E3 2009: Microsoft Press Conference

[modeps]

http://evavhost.com/i/news/ea2009.jpg

In about 10 minutes, Microsoft's press conference is starting. Keep your eye on this thread for updates that will be happening throughout the show. I'll be updating the first comment in this post with all the biggest news. Later we'll follow up with more news broken out in single posts. So, get ready to roll... Its just about go time.


The Beatles: Rock Band was shown. The guys were looking good and the game will feature never before heard studio tracks.
Gameplay was shown for Tony Hawk RIDE, Modern Warfare 2 and FF XII.
New XBLA titles shown. The Metroid clone Shadow Complex and Excitetruck familiar JoyRide.
Crackdown 2 and Left 4 Dead 2 were both announced.
Splinter Cell Conviction was shown and is now a 360 exclusive.
Forza 3 gameplay was shown. Lots of grandstanding done about the painting system and the graphics.
Halo 3: ODST gameplay was shown and a cinematic trailer for the newly announced. Halo Reach.
Alan Wake gameplay was shown. Still a 360 exclusive and sporting a TV style narrative.
Last.fm, Twitter and Facebook will all get apps for the 360 alongside a 1080p upgrade for the video library. They will be offering instant streaming films soon.
Sky TV for the UK through your Xbox was announced. No new hardware needed.
Metal Gear Solid Rising announced for 360. A new game starring Raiden.
Project Natal announced and shown at length. Consider it a significantly upgraded EyeToy with full facial, voice and 3D body recognition.


Click the headline to see the coverage.

[modeps]

Reserved for coverage... starting at 1:25pm ET / 10:25 PT. Time was changed from on the half hour for some "special" event that they needed an extra 5 minutes for.


First game showcased, The Beatles: Rock Band. Really cool opening cinematic showing off the Beatles from conception to completion, animated some in the style of Yellow Submarine as well as a bunch of other intermingled styles. This was revealed as the intro video to The Beatles: Rock Band game.

Game will feature "never before heard" studio tracks from the Beatles. Will have DLC. Abby Road will be available via DLC in its entirety soon after game is launched. All You Need is Love is exclusive to Xbox 360 and proceeds from purchasing will be donated to charity.

Olivia Harrison and Yoko Ono show their faces and wave on stage briefly, then both Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr take to the stage saying how much they love the game, look a bit awkward up at a press conference... then they leave.


10 World Premiers instead of charts and graphs promised.


Tony Hawk: Ride - Tony Hawk takes the stage holding the new skateboard controller, explaining the entire way it works and how its got a ton of sensors in it that'll detect everything you do. Ships later "this year." New trailer for the game that's mostly live action of real skaters playing the game and talking it up.


Trailer for Modern Warfare 2 is shown, appears to be the same one that was released last week. Folks from MW2 have taken to the stage and are demoing the game in what looks like real footage. A few soldiers are scaling an icy mountain side with ice axes. Pretty intense feeling stuff, not sure how much is scripted. The two soldiers are assaulting a base in blizzard like conditions. This game looks really good.

Infinity Ward will release 2 map packs "first" on Xbox Live.


Final Fantasy XIII - First video ever showing FFXIII running on Xbox 360 hardware now playing, introduced by some of the game's folks speaking in their native tongue through a translator. 4 Active time gauges is a new feature. The game has summons, and they pull Odin out of their bag to rock the enemy. Targeting Spring 2010 release.


From here on out, all the rest are exclusives.


Chair Entertainment is bringing an Xbox Live Arcade title... but you can't hear anything because his audio is screwed up. It's called Shadow Company and running on Unreal Engine. Cliff Bleszinski is narrating a gameplay video. 2D side scrolling action adventure game that is 10 hours long and has "plenty of replayability".


Joyride on Xbox Live. Racing game featuring in-game Avatars, crazy stunts, big air. Free to download, free to play. Personalize by buying cars and upgrades. Coming this Winter to Xbox Live.


Crackdown 2 Telltale Agility Orb Sound blows up. CG trailer showing zero gameplay is shown, developed by Ruffian Games.


Left 4 Dead 2 Exclusive to Xbox 360 and PC. Full CG trailer shown, looks real awesome.


Splinter Cell Conviction Again, CG trailer shown, exclusive to Xbox 360. "The Sam Fischer you know is dead." However now they are showing off in-game footage. Looks very Bourne-esque, interrogation scene of sorts. The story unfolds in "real-time" and is based on Sam looking for his daughter's killer, objectives and story points are literally projected onto the environment and looks really cool. Their main purpose is immersion and look at each area as a sandbox that Sam can take whatever path he wants... possibly taking a page out of the Hitman series. Very cool visual effects all around. Coming this Fall.


Forza Motorsport 3 Coming this October. This is the "definitive racing game of this generation." In game footage runs and it is, of course, very pretty. Running at 60 FPS, over 400 cars from over 50 manufacturers. User created content is paramount, and they look to be taking the painting of cars in-game to a next level. You can now create and upload high def videos within Forza.


HALO 3: ODST gameplay being shown. Starts from inside a drop pod. Looks like HALO but seems to be focusing on keeping a low profile, lots of low light. The narrative is shown by jumping back into the shoes of other ODSTs, and playing from their point of view. New Co-op game mode called Firefight. Coming September 22nd.


HALO: Reach Announced. Just a CG trailer letting everyone know that there has been a 'top secret' team at Bungie working on this. If you buy ODST, you'll get an invite to the MP Beta for HALO: Reach. Coming Fall 2010.


Alan Wake All footage is shown as in-game. Story is all about a suspense/horror writer who's work is coming to life. "Previously on Alan Wake", "Tonight on Alan Wake", and "To Be Continued" is flashed, indicating that this may be some episodic/TV style presentation. Has a voice over narration by the main character throughout. In-game footage is shown and resembling Resident Evil style gameplay. Very, very nice looking title. Remedy folks clearly have been putting a ton of time into this. Coming Spring 2010.


