E3 2013 - Microsoft Press Conference - Live Blog
Credit: CBS Interactive
E3 2013 is underway, and we're only seconds away from the Microsoft Press Conference featuring the reveal of the next generation of XBox games!
Watch along with the live stream and sound off in the comments below, as we continue our live coverage of the 2013 XBox Global Media Briefing!
12:34 PM
We kick things off with the trailer for METAL GEAR SOLID 5!!!
The trailer is the kind of visual marvel I haven't seen in YEARS. The level of detail in the environments is staggering, as Snake rides a horse through a sandy, open world desert environment. The trailer touts dynamic CQC, realistic passage of time, enhanced stealth, deeper strategy and variety of approach to tackling missions.
We get bits and pieces of the story, as Snake rescues a man named Kazuhira Miller, "a visionary robbed of his future". We also meet Eli, "a youth who curses his fate," and Skull Face, "a ghost without a past." We also become reacquainted with Ocelot and Otacon (here called "Emmerich"). Snake is called Punished Snake, a fallen legend.
We get more bits of incredible, detailed action before the reveal of the title: Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain.
12:44 PM
We get the reveal of the "new" XBox 360: Smaller, slimmer, sleeker design based on the XBox One design. The announcement is also made that this redesigned 360 is available now.
Current XBox Gold memberships will carry over to the XBox One. In addition, your Gold membership will now earn you two free games a month, a la Playstation Plus membership. Gold members will receive Assassin's Creed 2 and Fable III.
Trailer for World of Tanks, the free-to-play, team-based online combat game. The game will now feature more in-depth integration with the 360, though what, exactly, this means isn't specified. The game will come to the 360 this summer.
12:51 PM
We get a look at some of the other games coming to the 360, such as a whimsical adventure game called Max: The Curse of Brotherhood, and Dark Souls II. Neither looks all that impressive, although Max looks like it has potential.
12:53 PM
The next trailer is for the first XBox One launch title: Ryse: Son of Rome, an action-oriented title that's closer to the third-person, over-the-shoulder style of combat of Gears of War than the in-your-face style of a God of War-esque title, although there's plenty of God of War-like gore, and combos to go with it. The battle scene we witness reminds me a lot of Dynasty Warriors, yet I suppose it's to the game's credit that I can't tell what's gameplay and what's a cinematic. It really is quite gorgeous to look at, and there's a strategic component at play as you can gather your men and go into Testudo formation to avoid arrows from enemies.
If I have one complaint about the game, it's the reliance upon quick-time events, though they're less "press X not to die" and more just "press X to finish combo." So I'm not really that down on this play mechanic, particularly because it works well in God of War (though I fear I'm on an island alone in thinking so). What this game does do remarkably well, however, is illustrate a broad, all-encompassing sense of scale, as we can see action going on in the distant background while we're fighting in the foreground. When the mission is over and the camera pans over the swath of destruction we've cut, it's a pretty terrific visual.
1:01 PM
Next up is a trailer for Killer Instinct! It's only 20 seconds long, but it brought back tons of memories from the arcade, although I'm not entirely sure Killer Instinct was an IP anyone was really clamoring to be brought back.
We then are introduced to Sunset Overdrive, an open world, "living world" shooter that changes and evolves in turn with its community, though again, we get no elaboration on what that means. The trailer is a slick, cartoony affair following a character as he free-runs through a monster-ravaged city. The visual style looks like a cross between State of Emergency and Jet Set Radio. The trailer is over almost before it begins.
Up next is the trailer for Forza Motorsport 5, and though the opening video is little more than a behind-the-scenes of the building of a Mclaren, the eventual reveal that the video of the finished vehicle is actually in-game footage from XBox One is one of the few times my jaw has actually dropped during a gaming press conference.
The "driveatar" is touted, a cloud-based AI that logs and processes your decisions, which creates a more fluid, human type of opposition, while also simulating your own drive style so that your friends can still race against you even when you're not around. The eventual trailer, featuring all in-game footage is outstanding. Microsoft is really nailing this press conference so far, at least in terms of building up the games that actually matter. I'm still not sold on the XBox One, but it's easy to see how some people who were on the fence about the system could end up deciding to take a shot on it.
1:12 PM
We get some hype for independent gaming, while community-oriented creation is also touted. This serves as the natural segue into the reveal of MINECRAFT! Yup, that's pretty much it.
Next up is Quantum Break, which is exclusive for the XBox One. The video for the game is running in real-time, and we see the protagonist interacting with a woman frozen in time, in the midst of being blown back by an explosion. The amount of nuance and detail to the facial animations is tremendous, however I would have liked to have seen a bit more of the actual gameplay.
Next up, the trailer to a cel-shaded, episodic murder mystery called D4. The trailer is maybe 15 seconds, and I'm already more fascinated by that than just about anything else revealed in this press conference so far.
1:18 PM
The next reveal is Project Spark, an intuitive game creation system that allows you to basically tell you what you want to create. The demo shows the tester essentially building a forest simply by telling the system what he wanted to make. Sounds mundane, but it's actually pretty cool. Then, with smart glass, you can sculpt the world with greater detail. Once the world is build, you can add your character to the world. Or you can continue adding detail and further define the characteristics of the world, such as adding animals, villagers, enemies and towns.
We then see how other creators can "remix and build on an idea," and we see how the world the demo tester creator has been shaped and changed by other developers, revealing a ravaged world overrun with monsters. The demo tester battles the monsters by turning his own "rock man" avatar into a "rock mech," which is pretty damn cool. The crowd seems to agree. Next up is a montage of different scenarios created by other developers, revealing a varied, open, changeable world with a deep creator community.
