[E3 2009] Microsoft Press Conference Liveblog Pre-E3 2009
By Jessica Citizen - Tue Jun 2, 2009 3:01am
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What do you think we'll learn tonight? There's a new Lionhead announcement, we've heard a lot of rumblings about something to do with Master Chief and of course there's always the "new Xbox 360" rumours. I'm also anticipating more dashboard/networking developments, more Lips, and more content that we won't see because we don't live in the US. Prove me wrong, MS!
| LIVE BLOG: (most recent event first) |
4:49am : To wrap up the spin: "The future of entertainment is happening now."
4:48am : Now, Don Mattrick's back on stage, wrapping things up. "This is a watershed year", he claims - not just for MS, but for games in general.
4:47am : When he said he was going to be announcing "something big", I was expecting Fable 3 - but this... this is huge. Sure, some of it will have to be spin, but this looks very cool indeed.
4:46am : Draw a picture on a piece of paper, show the paper to the camera, Milo looks at the image, recognises the shapes and reacts accordingly. (Claire drew an orange fish.)
4:45am : "Claire has been thrown a pair of goggles" - apparently every single person who's tried out this software has inadvertently grabbed at the object being 'thrown' from the screen, due to the level of immersion in the game world. Claire is now playing in a pond, swishing water around, touching fish... "everyone who's experienced it, the hairs have stood up on the back of their neck".
4:43am : Now we get a video tour of what Lionhead have been up to recently - introducing a game character called Milo. He recognises people using the console, and talks to them by recognising the emotion he detects in people's voices. (Oh, AI, this is getting spooky.)
4:42am : He's got shorter hair, this year. He's making the statement that the controller has been the biggest barrier to the games people have wanted to create - and that Natal opens up the opportunity to interact with the game world. It'll "change the landscape" of games development.
4:41am : Oh, hello Peter Molyneux. Who knew you were coming here today? ;)
4:41am : They're sending out dev-kits to partner studios today, so Natal looks like it's coming sooner rather than later.
4:40am : ...let's pose to make an elephant! A second person has come back onstage to help pose to make an elephant shadow puppet. Looks slightly obscene, but the console is getting a pretty decently-shaped elephant.
4:39am : Now we see "Paint Party", to show off other ways that the camera works. This looks kinda nifty, but I'm questioning replayability. Stand in front of the console, say the name of a colour and then effectively throw paint onto the canvas. He's painting a tree with an elephant for us now.
4:37am : ...the girl showing off the game looks like an idiot, ha. (That's to be expected though, right?)
4:35am : Looking at the dashboard now - motion sensing, video recognises people, moving through the dash with a move of his hand (it's a bit Minority Report, really). Showing it off in-game with a new tech demo called Ricochet, an athletic game that's sort of like 3D Breakout mixed with Dodgeball - a ball is coming at you, you hit it back to the wall and break blocks.
4:33am : And now we meet the project director working on Natal, who is going to pimp his product a little bit more (if you could see his sunglasses, you'd agree he's 'pimping', not 'promoting').
4:31am : "It's not about reinventing the wheel - it's about no wheel at all."
4:30am : "How can interactive entertainment become as approachable as all other forms of entertainment?" he asks. Many people are apparently a little daunted by games controllers, more likely to pick up a book or a tv remote instead.
4:30am : And now, we meet Steven Spielberg - will we be getting a full-body motion-sensing version of Boom Blox for the Xbox 360?
4:29am : Will work with every Xbox 360 console sold and every console sold in the future (mm, future-proof). The devs have been sharing Project Natal with game partners, and everybody has been overwhelmingly positive.
4:28am : "Project Natal" is the codename for the new controller system we've just seen (I hope we get a trailer for this really soon, it actually looks pretty amazing).
4:27am : "The only experience you need is life experience."
4:27am : A karate-type game, with someone fighting, a driving game with someone steering an invisible wheel... and changing gear... and a second player taking on the duties in the pits... a kid playing at being a Godzilla monster, stomping on houses... "Full body motion capture" demonstrating how it'll work in a soccer-type game... "use your own gear" so you can scan your skateboard and have the decals ingame (that looks kinda awesome, really)... facial recognition features, looks like some interesting video conferencing (trying on dresses?)... hitting buzzers to answer a quiz show game... using gestures to navigate the dashboard...