Last.FM partnering with Microsoft on Xbox Live. Coming later this year, no additional charge to Gold members.


Netflix is getting updated allowing you to browse movies through your 360 without having to use your PC. Instant watch by hitting play on any movie you see in the browser.


SkyTV in the UK through the Xbox 360. No additional hardware needed.


Video Marketplace Instant watch videos, 1080p video movies and TV, coming this fall.


Live Party re-announced. They're still working on it.


Facebook partnership with Xbox Live. Uses the same NXE style experience. Photos, friends lists, etc. Smart move by Microsoft tying in with Facebook instead of making their own social network. Facebook Connect allows screenshots and status updates to your profile, starting only with Tiger Woods. Twitter partnership also announced. Both coming this Fall.


Metal Gear Solid: Rising Hideo Kojima takes the stage with Don Mattrick. Announces MGS: Rising coming to Xbox 360. Brief trailer shows its based on Raiden. It is currently in development. No target date.


Project Natal. Much rumored motion control officially announced. YOU are the controller. Use your own gear with some sort of scanning functionality is included. Facial and Voice recognition. Shown interacting with a bunch of games that don't look real, as well as interaction with the dashboard. Camera looks like the slim PlayStation 2 model with cameras on it.

Stephen Spielberg takes the stage with Mattrick, saying that controllers are just to scary. He's got some team working on something... but no announcement, just Spielberg talking. Kudo Tsunoda (formally of EA Chicago) is the lead on the project and is on stage showing off a prototype. He takes a clear shot at Nintendo by saying "No need for predefined 'wangle' commands." Some of the tech demo stuff looks pretty interesting, Breakout with your body, painting using your hands and voice. Debug units are on their way to developers "today."

Peter Molyneux (Lionhead Studios) takes the stage to talk up Natal. They show off Milo, something they've been working on. A real woman called Claire, is talking to Milo (the fake boy) and interacting with him. This reminds me of Sony's EyePet (that was never released), but a bit cooler and a bit more scripted.


Wrapping up now. Any last announcements Mattrick? Nope. That's it!

[Meusli]

I am gonna watch it through gamespot, the first time I have been on their website in years. :)

[sgtslappy]

http://www.justin.tv/G4TV_E3

Link for people who want to watch.

[Zeal]

what in the fuck is this beatles rockband shit.

HALO REACH in the house. FEEL IT

[lost]

I hate launch day DLC.

[Evil Avatar]

Wow. Talk about starting off on a bad note. Rock Band and Tony Hawk? Who gives a shit???

[Meusli]

Wow, does anybodies streaming stuff work, it's useless.

[lost]

Gamespot's is alright-ish.

The new Tony Hawk looks alright. I'd prefer a controller though.

CoD trailer...this is all a bit dull so far.

[jmonthedude]

Wow. Talk about starting off on a bad note. Rock Band and Tony Hawk? Who gives a shit???

This is exactly what I was thinking.

[Evil Avatar]

And now Modern Warfare 2. Three multiplatform titles in a row. We could have seen these at any Press Conference. Show us something we can't see at Sony's PR.

Good job, Infinity Ward. Way to steal from ALIENS.

[lost]

Exciting stuff!

4 games in and its all multiplatform.

The translator is cute.

[Evil Avatar]

Exciting stuff!

4 games in and its all multiplatform.

Yes, they aren't exactly inspiring people at this point. Now I know why I've been pushing the PS3 to my friends.

[lost]

Here it comes! Cliffy got biceps.

lulz - new Metroid and Excitetruck from Microsoft.

[Oddmaker]

Woohoo Crackdown 2 :)

[lost]

Left 4 Dead 2, Crackdown 2, Holy Shit x 2

Don't trust a new Splinter Cell after the development hell its been in.

[donkeydrop]

Only 3 left and nothing remotely interesting yet.

[dfr]

L4D 2 .. o.O

[Evil Avatar]

Left 4 Dead 2 already? When are they going to go back and finish and fix the first title?

Now a new Splinter Cell. Not a single person cheered or clapped when Splinter Cell was shown. LOL.

[Oddmaker]

Nice Splinter Cell gameplay.

[AspectVoid]

Wow, I am so unimpressed so far. Crackdown 2 would have some interest from me if they showed gameplay rather than a CG trailer. Otherwise, though, its kind of a big meh.

[ThomasPaine]

yeah...what a scam...

instead of fixing the old game, by updating it ala valves baby (tf2). they are going to charge ANOTHER $50....wth...i mean come on L4D had like 5 weapons...should be an expansion or DLC $20...i could see this, but I mean comeon...it did look bad ass though...dirty south vibe. Nasty tank.

[lost]

Forza 3...fair doos I guess. Stop doing e-peen with GT. "Easy way to express myself" - piss off.

Crackdown 2 is the biggest announcement yet. It's obviously not been being worked on for long though - CGI and barely any fuss.

[Zetsuei]

The fact that they're making a Left 4 Dead 2 already enrages me. Why not make a Team Fortress 3 while they're at it to round off projects that Valve can abandon to make an extra buck. And where the FUCK is HL2-Episode 3? 5 years since HL2. Think about that with your mind.

[jmonthedude]

This is too soon. They could support the original title for 2-3 yrs by just releasing additional campaigns for free on Steam.:mad:

[lost]

Here we go with Halo. Spoiled for them though.

EDIT: Aww, its just ODST.

[Testcase]

This is too soon. They could support the original title for 2-3 yrs by just releasing additional campaigns for free on Steam.:mad:

They could. Or they could get people to shell out 50 bucks for it.

Hmmm.. decisions... :D

[MAJOR]

360 is getting DLC for MW2 first.

