the weakest and least interesting ("major") part of the conference even though it's probably one of only two or three games shown that I even plan to consider buying. It just didn't seem that exciting and at times, it was painful to watch; I cringed when the demo showed Lightning striking the anime pose cliche with a big monster summon standing right behind her while the Square dudes tried to make the gameplay seem current or revolutionary. It was a crystal clear exposition of why the jRPG is rapidly losing relevance in western markets.

Of course this doesn't reflect my personal feelings as I love nearly everything shown of the game so far but Square Enix and other jRPG developers are in dire need of a new way to present their titles.
Yeah I did think the FFXIII segment was a bit unimpressive but I'm just not sure there is an effective way to show a "slice" of an RPG. I'd almost prefer a walk around one of the towns just to see some more of the visuals but then people would complain there is no action.
 

hiryu2015

Member
I had so much difficulty simply finding an archived feed. I finally saw a bulk of the conference [except the mgs and motion thing] and came away impressed. I almost bought a 360 last fall but decided to wait--let's see what the others do.
 
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