E3: Microsoft Press Conference Part 1
By Chienne - Thu Jul 12, 2007 11:41am
So. The second webcast for my E3 2007 experience was the Microsoft E3 Press Conference, from Santa Monica High School. It was a lengthy presentation and full of all sorts of interesting information - so I'm breaking it up into bitesize pieces for easy digestion. I'm nice like that.
Anyway - if you'd tuned in to the live stream yesterday, you would have been treated to Peter Moore, head of Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment Business division playing Rock Band on stage with some of the developers from Harmonix. It was, perhaps, the worst version of Main Offender (originally by The Hives) that I have ever seen. You should perhaps be grateful that you missed it.
In other news, though, all of the games shown as part of the conference will be available (at least in North America) by the end of the year.
A random image each from Viva Pinata: Party Animals and Mass Effect, as well as an Xbox 360 to refresh your memory
After some basic stats, Peter started off by showing a couple of game trailers, to get us in the mood. Firstly: Viva Pinata: Party Animals looks awesome. Looks like they've taken the original VP beasts, and stuck them into a bunch of mini-games and activities. Trust me when I say I'll be keeping an eye on this one (even moreso because Krome Studios are involved!). Meanwhile, you can watch the video and make up your own mind.
BioWare's baby, Mass Effect, won "Best RPG" prizes at last year's E3, and is back again for a second helping, shinier than ever. It's finally due to hit retail shelves in November, so check out the official trailer and keep an eye out for this one.
Now... some stats for you.
The top five best-selling games from the last generation of consoles came from only two game series. They were:
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas + Grand Theft Auto: Vice City + Grand Theft Auto III
and
Halo 2 + Halo
Those game releases don't only define and highlight a generation, but they were also largely behind the world's biggest holiday season in terms of game sales. Christmas 2004 saw $US75 million taken in holiday sales, with the "perfect storm" of gaming - the almost simultaneous release of:
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas + Madden 05 + Halo
...which sold 11 million copies, during the fourth quarter of 2004.
This year, we're shaping up for a similar "perfect storm". Up to a third of all new gamesales in the second half of this year will be made up of three titles - and the only console that has all three games in the trifecta is - you guessed it - the Xbox 360.
Those titles, of course, are:
Grand Theft Auto: IV + Madden 08 + Halo 3
Now, the first big list of games you can expect to see (at least in the US, hopefully down here as well) by the end of the year:
Jeff Bell, Corporate Vice President of Global Marketing, Interactive Entertainment Business, then took the stage, to introduce a couple of unique, exclusive titles for the Xbox 360.
He also discussed that the new series of EA Sports will run twice as fast and twice as smoothly as the earlier series have. I'm assuming that doesn't mean the people will run around more quickly, just that the game will not be so slow. To demonstrate Madden NFL 08, American football star Reggie Bush came out to see if prowess on the paddock translates to victory in the video... and, y'know what? I don't remember the last time I've seen a gaming company exec get beaten quite so resoundingly on stage by an athlete. They should do that more often.
...on that note, I shall pause for breath, before coming back with part 2: Xbox Live.
Anyway - if you'd tuned in to the live stream yesterday, you would have been treated to Peter Moore, head of Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment Business division playing Rock Band on stage with some of the developers from Harmonix. It was, perhaps, the worst version of Main Offender (originally by The Hives) that I have ever seen. You should perhaps be grateful that you missed it.
In other news, though, all of the games shown as part of the conference will be available (at least in North America) by the end of the year.
)
A random image each from Viva Pinata: Party Animals and Mass Effect, as well as an Xbox 360 to refresh your memory
After some basic stats, Peter started off by showing a couple of game trailers, to get us in the mood. Firstly: Viva Pinata: Party Animals looks awesome. Looks like they've taken the original VP beasts, and stuck them into a bunch of mini-games and activities. Trust me when I say I'll be keeping an eye on this one (even moreso because Krome Studios are involved!). Meanwhile, you can watch the video and make up your own mind.
BioWare's baby, Mass Effect, won "Best RPG" prizes at last year's E3, and is back again for a second helping, shinier than ever. It's finally due to hit retail shelves in November, so check out the official trailer and keep an eye out for this one.
Now... some stats for you.
The top five best-selling games from the last generation of consoles came from only two game series. They were:
and
Halo 2 + Halo
Those game releases don't only define and highlight a generation, but they were also largely behind the world's biggest holiday season in terms of game sales. Christmas 2004 saw $US75 million taken in holiday sales, with the "perfect storm" of gaming - the almost simultaneous release of:
...which sold 11 million copies, during the fourth quarter of 2004.
This year, we're shaping up for a similar "perfect storm". Up to a third of all new gamesales in the second half of this year will be made up of three titles - and the only console that has all three games in the trifecta is - you guessed it - the Xbox 360.
Those titles, of course, are:
Grand Theft Auto: IV + Madden 08 + Halo 3
Now, the first big list of games you can expect to see (at least in the US, hopefully down here as well) by the end of the year:
Jeff Bell, Corporate Vice President of Global Marketing, Interactive Entertainment Business, then took the stage, to introduce a couple of unique, exclusive titles for the Xbox 360.
) | Scene It? Lights, Camera, Action"Scene It? Lights, Camera, Action" brings gamers together with friends and family for a casual trivia game that they all can play and enjoy. Using the simple and intuitive Big Button Controller, players can challenge their friends to see whose movie knowledge reigns supreme, with real content from their favorite movies and actors.Built from the ground up, this is a fully interactive trivia game title designed specifically for the platform - and it boasts a brand new controller, specifically for the game. The game's set to hit retail shelves by the end of the year, for the same price as a "standard" 360 game, and you get a set of four controllers thrown in free. |
Naruto: Rise of a NinjaNaruto: Rise of a Ninja takes place in a world where ninja are the ultimate power. Infused with the spirit of a once fearsome Nine-Tailed Fox demon, Uzumaki Naruto is a ninja-in-training who is learning the art of ninjutsu with his classmates Sakura and Sasuke. The trio studies under the instruction of their teacher, Kakashi, who helps the group face a series of dangerous and daunting tests and challenges. Through their adventures, the young ninjas learn the importance of friendship, teamwork, loyalty, hard work, creativity, ingenuity and right versus wrong. The series has made the move from Japanese manga (graphic novels) to a popular animated (anime) series and has now taking the gaming world by storm. Ubisoft will bring their version of the classic series to the 360 by the end of the year, and there's a brand new E3 2007 Trailer for you to watch, too. |  |
He also discussed that the new series of EA Sports will run twice as fast and twice as smoothly as the earlier series have. I'm assuming that doesn't mean the people will run around more quickly, just that the game will not be so slow. To demonstrate Madden NFL 08, American football star Reggie Bush came out to see if prowess on the paddock translates to victory in the video... and, y'know what? I don't remember the last time I've seen a gaming company exec get beaten quite so resoundingly on stage by an athlete. They should do that more often.
...on that note, I shall pause for breath, before coming back with part 2: Xbox Live.
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