4:24am : And now, the inevitable hardware announcement. "Can we go beyond the controller?" "Can we make you the controller?" ...and let's have a look at how this motion-sensing camera dealy will work, shall we?
4:23am : ...while that would have been a great note to end on, apparently they're not yet done. Don Mattrick is still talking.
4:22am : Looks like that's what all the countdowns are for, huh!
4:22am : Raiden is back...
(I can hear the fanboys and girls from here.)
4:21am : Metal Gear Solid: Rising is currently in development for the Xbox 360 console... and Kojima-san is very smug to point out that he didn't say anything about Solid Snake...
4:20am : "It is great to finally stand here on the Xbox 360 stage" - he's officially bringing the Metal Gear franchise to Xbox 360.
4:20am : ...someone predicted this would happen, and got shot down. Apparently, they were onto something. Hello, Hideo!
4:20am : HIDEO KOJIMAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
4:20am : Now introducing Don Mattrick, to talk some more about how awesome they all are. "It seems we're missing one crucial piece of the puzzle."
4:19am : Thanks Felicia! That was awesome and unexpected!
4:18am : *squeaks into a nerdly fangirl heap*
...the Twitter interface actually looks kinda funky, too. Very nifty - I'm going to park myself on the couch when this one launches in the Australian spring!
4:18am : Facebook is also partnering with Twitter!
4:17am : ...but that's not all.
4:17am : "Facebook connect" lets you post screenshots and updates from within games directly to your Facebook profile - kicking off with the next Tiger Woods title.
4:17am : We're now walking through how this will be integrated, with Felicia Day from The Guild showing the interface. Looks like the NXE slidey setup, with "friends" and photos and slideshows, status updates... apparently combining Facebook friends with Xbox friends, too.
4:15am : I know I said that I was expecting social networking annoucements, but never this: Xbox just revealed their partnership with Facebook...
4:14am : Today announcing that games, movies, and music can be shared online with a weird sort of MST3K audience screen setup, regardless of where in the world you are. Looks interesting, but I want to know more.
4:13am : (No announcement on actual countries yet, of course...)
4:13am : New standard in home entertainment - upgrading HD video library to a higher quality - full 1080p.
All of the movies will be available with no downloads / no delays.
More than doubling the number of countries where this will be available - from 8 to 18.
4:11am : Now, however, we're looking at Netflix, which isn't going to come Down Under (I'd love to be wrong again). Announcing the partnership with Sky TV for UK and Ireland, bringing live television into your loungeroom through your gaming console. Nifty - "a watershed moment in the industry" - but we don't care, coz we can't get it.
4:10am : *eats hat* He's just announced that it will be available to Xbox Gold members around the world later this year... so, fingers crossed, Aussies!
4:10am : ...and not just any music, they've announced a partnership with Last.FM. I'll be very (very) surprised (shocked) if this is going to be in any way accessible by Australians...
4:09am : Now, let's look at what's going on with Xbox Live - apparently, music is coming to the platform!
4:09am : Spring 2010 - this title, long written off as vapourware - is set to see the light of day. Hoorah! (I didn't want this before, but I do now... so pretty...)
4:08am : "Alan, wake up!"
4:06am : Running around a lot in the dark, with a nicely-animated torch, before running into various supernatural creatures that want to kill you. It actually looks kinda like Left 4 Dead, in terms of aesthetics.
4:03am : ALAN WAAAAAAKE (we knew it was coming eventually, right?)
4:03am : Hello, writer from Remedy (Mr. Sam). He is introducing a best-selling writer, who has been working with Remedy on a new project, which was apparently "well worth it".
4:02am : If you can't wait until 2010 - buy a copy of Halo ODST and get in on the Halo: Reach beta... score!
4:02am : Bungie have also been working on a Top Secret Project... showing a video now. "You know the end," it says... and has the reactions to the closing moments of Halo 3, before revealling Halo: Reach, which will arrive 2010.
3:59am : As you progress through the game, you'll pick up clues about previous ODST in the city - and then flashback to fight battles from their perspective, which will give you more backstory and explain how things got to be the way they are.
3:58am : You are an ODST (hence the title), and you're what's for lunch. Don't want to be squished? You've got two new sound-suppressed weapons and a new visor which offers low-light vision mode... and we're told that there's something a bit special for fans of "the original Halo 1 pistol", too.
3:56am : This is, of course, Halo ODST - where you play The Rookie, a character separated from the rest of his team, crash-landed weeks before the start of Halo 3.