[Evil Avatar]

Now we know what they did with all the leftover Halo 1 levels.

[lost]

Ahh here comes Reach.

...that was lame.

Mr Wake looks really scripted - reminds me of Alone in the Dark. Eek.

[Oddmaker]

Halo Reach :D

[brandonjclark]

Dammit, I can't watch right now! UGH!!!!!!!!!!

[Durandal-217]

God Halo Reach Mother Fuckers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Holy Shit In Motherfucking Sane Halo Reach Beta Coming Halo Owning All Mother Fuckers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

[donkeydrop]

Well, the Halo news maybe just cancels out that they pissed off the majority of Final Fantasy fans (many 360 owners) by buying a delay in the US launch. Everything else very meh.

[brandonjclark]

God Halo Reach Mother Fuckers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Holy Shit In Motherfucking Sane Halo Reach Beta Coming Halo Owning All Mother Fuckers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Must've been awesome. Glad I missed it.

[Durandal-217]

Who gives a flying fuck about Final Fantasy HALO: REACH 2010.

BE THERE.

[CrysDark]

LoL at no one clapping after Halo

[brandonjclark]

Anyone capture the stream? I would like to see it. Someone upload it, please.

[lost]

Must've been awesome. Glad I missed it.

It wasn't. It was the logo.

[Deunnero]

More Halo!

[Durandal-217]

By thew way I just have to say Halo 3: ODST looked fucking NUTS. Incredible cannot wait to play it 09.22.09.

[CrysDark]

By thew way I just have to say Halo 3: ODST looked fucking NUTS. Incredible cannot wait to play it 09.22.09.

It your type that make me glad I don't play Halo.

[lost]

Hah last.fm. Don't fancy navigating that on slow ass NXE.

[CrysDark]

MS really needed to deliver here and this is fucking boring. Shows the new management has thier head up there ass over there.

[lost]

Sweet! It better be as big as Netflix.

Nice word twisting on the live TV thing.

[CrysDark]

Good luck selling 1080p streams when 90% of people have 1.5 DSL

[lost]

Good luck selling 1080p streams when 90% of people have 1.5 DSL

Hah. I thought the same.

Fuck Facebook.

[The-Builder]

Felica Day :O
<3

[CrysDark]

We now have something extremley exciting to use on your GAME CONSOLE.

FACEEBOOK

FAIL!!!!

[lost]

More cheers for Twitter than Halo? What has happened to E3?

[drowsy]

So uh... I tune in, all excited and thinking that the "ten completely new, exclusive titles" would be something fun. What I've seen so far is another Rock Band and another Halo, neither of which interest me. Forza 3, which would be awesome if there was actually a half-decent racing wheel for X360. There's been tons of Xbox Live community bullshit which doesn't interest me. Facebook and Twitter? That interest me even less! At least we know Alan Wake is still alive, and I'm sure L4D 2 will be fun.

[jmonthedude]

I wonder for how long will the DLC for MW2 be exclusive to xbox 360. Hopefully Infinity Ward will release more than just one map pack for MW2. I was disappointed that they didn't release more DLC for COD4 the way Treyarch did with World at War.

[The-Builder]

And we got MGS4!

[CrysDark]

And we got MGS4!

Not quite
MGS spin off..

[The-Builder]

With Raiden... :(

[Evil Avatar]

New Metal Gear. That is exciting isn't it?

Anyone?

Anyone?

Bueller?

[CrysDark]

And they gayest character from the serious. Fitting...

[lost]

Haha. Still no MGS4.

I fucking knew it! I will find the post where I predicted that! MGS-Devil May Cry, I'm telling you.

That is not new. That is EyeToy made good.

EDIT: And it shits on Tony Hawk Ride. Haha.

[bskeillor]

And now to introduce our next awkward, uncomfortable looking guest to the stage.....

[CrysDark]

Nothing about it being an exclusive either...

[Hellstorm]

Well, looks like the real E3 battle is between Sony and Nintendo.

[CrysDark]

The camera would have to be over a grand to have that accurate tracking.

[jmonthedude]

Metal Gear Solid Rising on xbox 360 has gotta be devastating to Sony fanboys. That's worse news than MGS4 on xbox. That's kind of like seeing a Halo game being released on playstation

[CrysDark]

Metal Gear Solid Rising on xbox 360 has gotta be devastating to Sony fanboys. That's worse news than MGS4 on xbox. That's kind of like seeing a Halo game being released on playstation

With Rayden? Really, the biggest disappointment in gaming history?

[Cutter99]

WOOO! Now Xbox owners will be able to share in all the pitiful delusions that Playstation owners have been hiding behind for years!

No really! The games are great! The plot is really *intricate*! Really it's full of suspense and drama!!! I love Kojima! I can't wait to get more poop jokes and ass-shots! YAY!

[Deunnero]

Is this the day Sony died?

[Hellstorm]

Metal Gear Solid Rising on xbox 360 has gotta be devastating to Sony fanboys. That's worse news than MGS4 on xbox. That's kind of like seeing a Halo game being released on playstation
Not even close. Metal Gear Solid Rising == Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles.

[dfr]

from now on i will applaud myself after every sentence too !

[lost]

I know! Aren't they lucky!

MGS rocks. Fact.

[bskeillor]

Yeah I was wondering how much a camera would cost that could track that kind of movement in different light settings, etc...

[lost]

"How much of this stuff is real?"

Well, Live Party still isn't.

[CrysDark]

Tracking is terrible in that stage lighting. Imagine having to play something that requires split second timing.

IE: A metroid prime game.

However I am sure it can track you humping the ground as Gayden.

[jmonthedude]

Project Natal - Man, microsoft is working really hard to get in on some of that Nintendo Wii money.

