We delve into the details of Xbox's best E3 performance to date.
by IGN Xbox 360 Team
June 1, 2009 - At Microsoft's show-opening E3 2009 press conference at the Galen Center in Los Angeles, the company went huge, showcasing two Halo games, the long-awaited action/thriller Alan Wake, Forza 3, and multiple third-party exclusives, including Splinter Cell: Conviction.
And on top of that, Microsoft made the bombshell announcement that a Metal Gear game would finally be coming to Xbox 360. And we haven't even touched on Natal, Microsoft's new motion-sensitive control scheme. Even Peter Molyneux popped up to show some stunning footage of the new tech in action. So did the company do enough to convince gamers that 2009 and 2010 are going to be great years for Xbox 360 gamers?
We gathered together the IGN Xbox 360 Team to talk about the highlights of Microsoft's killer E3 press conference and to decide what moments shone brightest in an impressive hour and a half of announcements, demos and first-look trailers.
Fire everything!!!
Erik Brudvig: That was easily the best Microsoft press conference I can recall. Metal Gear Solid is coming to 360. The 3D camera looks really cool. Remedy finally let us see an Alan Wake demo. We got two Halo games on display. Two Beatles came on stage. Left 4 Dead 2. Modern Warfare 2. Splinter Cell Conviction. Shadow Complex. Man, that was a lot to take in at one time.
Easily the most impressive thing for me was Project Milo from Lionhead. This virtual friend was instantly reminiscent of Seaman, one of the more unique Dreamcast games, only on a much grander scale. Molyneux has been talking about working on artificial intelligence for years and this looks to be the fruits of that labor.
Microsoft finally seems to "get" what it means to be an inclusive company. Sure, there are still little oddities like the BigPark Joy Ride racing game that looks incredibly generic and boring. But then there are announcements like Facebook and Twitter integration, Last.FM integration into the dashboard, and increased Netflix/Zune functionality. These are the types of partnerships and initiatives that are going to draw in new audiences. Forget about You're in the Movies and Scene It. Turning Xbox Live into a true social network is the key.
Charles Onyett: Microsoft said it was going to focus on games, and they weren't kidding. I really don't have any complaints about this year. Lots of announcements, lots of in-game footage and actual demos, such as with Modern Warfare 2 and stuff like the Crackdown 2 announcement coming out of nowhere. I was really excited to finally see Alan Wake shown off in the capacity it was, and it really seemed like more of an action game than what I was expecting.
Coming out of it I guess most of my questions had to do with the Milo demo Molyneux showed off, about how scripted the interactions might be. For instance, when Milo moved over to the fishing area, is that the only thing he can do in that scenario? Or could he try to do something else entirely? I'm just really curious to find out how much you can bend the rules within the virtual space, as well as how interactive it is. They showed in the demo that you could pass sheets of paper to Milo using the Natal camera. He can also in some cases toss you imaginary objects, but what wasn't clear was the degree to which this can differentiate every time you load up the program. How many different ways can Milo react? And what does Milo do when the console is turned off?
Watch Splinter Cell: Conviction in action to see what the fuss is about.Streaming HD over Xbox Live is also a pretty big deal, something I'm definitely looking forward to taking advantage of. In terms of what Sony can do to counter, well, maybe we'll see more on the new Metal Gear Solid at its conference, since Microsoft just wanted to let people know it is in fact in development for the Xbox 360.
And in terms of star power from 2008 - 2009, let's make a quick comparison. Microsoft got Duffy for 2008. Microsoft got Stephen Spielberg, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, among others for 2009. So clearly 2008 wins.
Great conference though. As a fan of gaming it was really enjoyable, exciting, and seemed to cover all the bases and present a comprehensive strategy for the company moving forward.
Hilary Goldstein: This is my eighth E3 and this is, without question, the best Microsoft press conference I've seen. Finally, Microsoft listened to our complaints and made a press conference we'd care about -- one that leaves the boring stat-spouting for press releases. This was about games. And there were some great ones shown.
There were some great games shown. From Halo 3: ODST to The Beatles: Rock Band to Splinter Cell Conviction. For me, the winner of the conference was Alan Wake. Remedy has been teasing this game for a long time and boy did they deliver. I wasn't expecting Alan Wake to have so much action--the demo made it seem like a third-person shooter more than the slow-paced psychological thriller as was originally billed. But boy did the action look great. The moment Alan Wake pulled out the flare and ran around destroying the life force of the haunted souls chasing him, I was sold.
There was a time when Paul and Ringo were cool. It was not this week.The only lull for me came with the introduction of Project Natal. The demo portion with some random girl kicking balls really slowed the show. I was wondering why MS would end the show with this instead of the Metal Gear Solid announcement that preceded Natal's introduction. And then Peter Molyneux of Lionhead came out and showcased Project Milo. I don't want a motion camera that allows me to kick balls around. Who gives a crab about that? But what Molyneux showed has real potential. It's next-gen Seaman. All that's missing is narration by Leonard Nimoy. There's no game I more interested in trying than Milo, simply to see if I can break it.
Two years ago, I remember being pulled aside by one of our video producers to shoot a quick "gut response" to Microsoft's conference. I made some sort of gagging noise. Yeah, you've come a long way MS. A great conference.
Erik: The extended demo of painting and slapping balls around was a bit much, especially in a long conference. I'm rather surprised MS didn't come out with some sort of stylish exercise demo to showcase Project Natal. The camera seems much better suited to a fitness game than racing, painting or ball demo. I did think the game show demo was pretty cool. For those that missed it, one of the uses for the camera MS showed was a game show where the whole family could play without a controller. The camera used face recognition to see who was ringing in. Now that's pretty neat.
And Alan Wake looks really amazing.
Hilary: Here's how you know Microsoft had a great press conference. Halo 3: ODST was demoed and Halo: Reach was announced. And neither were the talk of the show. I'd say Alan Wake, Project Milo, and Metal Gear Solid: Rising had just as great a resonance. It's so weird to come out of an MS conference with no real complaints and to actually be excited about what's coming. Usually it's 10 minutes of greatness and 80 minutes of garbage. But I'd say the ratio was flipped this year.
And wow, I didn't even mention that there was a demo of Modern Warfare 2. They made it into a Bond game!
Alan Wake is finally ready for prime time. The wait seems worth it.
Charles: Honestly, if the Natal thing actually works, it's definitely something I'd use even though I'm so accustomed to using controllers. Being able to walk into my living room, err, I mean embarrassingly furnished apartment, and just talk to my 360 to get it to sign in and navigate menus is pretty cool. I doubt I'll be video chatting with friends and determining clothing choices for parties with it, but like the Milo project, there are clearly some interesting applications.
The problem is most of these types of technologies seem to work well when they're demoed, but in actuality feel clumsy or imprecise when actually put to work (see Nintendo Wii at launch). So while it might be useful for things like menu navigation, it may not be the best application for any kind of twitch gaming experience. Maybe it could somehow make typing easier? We'll see I guess.
There are so many games on my radar now it's kind of overwhelming, but in a good way, like if I knew somebody was baking a whole bunch of tasty pizzas for me to eat in the near future.
