Microsoft wasted little time in getting things started at this year’s E3.  With a “surprise” announcement added at the last minute and plenty of speculation circulating, Microsoft brought the goods and more to the thousands of fans watching and in attendance.  For those unfortunate few who missed the show, read on for a quick glance at Microsoft’s E3 Press Conference as well as a few thoughts to some of their selected game showings.

The conference started with the team at Harmonix coming out to show off the new Rock Band: Beatles game.  Although nothing changed in terms of core gameplay, the style fits a more retro look similar to the 60’s and 70’s.  Background videos have also been incorporated similar to how Lumines 2 used music videos as skins.  Only ten songs have been confirmed so far, but most of them are popular enough for anyone to know and love, including Hold My Hand, I Feel Fine and Day Tripper.  By the way, the game will hit stores on September 9, 2009.

The show continued with Tony Hawk himself revealing the brand new skateboarding game which shows off the innovative controller.  Similar to a skateboard without the wheels, players will lean and bend their body to simulate the moves needed to perform tricks and simple stunts.  Game will be available later this year for all systems.  Modern Warfare 2 than hit the floor and it blew everyone away.  A playable demo was shown that put players on top of a mountain peak engaged in first-person rock climbing.  After scaling the mountain players watched as Infinity Ward stormed an enemy base using the blizzard as coverage from sight.  The weapons have radar incorporated onto the gun so there is no need for an on-screen HUD anymore.  The footage ended with players hijacking a snowmobile and chasing down enemies while shooting a gun at the same time.  Definitely one of the most thrilling and action-packed sequences we have seen so far.

Continuing on with the showing of playable demos, Square Enix employees come out to show off a running version of Final Fantasy XII on the Xbox 360.  Already looking polished with American voice acting, Square Enix showed off a simple battle against an enemy while talking about the four battle gauges that allow you to pick various amounts of skills.  Odin was also summoned into battle to show players how summons will work and interact during battle.  Epic comes out to talk about Shadow Complex, a unique side-scrolling shooter that the creators described as a fall back to “the old Metroid games.” It definitely has a very interesting and visceral feeling to it.

Games continued to be shown and revealed, with short trailers revealing Crackdown 2, Left 4 Dead 2 (which will hit stores in November), a new Halo game called Halo: Reach and gameplay trailers of both Alan Wake and Halo 3: ODST.  The game that shined above the rest, however, was Splinter Cell: Conviction, which was finally revealed for the first time since going absent nearly two years ago.  The gameplay shown features Sam Fisher out for personal revenge as he tracks down various bad guys in an attempt for retribution.  Fisher seemed an awfully lot like a mix between Jack Bauer and Jason Bourne and some of the interrogation scenes shown will surely be fun to play.   There was still plenty more coming for Xbox 360 fans, however, as Hideo Kojima came on stage and revealed that a new MGS game, titled Metal Gear Solid: Rising, would be heading to the Xbox 360.  The game will star MGS favorite Raiden as he continues on his own adventure.

Xbox Live also got a taste of new updates to please all gamers.  Last.fm, the radio sharing software will be available on XBL sometime this fall, allowing gamers to stream music while playing.  Netflix has also received an update allowing you to browse films through XBL, and no longer forces you to hop on your PC and find titles to add to your list.  Other notable additions, such as free multiplayer games for Avatar support, downloaded maps that can be shared with friends at no additional cost, and Twitter and Facebook receiving exclusive features on Xbox Live, gamers may never have to leave their couches again.

But probably the biggest surprise of the conference came in the form of a device known as Project Natal.  This device is Microsoft’s way of letting Nintendo and Sony know that they are taking the motion-sensing technology and completely revamping it to much higher standards. Simply put, YOU are the controller in which case you can play fully 3D modeled games by moving your body around.  The beauty of Project Natal is that you won’t be constricted by pre-set motion controls and what you do in the game is how it works.  A short game was shown where a person had to block a barrage of balls being thrown at them, and players could swing their arms and legs frantically in an attempt to block them all.  Another neat feature of Project Natal was the recognition software that features both voice and facial programs that will start up programs or let you interact with various technologies just by the sound of your voice or your face.  It will definitely be interesting to see if Project Natal will work as well as it did during the E3 conference, and if it does, this might truly be one of the most technically impressive devices in history.

Microsoft really didn’t hold anything back at their Press Conference, and with the announcement of new titles, surprising sequels, and an innovative new way to play games, the gaming future leading up to 2010 looks bright for Microsoft.

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About This Author: Josh Schwartzman

Been into gaming for as long as I can remember and have enjoyed every minute of it. I enjoy playing with everyone and anyone online and I am an avid PS3 and Xbox 360 player.

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