1:23 PM
Smart glass is touted, as XBox players can setup a multiplayer game, view achievements, and access "Timeline," which provides real-time hints and tips during a game session. In addition, a person call play a single player campaign while their next multiplayer matchup is set up.
We then get a look at XBox Upload Studio, a DVR for live gaming that allows players to record, edit and upload their gameplay for others to watch online. We get a look at this in action with Killer Instinct, which looks like a lot of fun. In addition, an exclusive partnership with Twitch is announced, as players will be able to sync with the video streaming platform during games.
Other huge announcements: No more Microsoft Points! Microsoft will now be using REAL MONEY! In addition, XBox Gold members can share benefits in one household via XBox Gold Sharing.
We then get a look at the latest game from the makers of Panzer Dragoon, Crimson Dragon! The trailer playing without audio is awkward as hell, though it offers the opportunity to overhear the super-enthusiastic crowd. Seriously, there are some people in the audience who want this thing NOW. Here's the trailer, with the sound that somehow got cut out of the actual E3 broadcast:
1:32 PM
Up next: DEAD RISING 3! An open world with no load times! Just about anything you can find can be used as a weapon, and several high-end weapon combinations can be crafted, such as a sledgehammer/chainsaw, which looks both ridiculous and awesome. We get a look at the gameplay, which is less over-the-top and cartoonish than past installments. Zombies are attracted to your every move, though there are multiple ways to distract them, as we see in the demo with the lead character firing a flare gun into the air to provide an escape route. There's a less cumbersome driving mechanic that allows the player not only to get from point A to point B, but to also mow down entire clusters of undead walkers. Lastly, with the addition of Smart glass, the player can call in artillery support for help in decimating entire zombie hordes.
Dead Rising 3 will be available this holiday season, exclusively for the XBox One.
1:38 PM
The Witcher 3 will be coming to the XBox One, and it will be completely free-roaming, set in a multi-region open world environment, and featuring over 100 hours of gameplay with optional voice commands using Kinect. They'll also be porting the UI over to Smart glass for a deeper level of integration for the in-game experience, such as inventory management and the like. The game will be structured around open-ended, non-linear quests, creating an in-depth fantasy RPG world.
The trailer is awfully reminiscent of Skyrim, but dammit, this is the stuff of fantasy RPG dreams. The promise of a sprawling, vibrant world should be enough for fans of the genre to freely pledge their hard-earned dollars. The combat alone looks to be worth the price of admission.
1:41 PM
Time for Battlefield 4! We throw to a video for dynamic, real-time gameplay...or rather, we would have, if technical difficulties hadn't surfaced. The speaker can do little else but awkwardly stammer that "We'll get to it eventually," before eventually giving up and telling a disappointed audience that he guesses they'll have to get to it later. But, thankfully, the tech guys are able to work out the kinks. The trailer goes live as the ecstatic crowd sends up a big cheer.
While the game is a visual splendor, you'd be hard-pressed to sell me on how this military FPS is in any way different from the litany of other military FPS titles on the market. Perhaps it plays better, and has a deeper array of options. Maybe the multiplayer is better, to boot. But from a visual perspective, this isn't anything we haven't already seen from a million other titles excep----HOLY GOD, PLANES ARE FALLING OFF THE AIRCRAFT CARRIER AND EXPLODING! Okay, that's kind of cool. The entire gameplay trailer is one big action setpiece set on a sinking aircraft carrier, and it leads to plenty of interesting firefights as the entire hulking mess burns around you. I'm still not exactly sold on Battlefield as an innovative IP, but I can easily see how this could be fun.
And yeah, the action on the gunboat actually looks pretty unique and fun, in addition to the water effects really popping on-screen. It's then announced that all DLC for Battlefield 4 will come first to the XBox One.
1:49 PM
Up next: Superbrothers: Sword & Sorcery, the award-winning indie adventure game, and Below, a narrative dungeon-delving RPG.
Then we get the reveal of several new studios XBox is working with, and the first-party content they're providing, such as Black Tusks.
In another trailer, a mysterious figure roams the desert before coming face-to-face with a massive, angel-like mech that blows back the figure's hood to reveal...MASTER CHIEF?!Yes, it's another new Halo game, although why a guy in full body armour and helmet would need a cloak is beyond me. The live-action Halo TV series, produced by Steven Spielberg, is briefly touted before speaker Bonnie Ross goes into deeper detail about the Halo franchise's debut on the XBox One. The new shooter will run at 60fps...and that's pretty much all we learn. Now is not the time to play your cards close to the vest, Microsoft.
As if having heard that criticism, speaker reveals that the XBox One will release this November for $499.00 U.S. with a special Day One Edition for pre-orders. Then we close out with the reveal of one more new, exclusive title: Titanfall, which looks to continue the XBox's long tradition of third-person shooters centered on space marines. It looks to be two-parts Gears of War and one-part Dead Space, with a dash of Resistance and Crysis, for good measure. The environments are interesting enough, with plenty of variance, though it's not much different from the standard kind of Ruined Modern City map you'd get for your average game of this type. Gameplay appears to be aces though, particularly once you enter the Titan mech and get to lift bullets off the ground and fling them at your enemy with the wave of a hand.
Also badass: picking up enemy soldiers with your Titan and flinging them into the distance like rag dolls. It might not be this huge, dynamic gameplay innovation, but shooters like these don't exactly require much in the way of artfulness to be exhilarating. It's enough to just get to eject from the giant mech and rain bullets down on enemies before landing on the nearest enemy mech and dismantling it from its top panel. Sometimes, that's all you really need.
