E3 2011: Microsoft Conference
Day 1 of E3 2011! I don't want to spoil things for anyone and to be honest, these trailers and gameplay demos should be viewed for yourself. BUT! I'll be posting information released about each of the games today. Â Gametrailers.com & Kotaku.com = E3 Heaven. Anyway, here you go :]
 Kicking off E3, Microsoft revealed a 10 minute gameplay demo, which was fucking EPIC. Breaching a fucking submarine. That's all that really needs to be said.Â
MW3's campaign takes place directly after the ending of the MW2 campaign, with 15 destinations throughout.
Its been confirmed that they'll be including grenade launchers, predator missiles, and the AC-130.
Along with updated guns, (M16, SCAR - H, P90, AK-47 to name a few), they've added hybrid weapon sights. From what I saw in the trailers, your weapons would have their main scopes, as well as an added scope, which can be toggled during gameplay. Â
Microsoft also premiered "Black Sunday", another trailer with more gameplay! Pretty impressive, see for yourself. :]
MW3's online may have a subscription fee, I haven't looked into this yet. From what I've heard, the paid subscription will allow players to download new content, updated weekly and possibly monthly challenges, etc. This wasn't addressed during the conference, though, so I'm not too sure yet.
Xbox users will be the first to receive all updates and new content.Â
Release date: November 8, 2011
Aimed to be the origin story of Lara Croft, the game takes place before Lara became The Tomb Raider. The gameplay preview showed Lara awaking, tied up and hanging from the ceiling of a cave. The main focus of the demonstration wasto showcase the dependence on Lara's survival intuition.
Said to incorporate more Open - World gameplay than previous Tomb Raider installments.
I'll talk about this beauty in my EA Conference post. :]
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier:
I'll write more about this game in my Ubisoft Conference post, but the demonstration Microsoft displayed was pretty cool :]
This demonstration was used to showcase Future Soldier's use of the Kinect. From combat to gun customization, Future Soldier uses Kinect, from what was shown, innovatively and rather smoothly, thus far. What I thought was supah cool was the gun customization. From attachments, to scopes, to the detailed inner workings of each gun, everything customizable. Using voice commands and gestures, Kinect makes scrolling through the lists of parts as well as switching and changing them simple. Future Soldier also incorporate Kinect into combat gameplay with specific gestures and commands.Â
In the midst of all the game releases, Microsoft annouced a major update for the Xbox Live community, including new media features and channels, voice command system, and a redesigned Dashboard.
Launching in the Fall, Xbox Live will receive a revamping for a sleeker look and feel. Its been confirmed that YouTube and Bing will also be added to the XBL's features.Â
With the combined use of voice commands and Bing, users will be able to search for anything from videos to music and the like quickly and easily. It was also mentioned that Xbox TV will be launching, enabling users to search for different channels and televeision shows and have them streamed directly from their Xbox.Â
UFC Ultimate Fighting ChampionshipÂ
Not much information on this game, as they only played a short trailer and smoke a bit about it.
Will include "Live Streaming" and rely heavily on competition between you and your friends and the leader boards.
No release date, more info to come.
The live gameplay demonstration, with a special appearance from Ice T :P, only solidified what we all knew: HOW AWESOME. GEARS 3. WILL BE. Go watch the trailers. Just do it.
A new Horde Mode was also confirmed.
And a multiplayer campaign with up to 4 players.
Only previewed a short trailer, this game still looks prettyyy sick.
Appeared to be an entirely Kinect - based game, in which you are a soldier during the battle ages of the Roman Empire. Brutal combat and much blood, you are in the center of war. Looks great, hope to see more. :]
Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary
As a 10 Year Anniversary celebration, they have remastered the first game in the Halo saga, releasing it with a fully remastered campaign, an online Co - Op mode, along with many familiar maps and arenas.Â
Players will also be allowed to switch between the original version and the remastered version. Just to show you how good of a job they did. :P
Release date: November 2011
Right off the bat, incredibly realistic. Forza already impressed last year with the amazing detailing in the graphics of Forza 3, and they only got better this time around.Â
Announced players would also receive monthly expansions, not much detail on those.Â
Possibly something to do with Top Gear, as well? I saw the logo in the corner of one of the trailers xD They may be streaming episodes of Top Gear, or something like that.Â
Either way, looks great. I've been trying to find my dad a new racing game. :]
Release date: October 11, 2011
An entirely Kinect-based game, this branch of Fable looks SO. AWESOME. Utilizing Kinect, players are able to cast different spells using specific gestures. During the live gameplay demo, they demonstrated the player creating an arrow by rolling his arms in a circle, and stretching the ball of magic into a long, spiked arrow, and then shooting it at an enemy, standing in his watch tower. The gameplay ran rather smooth and gestures were pretty simple.Â
Players will also use Kinect gestures to steer their horse and carvan in the driving portions of the game. The motions used in gameplay seem very natural, making them simple to do.
No release date, more info to come.
Another surprise! Minecraft is coming to Xbox.
No release date, more info to come.
Along with the titles already announced that will be using Kinect, Microsoft releases more! Users who already have a Kinect or are still deciding whether to buy one or not, will be very pleased with the array of games being released within this next year. :]
Disneyland Adventures: Players get to explore the Happiest Place on Earth from the comfort of their homes any time they want, as well as enjoy mini games based on famous park rides and attractions with the whole family.Â
Star Wars: Not exactly the full-length Star Wars game we were hoping for, but a good attempt, from what we saw. The live gameplay demo looked a bit slow when reacting in real-time, but it is a start. Trailers look great, so hopefully this game progresses. :]
Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster:Â Cute family multiplayer, jump into storybook pages and play with your favorite Sesame characters.
FunLabs: Set to become a permanent Xbox Live feature, FunLabs will finally deliver Kinect's ability to capture and recognize real world details and images and input them into our games. The live demonstration showed even objects, such as a monster plushie, can be captured and enjoyed with the use of Kinect. The lady turned into the plushie. It was cool. :B FunLabs will also incorporate 3D image editing using Kinect gestures. Users will be able to upload all their images to social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter.
Kinect Sports Season 2: Another installment into the top selling Kinect Sports title to date. Skiing and tennis have been added, as well as new gameplay gestures and in-game voice commands (Football!).
Dance Central 2: More songs, more dance moves! Users songs from the first Dance Central will also be transferable to #2. Multiplayer was also announced and demonstrated. Said to include a larger song selection.Â
Other games to include Kinect: Madden, Tiger Woods, FIFA, Sims 3 Pets and Family Game Night 4 to name a few.
A huge surprise to those that didn't hear about the leak earlier that morning, but Halo 4 is coming soon and its set to open up a whole new trilogy in the Halo saga. Did I mention Master Chief is back? Watch the trailers. :]
Release date: Holiday 2012
Well that's my coverage notes for the Microsoft Conference! I'll post EA, Ubisoft and Sony either later tonight, or tomorrow :] Nintendo Conference tomorrow @ 9AM! :D