[bskeillor]

Is it possible that Nintendo pulled a rope a dope on MS? I mean think about it, MS is doing all kind of stuff to mimic Nintendo's philosophy about controllers and casual gaming. Wouldn't it be hilarious if Nintendo said, you know what, Wii was kind of a fad and fun while it lasted, here's our next console with a real controller and real games that people want to play.

[CrysDark]

So now we'll see MS abandon their hardcore base like nintendo right?

[bskeillor]

Or next year's highlight for MS will be Natal motion plus.

[CrysDark]

Mario Paint!

[lost]

No way he is voice controlling that in an exhibition hall.

[Evil Avatar]

Is this motion control thing dragging on about 3x as long as it should or what???

[CrysDark]

So the reason why MS was so tight lipped about 09 wasn't because they were saving for this awesome e3 showing. It's because they had nothing at all interesting to show.

More of the same, Gayden, and lets copy Nintendo, when Nintendo is starting to see a slide in their sales because there is nothing to do with their damned console.

[Zetsuei]

Guess I'll never get to play MGS4 since I will never own a PS3

OMG FACEBOOK ON 360 - best announcement of E3 w00t~! ......

The Eye Toy will not be that great.

[bskeillor]

Now we have the king of overhype....

[score]

Well, that was a dud. Saying that - I'm not expecting anything better from the other two.

[CrysDark]

I would just love to see trying to play fable 2 with that camera.

and a BULLSHOT video!

[lost]

Shit Natal is going to be buggy if Lionhead are involved.

Bullshot. Creepy kid too - he is claiming to have invented AI.

[bskeillor]

Milo, go jump in that lake!

[CrysDark]

Would you like to Kill your parents Milo, wouldn't that be fun!

[bskeillor]

Uh huh. And cutting a blade of grass has a ripple effect throughout the Fable world....

[Zetsuei]

Oh wow, you can have a scripted conversation with a little boy. I CAN'T FUCKING WAIT!

[dfr]

Would you like to Kill your parents Milo, wouldn't that be fun!
you actually made me lol ! :rolleyes: i'm one sad person i know

[jmonthedude]

I think the announcement I would have liked for Microsoft to make the most is that they were reducing the price of buying an additional hard drive for the 360.

[Verruckt]

oh my god, ACTUAL gameplay footage from Alan Wake? I was sure that game would be a myth much like Duke Nukem Forever.

[Verruckt]

Wow! 360 is the home of EVERY hit franchise. Like Zelda and Mario!

[lost]

What happens if you touch Milo inappropriately?

[CrysDark]

The best controller. You [hold for applause] [embarrassing silence]. Luje Warm Applause.

F
A
I
L

[everar]

What happens if you touch Milo inappropriately?

Microsoft will know where you live. :P

[Crabby]

You guys are somewhat irrational if you don't think full body wall ball has the potential to beat the pants off of the inaccurate bullshit that the Wii produced.

[Wyrm]

Oh joy, a pedophilia simulator for all Xbox owners!

Are you fucking kidding me?

[CrysDark]

Oh joy, a pedophilia simulator for all Xbox owners!

Are you fucking kidding me?

Can't stop laughing.

[dfr]

l4d 2 trailer up on gametrailers: http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-09-left-4-dead/49967

[drowsy]

You guys are somewhat irrational if you don't think full body wall ball has the potential to beat the pants off of the inaccurate bullshit that the Wii produced.

It won't be used for actual games in the next decade. There will be minigames and all that, but I will eat my arm if any big budget games actually utilize that thing before 2020.

[bean19]

Great job modeps! Can you describe Milo a bit more? I'm not sure what the gameplay is like, etc.

[bskeillor]

Wow! 360 is the home of EVERY hit franchise. Like Zelda and Mario!

Sign me up for LBP and Uncharted too. Didn't they say one of their Live games was the biggest creative community earyl on in the conference?

[Zaro]

The camera could be very fun.
We just need to wait to see some good games made for this.

[Derella]

Damn. I was kinda hoping for Fable 3. Or a game. Not a creepy little boy that makes me look crazy while standing in front of my TV.

[Durandal-217]

http://mktplassets.xbox.com/NR/rdonlyres/2CC98463-C137-4AF5-A3C4-9D9B5ED70892/0/cboxhaloreach.jpg

http://marketplace.xbox.com/en-US/games/media/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d8024d53085b/?p=1&of=0&sb=1

From the beginning, you know the end. Halo: Reach. Fall 2010.

[Crabby]

It won't be used for actual games in the next decade. There will be minigames and all that, but I will eat my arm if any big budget games actually utilize that thing before 2020.

If they can put that "tech demo" in a retail package that has minimal bugs, that item by itself would become something infinitely more entertaining to me than anything I experienced with the WiiMote.

[modeps]

Great job modeps! Can you describe Milo a bit more? I'm not sure what the gameplay is like, etc.

Thanks, I try. Milo looked like a CG animated kid hanging out by a pond. The woman walked up and the system supposedly recognized her and they started talking and having a short conversation. The cooler thing was that she was able to draw a picture on a piece of paper, Natal scanned and recognized it... then Milo described what he saw in the picture. Not sure if that was legit or not, because they didn't show the paper after she drew on it... or when it was scanned in... but it was neat in concept.

[Zaro]

What's the price of the camera?

[Verruckt]

Sign me up for LBP and Uncharted too. Didn't they say one of their Live games was the biggest creative community earyl on in the conference?

Why is no one else talking about this game changing news? ALL the consoles have come together to provide the 360 with all the games anyone could ever want! This is amazing. A kind of cooperation I never thought I'd see in my several life-times.

[bskeillor]

I admit it was an impressive demo, but my best guess is that it would cost more than the Wii by itself.

[Evil Avatar]

Great job modeps! Can you describe Milo a bit more? I'm not sure what the gameplay is like, etc.

