E3 Coverage: Microsoft

E3 Coverage: Microsoft

While working hard on work assignemnts, I was able to watch the E3 coverage via YoutTube. The first segment to air was Microsoft. Last year at E3 they got hit quite hard by focusing on integrating the console with TV rather than focusing on actual gameplay. Not too many games were announced for the Xbox One but everything has changed this year. They have a new boss man, Phil SPencer who is a gamer himself. He brought the console back to it’s roots in so many ways. Let’s jump right in:

Halo 5

Halo is the Xbox’s flagship franchise with so many games involving Master Chief on his mission to save human/alien lives. There have been good ones. There have been lackluster ones. However this next game seems to have brought the franchise to a new horizon by introducing a civil war between Master Chief and allies vs Agent Lock(voice and acted by Nathon Fillion). Everything from the audio, graphics, gameplay, and design seems crisp. There are new weapons, characters(some are even from the extended universe!), new features, new enemies, and new PvP modes.

Peace is shattered when colony worlds are unexpectedly attacked. But when humanity’s greatest hero goes missing, a new Spartan is tasked with hunting the Master Chief and solving a mystery that threatens the entire galaxy.

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Recore

Not much was told about Recore other than it is from the makers of Metroid, it is set in a Science fiction setting that seems to have a desert punk type of feel. There was quite a bit of hype about this game. It is an Xbox One exclusive and is expected to hit shelves Spring of 2016.

Xbox One

• A new controller will be coming to the Xbox one offering remapping, mod friendly for both the hardware and software, hair trigger toggles allowing users to set up their controllers exactly the way they’d like without going to third parties for modifications.
• One of the biggest announcements was that the Xbox One will be backwards compatibility, allowing Xbox 360 games to be played on their modern console. This was a major pain point for gamers who have purchased the next gen devices. Currently there is no word on whether Playstation will also support backwards compatibility in order to compete.
• Mods to Fallout 4 will be allowed via a level editor used on the PC and then being transferred to an Xbox One. (Expected to be available in winter of 2015. No word on if mods will be allowed for any other games.)
• Xbox Preview: In an attempt to compete with Early Access games that Steam is famous for, Xbox has introduced Xbox Preview. This new program will offer demos to gamers on early access games, if they enjoy the demo they can opt in and buy the game for early access.
• Microsoft Hololens: Just watch this, trust me. You will not regret it. 

Gigantic

Xbox One/Windows 10 Exclusive. Free to play. August 2015 is expected to have open beta.

ID@XBOX

This is one of the aspects of Xbox that I am most excited for. Microsoft has teamed up with various independent developers to create games for their market. And boy did they create awesome games!

Here is a list of the games announced:

Tacoma
Ashen
Cuphead
Beyond Eyes

Gears of War 4

Gears of War 4 blew all of our minds this morning when they showed the above demo. New characters, new enemies, new weapons, and so much more. Unfortunately, not much else was revealed about the game. Even the team working on it said “What you see is what you get for now” leaving us drooling for more.

This was a summary of Microsoft’s portion of E3! We’ll be writing up EA/Ubisoft/Sony/Nintendo as they roll in. 

What do you think about all of these announcements?