3:56am : Onscreen is a character wearing some very Halo-looking armour, in a space shuttle... crashing... "Welcome to the city of New Mombasa".
3:55am : Hello to a gentleman wearing a Bungie shirt... guess who they're introducing...!
3:54am : Forza 3 shipping this October, and is on-show at the event, if you're able to drop by.
3:53am : They're making a big deal about the downloadable community content - videos, paint jobs, modified material - showing off some awesome precision driving trailers created by gamers, not developers. This all looks very slick.
3:51am : Forza 3 is the biggest racing game of this generation, he says. They're using Xbox Live to promote some more community elements, to make it the best game of "this" generation, rather than just another racing game.
3:49am : Lots of flashy lights on stage, and a gentleman (Mr. Dan, let's call him) with a flashy red car on the stage. He's from Turn 10, talking about how awesome cars are. (Apparently that's an Audi behind him, he says.)
3:48am : John's back, talking about all the great things that Xbox 360 does - sports games, action games... and now, racing games. This year will see the release of the ultimate racing game: Forza MotorSport 3 (betcha didn't see that one coming!)
3:47am : Splinter Cell: Conviction to be out by the end of the year on Xbox 360, another exclusive.
3:46am : They've shown off what he's capable of when in stealth mode - now they're displaying what he's capable of when he goes in all guns blazing.
3:45am : Each level is a mini-sandbox, so you can behave the way you want, level-by-level. And for what I said about it being well-lit, I lied. It's dark - and that's where Sam "shines" (heh).
3:44am : Sam is now an almost-perfect predator - he has a bunch of new abilities including the "mark and execute", which was pretty impressive (and slightly scary).
3:43am : Aha! Sam isn't dead, but he has "changed". I'm guessing it was a metaphor. The game looks pretty dark (in terms of emotion, it's quite well lit), and the devs aimed for immersion and a story which unfolds in real-time.
3:42am : ...and now we see a couple of French-named blokes from Ubisoft to talk about the exclusive E3 demo for Splinter Cell: Conviction.
3:41am : From Ubisoft now: a new Sam Fisher-esque title... but Sam Fisher is dead!
Who is this? Splinter Cell: Conviction, that's who :)
3:40am : (The Left 4 Dead hand has lost two of its fingers, so it's now a "2" hand, heh.)
3:40am : A bit of a change, Southern gentleman speaking about being a "praying man" - as we reveal Left 4 Dead 2 (which is a little loud for this time of the morning, MS!). NOVEMBER!
3:38am : Very dark stage now. Someone's running around in a world that looks like Neuromancer, very dark and sort of cyberpunky... the world is infected and you are the cure: I'd like you to meet Crackdown 2!
3:37am : Free to download, free to play - with paid-for content, tracks, car upgrades etc. Coming "this Winter" (so Summer) for XBLA.
3:36am : Another XBox Live Arcade title now, using the NXE avatars - from Big Park, a new MS studio, a very cute looking racer - Joy Ride.
3:36am : ...wow, for a game that looks that shiny and promises 10hrs of content - it's an Xbox Live Arcade title, due out "soon" :)
3:35am : ...looks like an third-person shooter, with an "enormous" map, some interesting-looking weapons, "a lot of secrets" and some really nice-looking settings. Cliff is promising some "really cool boss battles". I hope we get some footage or assets for this one soon.
3:34am : I'd like to tell you more about Shadow Complex, but - honestly - I can't hear what on earth they're talking about!
3:33am : Predictably, he's introduced guys from Epic Games. Hello Cliff. I won't call you Cliffy B, because I respect you. And your microphone is working, unlike Mr. Mustard's, which isn't. Oops.
3:32am : John is talking about diversity of content on Xbox 360 again, and promises all of the games from here will be Xbox 360 exclusives.
3:32am : FFXIII is targeting a Spring 2010 release :)
3:31am : (Normally you can't conjure spirits this early in the game, they reassure us)
3:31am : Talking more about the game specifics now - four active time-gauges, to enable more spells and attacks to be used, and wider tactics. The demon monster Odin has just been summoned - the first time anybody in the world has been able to see him!
3:29am : Last year they "shocked the world" by announcing FFXIII would be coming to X360 (remember?). This year, they're premiering the world's first look at the game, running on an Xbox 360 console!