They didn't show any gameplay. Just some actress conversing with what is probably mo-cap of an actor hiding behind a screen.

[EL CABONG]

Natall can't work that well. What they showed with the scaning the skateboard was downright Star Trek Holodeck stuff.
If it works half as good as they say I might get one. If their are no games for it besides creepy teenage Seaman and a mini game collection or two then I will pass.

[Evil Avatar]

What's the price of the camera?

$399.99. :p

[bean19]

Sign me up for LBP and Uncharted too. Didn't they say one of their Live games was the biggest creative community earyl on in the conference?
PS3 fans can try a bit harder than that. A 10 hour single-player only game and a platformer with often frustrating jump puzzles are not the hit franchises that define the PS3 experience for me (I want it for MGS 4, Valkyrie Profile, Disgaea and upcoming titles like God of War III - NOT these middling offerings).

[Meusli]

Wow, well I know most of the haters in this thread thought it was rubbish but I thought that was a top show. Super excited about the games they are releasing and project natal looked fabulous.

[bean19]

Thanks, I try. Milo looked like a CG animated kid hanging out by a pond. The woman walked up and the system supposedly recognized her and they started talking and having a short conversation. The cooler thing was that she was able to draw a picture on a piece of paper, Natal scanned and recognized it... then Milo described what he saw in the picture. Not sure if that was legit or not, because they didn't show the paper after she drew on it... or when it was scanned in... but it was neat in concept.
So it's just a concept of using neat AI with Natal. Gotcha. Not having seen it, I was under the impression that this was some sort of game.

[CrysDark]

It was all BullSHOT.

[CrysDark]

$399.99. :p

It'll be more than that. To have the tracking abilities of that magnitude we are talking about gigapixel resolutions. Not to mention you are going to have to train it to your voice for every member of the family, as well as the shape of each family member.

Total let down, and I play my 360 more than the other two consoles.

Best part of the show: http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-09-the-beatles/49969

[Meusli]

It was all BullSHOT.

Shut up ps3 fanboi.

[CrysDark]

And how neutered will that MGS be with only having 8GB available. That's about 15 minutes of one of Kojima's movies.

Unless like said earlier is MGS: Devil May Cry edition.

Ughh Gayden, nothing worse than playing that awesome ship at see mission and then the rest of the game is Gayden.

[bskeillor]

LOL. You just said 10 hour single player game and then countered it with MGS4.

LBP is the game that gets played the most on our 3 systems. The xbox and wii almost never get used. Granted it's my kids and their friends playing it, but the room is always busting with laughter when there are people around.

[CrysDark]

Shut up ps3 fanboi.

Heh, I play my 360 more than I do my PS3. After two really good gaming years for MS. This year really looks fucking awful. I am so disappointed the direction MS is going.

[Crabby]

It was all BullSHOT.


Fable 2.5 with creepy kid? Probably. A person should never trust Lionhead.

Hands-free interaction with the console along with real tangible gameplay? Probably real. Afterall, Microsoft has been funneling R&D into the type of virtual OS environments that you saw in Minority Report for years. Project Natal would seem to be an accidental invention if it works.

[RUSKULL]

Good to see a Halo game with current gen graphics :D

[Derella]

One cool think about Milo was that you could see the lady playing the game's reflection in the pond, and it looked like her.

[Cutter99]

Think of the possibilities here!!

More fantastic MGS action, with a motion camera!!

Now - you, the PLAYER can actually hold a man at gunpoint, and then reach down and cup his balls *yourself*

The dream is nearly here! It's almost real!! Kojima's Vision is upon us!!!!

[CrysDark]

Project Natal: Project Pre-Born Baby. Just about right. I just don't understand what executive had the brilliant Idea of copying the WII, when there is a scramble at nintendo right now as the WII is steadily loosing sales.

Nintendo is just now realizing you can't carry a console gen on shovel-ware. Hopefully their e3 conference shows this.

[Meusli]

Heh, I play my 360 more than I do my PS3. After two really good gaming years for MS. This year really looks fucking awful. I am so disappointed the direction MS is going.

What?, we have a new Modern warfare, Alan Wake, Forza 3, Splinter Cell and something that takes the Wii too the next level and you think it looks awful. What with all the other games coming out its another top Christmas for everyone.

[Philip J. Fry]

A little surprised we got Xbox Live integration for Lastfm, Facebook, and Twitter and absolutely nothing was announced for Hulu.

Of the four, Hulu is the only one I give a damn about. Was Olivia Munn bullshitting us?

[modeps]

A little surprised we got Xbox Live integration for Lastfm, Facebook, and Twitter and absolutely nothing was announced for Hulu.

Of the four, Hulu is the only one I give a damn about. Was Olivia Munn bullshitting us?

Both Twitter and Facebook are awesome business moves... Now, Last.FM? That's just fucking awesome (I love Last.FM)

[Meusli]

I liked the last.fm integration, even though my PC is in the same room as the 360. It means I can sign more mates up to it.

[RUSKULL]

Would you like to Kill your parents Milo, wouldn't that be fun!

Bwa-HA-HA!

I was actually thinking "Are they going to show an example where you DON'T interact with some loser kid?". What about being in the world of the Simpson's and chatting with Bart to pull a prank or something on Skinner. That would at least be entertaining.

[the soUL TRAder]

Wow, you clowns are choking on your fanbois bile.
Glad I'm concerned about gaming experiences and not platforms.

SplinterCell looked awesome, my favorite franchise so I'm glad I'll see it soon.
The gameplay of Alan Wake blows every other "survival horror" game and "story driven" game out of the water from what I've seen.
I'm glad I didn't buy L4D, so I won't have any problem getting the 2nd with the much needed improvements generated from fan feedback.
And Shadow Conspiracy might be my second XBLA purchase, love the contra vibe to it.

