Here is my write up of the Microsoft Conference!
OK so here are my notes from the Microsoft Conference…
First off Microsoft came out swinging with
Halo 5. We saw a live demo of them playing the game on stage and it looked gorgeous! 2 teams of 4; one led by Master Chief and the other led by Spartan Locke. Playing as the Chief or Locke you can command your team to do things. The game also features a 'drop in/out' co-op system.
They said it will ship with 20 multi-player maps and future DLC will be free.
They also showed off a new multiplayer mode called 'WarZone', which kind of reminded me of Firefight.
Overall a solid showing for Halo and I am so excited for this! I am a huge fan of Halo and this looks brilliant!
(Halo 5 Campaign Demo here:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwjwJ9Z_XYs)
(WarZone Trailer here:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=av-N5smXFpw)
Next up was a game called
Recore. Made by the folks who bought you Metroid Prime! Game looks interesting!
After that was a huge announcement: Phil Spencer on stage boasted that the Xbox One will be
backwards compatible with Xbox 360 games! This caused the crowd to go wild and made me scream like a little girl! 100 games supported at first, and then hundreds added later. No charge to play games you already own on the 360! Absolutely Brilliant news! The 360 games also run natively on the Xbox One and developers do not need to do ANY work to bring their 360 games to the Xbox One – all they have to do is say YES.
Next up:
Fallout 4! I know a lot of people are extremely excited about this one! The game looks stunning. There was a gameplay demo which ran very smooth and played well. Big announcement with this one too – Fallout 4 will come with Fallout 3 included AND WILL SUPPORT PC MODS! Mods from the PC version can be used on the Xbox One and also shared on the Xbox One! For those in the know, the modding scene is massive and bringing this to the Xbox One is huge news! Very impressed and excited about this!
EA Access: EA took to the stage and talked all things EA Access. Titanfall is joining the Free to Play EA Vault next week, followed by Dragonage Inquisition later this year! This really is a bargain of a service! If you don’t already have it, get it, it’s great! EA Access is also going to be FREE for 1 week – download and play any of the games for a week (Xbox Live GOLD only).
Plants vs Zombies Garden Warfare 2: This is a popular game for some people, looks similar to the first Garden Warfare game and still fun. Coming next Spring.
Forza 6: It wouldn’t be E3 without Forza – Turn 10 are back with their latest instalment ‘Forza 6’. As usual, the game looks beautiful! The stage even had the new Ford GT lowered on to it. If you’re in to racing games, you have to see this! Game releases September 15th 2015! (Gameplay Trailer:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBbXxfZYTAA)
DarkSouls 3: I’ll be honest, I am not very familiar with Dark Souls! (Yes, shoot me!) – however I am interested after seeing the trailer! (Trailer here:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpm4Q-EL_mA)
The Division: Ubisoft once again teased us with ‘The Division’, I’ve been excited about this game for a while now! As usual, it looks amazing and I can’t wait to get my hands on it! Exclusive BETA for Xbox One coming in December! (Multiplayer Reveal:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qp34RxlfGQg)
Rainbox Six: Siege: Once again from Ubisoft, game looks very interesting and good looking!
Also announced with Siege: Rainbow Six Vegas and Vegas 2 come bundled with Siege for FREE!
Gigantic: New game for Xbox One and Windows. Don’t know too much about this one!
Then they showed a montage of tonnes of indy titles coming to the Xbox One – including a
new Goat Game! They also said that the have
over 1000 developers working on indy titles!
ID@Xbox: New games include
‘Tecoma’ (first on Xbox One and Windows),
‘Ashen’ (Xbox One Exclusive),
‘Beyond Eyes’ (first on Xbox One and Windows) and
‘Cuphead’ (Xbox One Exclusive).
Cuphead looked like a lot of fun from what I saw and has a unique style! Very cool looking game!
Xbox Game Preview: It’s like ‘Early Access’ on Steam. Developers can make titles available early as Free to Play, then after a trial period you can ‘purchase the game early’ and ‘have an impact on its development’. Games include:
DayZ and
Ion.