3:28am : From Square Enix, we have a few fellas who work on Final Fantasy XIII (and they speak in Japanese, woo!). It's been more than 20 years since the first FF was released in 1987, and the game has grown to be one of the most-loved RPG series, worldwide.
3:27am : Back to John - who is pleased to announce that Modern Warfare 2 will get two new map packs exclusively for Xbox 360.
3:25am : (lots of gameplay. Lookin' pretty shiny - but what did you expect?)
Someone just pick-axed someone off of a snowmobile!
3:23am : ...and as if "first-look gameplay trailer" wasn't enough, there's now a gentleman from Infinity Ward on stage actually playing the game on the Xbox 360. It's snowy. Snowmobiles look very interesting. Climbing up an ice-wall is great, but losing your grip and sliding down it looks even better.
3:22am : Now, Tony's gone, and the stage darkens for the first-look gameplay trailer of Modern Warfare 2 that we brought you last week.
3:22am : ...and now we can see how the game controller works in a 'real world' setting - people can play with it sorta like a real board, on carpet, moving it around, grabbing it. The game responds to what you do - I'd really like to get my hands on one of these and test it out a bit!
3:20am : ...slight technical difficulties on our end (sorry!)...
3:19am : He thinks this will start "a new type of social, physical gaming", and shows us a world-premiere trailer... featuring yet more of him talking, plus other pro-skaters and guys from Robomodo talking about the peripheral itself.
3:17am : Tony Hawk: Ride - let's get the man out on stage, with his shiny new skateboard peripheral. "It looks a lot like a skateboard, but it's a little bit shorter..." (and, obviously, doesnt' have any wheels). He seems quite pleased with how the technology has been developed to support his dreams.
3:16am : 10 world premiere games that have "never been seen before" - are we taking bets?
3:15am : Now the "proper" conference begins, bignoting how great the Xbox 360 really is, in case you didn't know. Promising to deliver "even more" than the NXE - and this year, it's all about "showing", not "telling".
3:15am : They've gone now, and we have the corporate vice president of Xbox, John - he's the new Peter Moore, it seems.
3:14am : "Who ever would have thought we'd end up as androids!" says Paul. He's pleased to be on this "game show". Ringo just likes the way his character walks (which is kinda like a Thunderbird).
3:13am : Ringo: "The game is good, the graphics are very good, and we were great!"
3:13am : "Looks like they want us to talk amongst ourselves, Paul..."
3:12am : Welcoming people to the stage who were instrumental (ha!) in getting the game to this stage - Dhani Harrison (that's George's son); Yoko Ono Lennon (John's wife); Olivia Harrison (George's wife); Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr!
3:11am : The game will also feature downloadable songs - including full albums. The first will be Abbey Road - available in its entirety, very soon after launch. The song All You Need Is Love will also be available for download, with all proceeds going to Medecins Sans Frontieres.
3:10am : Hello Giles! This is Giles Martin, the son of the Beatles' classic producer, George Martin - and the man who is virtually responsible for their recent release Love. I didn't know he was involved! He's confirming tracks that will be available in the final game.
I Saw Her Standing There
I Want To Hold Your Hand
I Feel Fine (at Shea Stadium?)
Day Tripper
Taxman
I Am The Walrus
Back in the USSR
Octopus's Garden
Here Comes The Sun
Get Back
3:06am :: Jessica Citizen : Alex and the "Harmonix House Band" are now playing Day Tripper, on the actual instruments that'll come with the game (which look very awesome, I must say - classic guitar shape, violin bass...). This time they can almost sing - perhaps a first for on-stage E3 press conference behaviour?
3:04am :: Jessica Citizen : The Beatles heralded a tech revolution as well as a music revolution - and this year, 09/09/09 will see another one with the release of The Beatles: Rock Band (one day I'll get that title in the right order).
3:03am :: Jessica Citizen : *swoony swoon* That's the opening cinematic for the game. The guys from Harmonix have taken the stage - "There were two types of people: The Beatles, and everybody else".
3:01am :: Jessica Citizen : ...watching a game trailer... is this Rock Band: Beatles? The art direction is something so much better than I expected, and I am shamelessly fangirling at this point. Playing a medley of music, with a video that looks like something from an oddly-animated version of Anthology.
(If I didn't want this before, I want this now, please.)
2:58am :: Jessica Citizen : Good morning, kids - everybody ready for the Microsoft Pre-E3 2009 press conference?
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