Don't care much about the other games shown, since I'm not a big Halo/Forza/FF/MW player, although I will rent MW2 for the SP campaign; and the MGS announcement is a feather in the cap more than a big score, UNLESS Kojima makes use of XBLs superior community and gives it a real multiplayer experience. That would instantly make 360s MGS far superior to all other MGSs, IMO.

However it's nice to see that Natal scares the beejebus out of all the anti-MS fanbois.
It's either that or you idiots actually think child abuse is funny or aren't 13 years old yet :rolleyes:.

I am personally excited to see what that level of interaction can bring to gaming experiences, there is no doubt that if a game like Fallout had that level of interaction between the player and NPCs it would make all those conversations that much more interesting. Plus, you could use it to hail cabs in games like GTA, or "flip the bird" to rival gang members in SR, not to mention it adds many more imput choices for games that suffer from the controllers lack thereof.

And for the doubters, here's a little info on what people waaaaaay smarter than you can do: http://www.3dvsystems.com/technology/tech.html

I doubt MS will "win" E3 with this conference, especially in the short term, but it does show the future has some potential to actually bring some gaming experiences I've been waiting on for a decade.

Here's hoping the other conference threads are filled with gamers and not haters. ;)

[Mr. Lake]

Sadly, the thing I'm most excited about is JoyRide.

As for the whole Natal fiasco, I can't imagine every game for that hardware being Time Crisis + Seaman in different packages.

[SpectralWolf]

Okay. That was a middling E3 presentation, but there were some exciting announcements nonetheless.

Lookin forward to the new Halo games (I'm sure they'll introduce some new/better gameplay), MGS:Rising (Loved MGS4, so this should be more exciting content that merges games & film)

Don't really care about all the partners and integrations. Xbox is becoming less about hardcore games and more about yet another platform to do all your boring stuff on.

[Evil Avatar]

Overall... not enough games. Not enough GREAT games and they spent like 30 minutes talking about some fantasy technology that will probably end up being the 360 equilivent of the Eye Toy. Snooze.

It is impossible not to be excited about Alan Wake, but the rest of the Press Conference pretty much blew big frothy chunks.

As always, Felicia Day is a hottie.

[lost]

Felicia Day was extra hottie.

Not to draw away from modeps' excellent effort but I now have some sort of footage up for every game they showed. Right there -> http://www.evilavatar.com/forums/showthread.php?t=86596

[Zecon]

OMG Microcraps, that was sooo lamez! Halo is sooo played out and they are just milking it! Splinter Cell is just a stupid MGS knockoff and looks like that stupid Bourne game noone cared about. And Raiden is such a gay twink, You can have him, I'll take my old, decrepit, wrinkly 1 eyed snake any day! Tomorrow Sony is going to show off team Ikos new game, you know they made a movie about their last game?! Adam Sandler was in it! Then they'll show god of war 3, which is going to steal the whole show and be an instant win! lol noobs.
Jesus people, what were you expecting? I thought there were some really excellent games there. Splinter cell is looking sweet, and I'm really excited about the new Halos being released. I'm kinda indifferent about MGS, mostly because of Raiden, but also because I'm betting on a beat em up action game.

[bskeillor]

If you think this thread is filled with fanboyism, just wait til Cammie Dunnaway shows up tomorrow.

[Mantooth]

Sam Fisher is no longer Emo. Glad that Ubi decided to go back to the drawing board with that move.

[TeeCakes]

I was looking for a reason to buy a 360. Didn't find a one, at least not until "Spring 2010".

[Mr.Green]

3 words: You Joyless Fucks.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v651/mrgreen72/EvAvRolleyes.jpg

The 3D camera could be a revolution or it could be a glorified Eye Toy. It will all depend on the games. Shocking, I know. If it gets integrated in "core" games I'm in. If it's just stupid minigames then, well, we'll see.

[Zeal]

halo odst and reach made the conference.

eveything else was gay, especially the wannabe Wii motion controller shit.

[Samstag]

And how neutered will that MGS be with only having 8GB available. That's about 15 minutes of one of Kojima's movies.

I think I'd be more likely to try another MGS game if I knew it was limited to 15 minutes. The games are fun but the story should have been drowned at birth.

[Ozymandias]

Wow, I am so unimpressed so far. Crackdown 2 would have some interest from me if they showed gameplay rather than a CG trailer. Otherwise, though, its kind of a big meh.

Heh... you won't be disappointed. Trust me. :)

[Ozymandias]

The camera would have to be over a grand to have that accurate tracking.

Not a chance...

[Ozymandias]

Shit Natal is going to be buggy if Lionhead are involved.

Bullshot. Creepy kid too - he is claiming to have invented AI.

Vid is real. And they're showing the same demo behind closed doors at the show - so you'll get plenty of independent confirmation.

[Evil Avatar]

Vid is real. And they're showing the same demo behind closed doors at the show - so you'll get plenty of independent confirmation.

How much are they paying the actor who does the motion capture for Milo while he is sitting behind the curtain at E3? :p

[Ozymandias]

How much are they paying the actor who does the motion capture for Milo while he is sitting behind the curtain at E3? :p

Nothing. Puppet sitting on a stick. ;)

I'd encourage people to dig into the capabilities of the camera and think about how it might be used. We're in early days... but trust me, it works. It's eerie how engaging it is... the closest analogy I can think of is when you first used a mouse and saw the direct hand/screen interaction. Right now you're seeing early demos and prototype work... but imagine what happens when your favorite developer starts going to town on the hardware....

[eth3rton]

Well overall I thought they showed some really great stuff. Hated Crackdown but CD2 looked promising. Modern Warfare 2 looks insane! I thought Alan Wake was this generations Duke Nukem : Forever but they proved me wrong. The Halo titles look absolutely amazing! Natal has potential.