Rise of the Tomb Raider: Coming November 10th this year, Rise of the Tomb Raider looks magnificent! If you’ve played Tomb Raider on the Xbox 360/One/PC etc, you’ll know that this is one to get! Looks like it plays like the original and looks spectacular! We were shown a live demo on stage and it looks epic! Exclusive to Xbox One (most likely a Holiday 2015 exclusive by the looks of it). (Gameplay Here:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGFfeNjxnb0)
RARE Replay: For all those ‘RARE’ fans out there, this is big news! This collection called ‘RARE Replay’ includes
30 (yes, THIRTY) RARE games and a gamescore of 10,000! Games in the collection include
RC Pro-Am, Battletoads, Perfect Dark, Blast Corps, Viva Pinata and Banjo Kazooie! ALL FOR $30! That’s a huge bargain for 30 games! (Trailer here:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=AaieVt3M72c)
RARE then showed off a new IP called
‘Sea of Thieves’ – looks like a game where you are a pirate on the open seas and battle other pirates! (Xbox Exclusive)
Fable Legends: We already knew about this one, its coming to Xbox One and Windows, has cross play and is also Free to Play!
They then announced that Xbox has teamed up with
VALVE VR – they did not elaborate on this but by the sounds of it, it could be big! They also talked about how Xbox has teamed up with
Oculus; every Oculus Rift comes with an Xbox One controller. The Xbox One can also
stream games to the Oculus Rift! Looks like the Xbox One has 2 VR options now! Brilliant news!
Hololens: Ok, firstly I just want to say that I am EXTREMELY excited about Hololens. I have been since I first laid my eyes on it. I think the whole world wants to try this out. It looks insane! They showed a live demo on stage playing a
new version of Minecraft! It started out with a dude playing Minecraft on a virtual screen with his lady friend on stage joining his game via her Surface tablet. He then looked at a table on stage and said “Create World”. Just like that, a digital holographic world was built! The amazing thing was, the lady playing via her Surface tablet was running around this world in real time! He could see her character on the table! It was fascinating to watch! He could even manipulate the world whilst she was playing in it. Very very very cool indeed and is looking to be a game changer sometime in the near future! This technology looks outstanding! The crowd went crazy after this demo! (Watch it here:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgakdcEzVwg)
New Xbox One ELITE Controller: We all knew a new controller was coming, but we just thought it had an added 3.5mm audio jack and ‘improved bumpers’. How wrong were we? This ‘NEW ELITE CONTROLLER’ is a work of art! It has changeable sticks, a new changeable D-pad, SCUF buttons on the back, remappable buttons and a whole host of other features. There is only one way to describe this controller: “BAD ASS!” – this thing looks amazing! See more here:
www.theverge.com/2015/6/15/8783211/microsoft-xbox-one-elite-wireless-controller-announced-e3-2015
(Elite Controller Trailer Here:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJAix3h-1DM)
GEARS of WAR: Ultimate Edition: Coming this August, Gears of War Ultimate Edition is a remaster of the original Gears of War. Boasting 1080p graphics at 60fps! The Multiplayer Beta is
available on Xbox Live… NOW!! So damn epic!
GEARS of WAR 4: Here we have it! Finally. We got to see Gears 4… and it was totally worth the wait! The live demo on stage was insanely great! Honestly, I am mega excited for this! It had the ‘Gears of War’ feel to it! The style, the chainsaw, the blood and bullet trails, everything was spot on! This game is going to be huge! If you were a fan of Gears, then this is a dream come true! Holy god I can’t wait! (Releasing Holiday 2016) (Gameplay here:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bro5YugsPDg)
After all this, the show was coming to a close. They mentioned other games like
‘Crackdown’ and
‘Quantum Break’. They also said that a brand new
Xbox One user interface is on the way!
Overall, this was most certainly one of the best E3 showings I have seen in years! Microsoft really did come out swinging and didn’t seem to be relentless! This was an obvious attempt at showing the world what they are made of; and in my opinion, they made their point! This was, in a word, outstanding!
I wanted to make a video about this but I am still sick and I keep losing my voice! Hence this write up!
Feel free to check me out on YouTube:
www.YouTube.com/DeeKay86
Thank you!