[Evil Avatar]

Right now you're seeing early demos and prototype work... but imagine what happens when your favorite developer starts going to town on the hardware....

I hope it lives up to the high standard of motion control games we have seen from Wii developers. I'm dying to play the Xbox 360 version of Carnival Games.

[Evil Avatar]

halo odst and reach made the conference.

eveything else was gay, especially the wannabe Wii motion controller shit.

Lets see... you were blown away by game levels that made Halo 1's game levels look detailed and a CGI movie showing a planet burning up. I'll admit I'm shocked. I didn't realize you were that easy to please.

[Ozymandias]

I hope it lives up to the high standard of motion control games we have seen from Wii developers. I'm dying to play the Xbox 360 version of Carnival Games.

Oh, it had better go well beyond or I'll be disappointed. But Carnival Games Deluxe FTW! ;)

[bean19]

Overall... not enough games. Not enough GREAT games and they spent like 30 minutes talking about some fantasy technology that will probably end up being the 360 equilivent of the Eye Toy. Snooze.
I am not ready to poop on the new controller after seeing the success of the Wii. The whole Milo thing sounds neat, but tech demos nearly always disappoint vs. what we actually see in games.

Agree that more games should have been shown, but it seems they left major coverage of the best ones to the companies bringing them out (Mass Effect 2 for isntance). . . weak year for the 360 as far as exclusives (compared to themselves. . . strong showing vs. last year's Wii and PS3, but I think the PS3's lineup of exclusives this year will win if this is all the 360 has to show).

I think the Netflix features sound cool and integration with Facebook might be cool (they are definitely progressing Xbox Live).

[Mr.Green]

You have to be pretty shortsighted not to see how the camera could enhance existing genres. If it can only do what TrackIR does on the PC, I'll be happy.

9wXx3vMy_AQ

[lost]

The camera doubt is probably nintys fault but other than sports games devs have yet to do anything compelling with similar tech.

[bean19]

Oh, it had better go well beyond or I'll be disappointed. But Carnival Games Deluxe FTW! ;)
What we want to know about Natal is price-point and games. I know E3 is too choice a time to not reveal it, but it would have been nice if it already had at least a "Wii Sports" level of demo available for it.

If there is such a thing and it just isn't shown yet, then awesome.

Btw, while Milo may be semi-real, isn't there a little bit of a "man behind the curtain"? I find it highly unlikely that Molyneux has gotten past AI's biggest Achilles heel (pattern recognition) in a meaningful way. I'm willing to believe that this means the camera may be able to recognize 2D images that it has been taught specifically, but I doubt Milo could recognize anything drawn on a piece of paper.

As much as he stumbles, you still have to love Molyneux for thinking that big though. (And for puttign on the whole "Oz Wizard" show).

[Earth Djinn]

Excellent showing. Microsoft have kicked off this E3 in an amazing way. Now to see if Sony and Ninty can keep up.

[Meatgortex]

halo odst and reach made the conference.

eveything else was gay, especially the wannabe Wii motion controller shit.

Remember that head tracking trick with the WiiMote (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jd3-eiid-Uw) That would be extremely easy to do with the Natal.

So you could have your Halo and the Natal would let you physically lean left/right shift your view in the game. So now is it still "gay"?

[Venkman]

I hope it lives up to the high standard of motion control games we have seen from Wii developers. I'm dying to play the Xbox 360 version of Carnival Games.


Ooooo, sick burn!

I have to agree with Evil. I'm not excited until it gets consistent support. I love the eyetoy on Ps2 but that went nowhere fast.

[revelation]

Only things that have me excited is the existence of Crackdown 2 and Alan Wake.

The rest is eh.

[bean19]

Would you like to Kill your parents Milo, wouldn't that be fun!
This and Wyrm's frightening suggestion about Milo being a pedo simulator are actually pretty spot-on. Though I don't think quite to that sinister a degree.

I remember playing "open" adventure games in both text and graphical forms as a little kid (and I think they were around before I was born). There were "approved" actions you could choose if you used a command to bring up a list of them, but the idea of the game was that you could simply type in the action the characters should take. As an 8 year-old, the first thing my best friend and I told this young maiden and young knight to do was to take off their clothes. The second thing we did after the game mildly rebuked us was to simply type in "fuck" (though neither of us fully understood the meaning, we knew that it meant sex). We probably spent a good 30 minutes telling the characters to do bad things and received "I don't understand" replies or pre-progammed mild rebukes.

If Milo is not simply a tech demo to show off the power of their technology in order to gain funding for improvement of that technology that could eventually be used in games (and interactive guides, companions for the sick or elderly, AI tutors, etc.) but is instead intended to be a USED interactive AI that will build a relationship with a player as well as playing games with him/her then the programmers will expect players to scream curse words at Milo, tell him to get naked, to perform sex acts, etc. just like those programmers expected that we would do that in games that came out before I was even alive, and the responses will be the same. Milo will either say, "I don't understand" or he'll use a stock response to vulgar behavior (probably one that breaks the fourth wall like, "I'm not actually a 10 year old boy but if you talk to them like that in real life then you need to see a pyschiatrist).

This is the most exciting (and possibly least true) thing I've seen at an E3 ever. Imagine developing a relationship (even a semi-shallow one) with an AI in a game that is about playing games with that AI? Maybe Milo focuses on being really smart AI so he is more of a companion than a playmate. . . all you do together is simple games with fish or play cards and chess in the grass on the hill with most of the attention being placed on Milo's ability to grow and respond to you. However, when that is well developed, I can see this being used to play war games where your relationship with your squad is meaningful or RPGs where you interact with the characters as a member of the party rather than as an observant 3rd person god. Imagine playing a Splinter Cell game where you are tasked with interrogating an intelligent AI?

It could just be an incredibly well-trained bit of AI shown at it's best with a handler that the AI has been molded to perfectly, but there is an outside chance that it could be more. . . or the beginning of more. Like Molyneux, I dare to dream.

The amount of cynicism or lack of imagination I've read from some readers who have watched this makes me sad. I temper my dreams with cynicism. You guys seem happier to destroy them.

[Evil Avatar]

The amount of cynicism or lack of imagination I've read from some readers who have watched this makes me sad. I temper my dreams with cynicism. You guys seem happier to destroy them.

Dude.

Lionhead. AI.

Those two words do not mix.

Honestly, if that level of AI was even possible -- someone would already be doing it in games. Think about it. Who wouldn't want to play a game with better enemy or partner AI? Everyone does. The problem is that there is only so much horsepower to go around and if you spend all your computing power on graphics it doesn't leave a ton for AI. This was a fantasy tech demo designed by marketing people to get you talking about a technology that doesn't exist and ignoring the fact that Sony has actual games coming out this fall.

If they are just now sending out development kits to developers -- that means that those developers don't even have a game on the drawing board for this technology. It will take them like 12 months to protype something unique and another 24 months to build it.

Carnival Games. That is what we are going to be playing.

[Evil Avatar]

So you could have your Halo and the Natal would let you physically lean left/right shift your view in the game. So now is it still "gay"?

So, the first time you lean over during a game to grab a drink the in-game character turns away from the action?

Think about it.

[lost]

Or, you know, I turn my head and then I'm not looking at my TV anymore. It doesn't move with my head.

Impressive tech. I just don't trust it to work well in a gaming context.

[bean19]

Honestly, if that level of AI was even possible -- someone would already be doing it in games. Think about it. Who wouldn't want to play a game with better enemy or partner AI? Everyone does.

1. Great AI is already around. I've "talked" (typed rather) with bots that are meant to make you wonder if they are real or not. As someone familiar with code, it was easy to determine the AI and the real person, but without using tricks to catch it out, the AI was quite good (and I'm sure Milo will have ticks that show he is clearly AI too). The reason we haven't seen it in games is that it is hard to convey an emotion with a control pad. Natal is what opens this up as a possibility.

2. Horsepower would be the issue in some games obviously, but I expect they will compartmentalize the AI moments. For instance, if I designed an RPG for use with Natal, I'd make it so that in the fights, the player is making motions to attack, dodge attacks, or cast spells. . . the AI simply responds based on how much they "like" him (one variable only) - easy stuff as the processor is working on crunching the battle numbers. Later, when we set up camp, the AI would be in full force and you'd get the story by asking questions or having conversations instead of simply hitting "A". There would be several different AI there, but you could work it so that you only engaged one at a time. In any case, getting a simple "game" like Milo to work well enough to be a companion for playing card games and chess shouldn't be too processor intensive.

[the soUL TRAder]

Honestly, if that level of AI was even possible -- someone would already be doing it in games. Think about it. Who wouldn't want to play a game with better enemy or partner AI?

WTF are you talking about? There where incredible "AI" games a decade ago, most notably for me the original Rainbow 6 games, but Black and White quailifies, too. The problem is most gamers have the IQ of a 12 year old and are much more impressed with badass "super" heros that they can have "man-crushes" on. They absolutely don't want good AI because they die too much.

The problem is that there is only so much horsepower to go around and if you spend all your computing power on graphics it doesn't leave a ton for AI. .

See, you answered you're own criticism, games that sacrifice "looking pretty" for AI, or even gameplay, have sold like shit. The main difference today is that graphic quaility is meeting the law of diminishing returns, so most studios can make a pretty good looking game, even if they don't have much coding skill. So, it stands to reason that the best gaming experiences in the future will differentiate themselves through gameplay, advanced AI, and immersion; three things that are all made easier through Natal.

Of course don't believe me, even though I was one of the few to give credit to the motion controller when Nintendo revealed it, and it seems most of you haven't learned from your previous short-sightedness ;).

And if we as gamers had to wait almost 4years for gamemakers to underdeliver on games like Killzone2, I won't begrudge MS for announcing this now, even if we don't see real results till '11 or maybe next holiday. Heck, the bottem line for me is anything that helps developers focus less on graphics and more on gameplay and AI is a win. And especially since this Wii has already given them some practice at it, it should be a smoother transition for 360 developers.

And it goes the same for whatever motion control the PS3 adds.

[matrixsucks]

Natal just looks like a fancier version of Eyetoy. It has greater capability, sure, but I don't think that it's going to catch on. As well, I don't feel the technology will equal their demonstrations yesterday.

I hope to be wrong, and Natal turns out to be a really cool piece of technology that suppliments regular controllers. I don't think it will be, and Microsoft sure made both Nintendo and Sony look suave through their adoption of this controllerless gaming (as Nintendo's Wiimote and Sony's Eyetoy came out years before Natal was announced).

[SpectralWolf]

Screw Natal! I'll have to drink from a sippy cup if my every movement is gonna translate into in-game wonkiness....wait. I already drink from a sippy cup.

With the right applications, this thing could be real slick. If you can make it work in tandem with the regular controller & the camera, I can see some RTS games or similar games really benefitting from it.

[Virtuoso]

Lionhead. AI.

Those two words do not mix.

Fable 2 dog? You didn't think that was impressive at all?

[lost]

For AI? I thought it was pretty standard.

Maybe I missed something. Characters reacted to pre-set actions like they always do but the pre-set actions were just a bit more abstract this time around.

[Crabby]

Fable 2 wasn't really impressive at all if you want to consider it from the relative hype it was getting. Sitting in front of an npc and using the same action in order to completely move the love/hate slider completely to one side? Smoke and mirrors that cause asthma and cut you.

I'd compare the AI found in that game to The Sims. Very simplistic stuff in regard to how the player actually interacts with it.