-
-
Every year at the E3 Media & Business Summit, Microsoft holds a press conference to announce upcoming video game titles and/or console developments. Microsoft's E3 keynote speech was made available in HD via Xbox Live, along with interviews, trailers and demos.Xbox.com: E3 2008 is On Its Way (July 7, 2008)
Microsoft Keynote E3 2008 Highlights
- Resident Evil 5: This highly anticipated game will be released in North America on March 13, 2009. Additionally, there will be a two-player online co-op mode.Joystiq: Resident Evil 5 to offer online co-op, delayed to March 2009 (July 14, 2008)
- Gears of War 2: Remember how the official website suggested a November 9, 2008, release?Joystiq: Gears of War 2 Splash Page Strongly Hints at Nov. 9 Release Date (July 8, 2008) Well, it was announced at E3 2008 that the official release date is now November 7, 2008.Kotaku: Gears Of War 2 In November (July 14, 2008)
- Netflix Xbox 360: The giant online movie rental service Netflix has paired up with Microsoft to bring movies to the Xbox 360 that can be watched instantly. No extra cost was mentioned outside of the standard Netflix subscription rate.1up.com: E3 2008: Microsoft and Netflix Partner for Movies (July 14, 2008)
- Final Fantasy XIII: Perhaps the biggest news of the entire keynote was the announcement of Final Fantasy XIII for the Xbox 360, which was rumored to be exclusive to PlayStation 3.PS3 Fanboy: Rumor: Final Fantasy XIII PS3 exclusive at E3 (March 31, 2006) Both versions of the game will be released at the same time. No official release date was mentioned.IGN: E3 2008: Final Fantasy XIII Coming to Xbox 360 (July 14, 2008)
Microsoft Rumor Smashed
Previously, rumors had circulated that Microsoft would announce an Xbox 360 motion-sensing controller during the keynote session on July 14.1up.com: E3 2008's Most Popular Rumors: Will They Happen? (July 13, 2008) While both Sony and Nintendo already have motion-sensing controllers for their consoles, Microsoft does not, and made no announcement at E3 2008 that such a controller was in development.
-
-
Microsoft Keynote E3 2008 Questions
What was Microsofts total liquidity in 2008? 1 AnswerI was able to find these answers for Microsoft's total liquidity: "As of June 30, 2008, Microsoft's total liquidity was strong at $23.7 billion of cash and inv... read more
In the 2008 Oscars what was the order of award distribution? 1 AnswerMahalo had great Oscar Live Coverage! 8:41 PM: Best Costume Design: Alexandra Byrne for Elizabeth 8:52 PM: Best Animated Feature: Brad Bird for Ratatouille 8:... read more
Does anyone know where I can view Microsofts Press Conference at E3 2009? 1 AnswerYou can view Microsoft's E3 2009 press conference over at gamespot: http://e3.gamespot.com/press-conference/microsoft-e3/ read more
view more questions...
-
Microsoft Keynote E3 2008 Live Blog
- 12:05 Mattrick comes back out, thanks everyone for watching, and ends the keynote. That's it for now. Pretty eventful. We need to take a breather and take it all in.
- 12:04 "The day we have all been waiting for," Wada says. "An Xbox 360 version of Final Fantasy XIII is being released," he says. Wow! (Final Fantasy XIII Xbox 360 version.
- 11:59 Mattrick is back. Oh, but Wada is back, and interrupts Mattrick. He has one more movie to show. It begins with a beautiful CGI, depicting winged creatures flying through a valley. The next shot is of air-ships touching down. A huge air-ship floats through the sky. Soldiers run in formation and aim at a female hero. This has to be a Final Fantasy game. Whoa, it's ramping up now. Several key characters are featured in combat action, shooting at soldiers, riding on motorcycles, etc. The music is stirring, orchestral, as the camera features each of the main character yet again. Then the title comes up, Final Fantasy XIII.
- 11:57 Now we're watching a trailer of The Last Remnant. It's a sweeping, brief trailer. Various anime-inspired characters are shown as the camera sweeps through a large town. Wada says The Last Remnant will also be available on PC.
- 11:53 "Before we close today, I'd like to introduce one final guest." It's Yoichi Wada, president of Square Enix. "It's a great pleasure to be here," he says. "The Xbox 360 continues to bring together players from around the world," he says. "Our aim, is to provide a new generation of entertainment," he says. He introduces three key titles for the company:
- Infinite Udiscovery: This will be released September 2, 2008, in North America. It's a collaborative project between Microsoft, Square Enix and Tri-Ace.
- Star Ocean: The Last Hope, will debut Spring 2009.
- The Last Remnant will be released this holiday season, November 20, 2008, on the Xbox 360.
- 10:52 "There will be over 500 songs in Rock Band 2 by the end of 2008," Rigopulos says. For reference, there were 41 in Guitar Hero Aerosmith.
- 11:49 Alex Rigopulos comes out on stage, to talk about Rock Band 2. He shows the entire setlist, which is huge. He announces that Guns N' Roses will be included in the setlist, as well as Bob Dylan, and "one of the most titanic bands in the history of Rock n' Roll, AC/DC," will join the lineup. AC/DC is their most requested band he says, and this will be the first time AC/DC has appeared in video games.
- 11:48 She's still signing. Oh, done now. Applause. Kim is back. "Rock Band expanded the whole music game experience by including the whole band," he says.
- 11:43 Keiichi Yano comes out on stage. He's announcing how this will be the first game when you can sing along to all of your favorite songs with your Xbox 360. Now a girl, named "Duffy," is performing on stage and playing the game. The interface for the game resembles that of Guitar Hero, where a fret board of sorts floats along, and you need to hit various pitches accurately to continue. The pitches on the music bar are positioned higher or lower, depending on the pitch.
- 11:42 Kim is back. He's going to tell us about a new multimedia experience on Xbox Live. A trailer cues up. A girl sings karaoke at a party. The karaoke is hooked up to an Xbox 360. Cool. The trailer is for the game called Lips.
- 11:38 Kai Huang of Red Octane walks on stage, and is going to tell us about Guitar Hero World Tour he says. He announces the new drum kit, and new modes like "online band career," and "battle of the bands," where you play against people online. Huang announces a new feature of Guitar Hero World Tour, where you can "Create, share, discover and play new music." "Metallica...(waits of applause...light applause...), is joining forces with Guitar Hero in a big way." Guitar Hero: Metallica launches this fall, he says.
- 11:35 Kim explains that was just a short sampling of all the mini-games you can play. Now we're watching a trailer for You're in the Movies. It stars Geneve, John, Don and Kim. It's a Godzilla knock-off. They appear in various shots, screaming, punching things, etc. Kim says You're in the Movies will ship this holiday season.
- 11:33 Geneve is up now. She's playing a dance game of sorts. The gaol appears to be dancing to the right rhythm, and occasionally "posing" in the correct stance, sort of like Samba de Amigo.
- 11:31 Kim now introduces Don, John and Geneve Walden out onto the stage to play mini-games in You're in the Movies. It's a new product where you "star" in movies and mini-games, sort of like the Eye Toy. Kim makes a crack about flash photography. Don is playing first. He's running in 3D, in a circus setting, against a sort of blue screen. It's similar to the Eye Toy game. John is next. He's playing a bug-slapping game, smacking bugs from the left and right of the screen as they approach him. "Good score," Geneve tells him.
- 11:29 Now Kim is showing us a trailer for Scene It: Box Office Smash, a new movie trivia game for Xbox Live. In the trailer, a bunch of office pals are sitting around a couch and playing the game.
- 11:27 Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise time. A grandfatherly voice explains the new game, against a bunch of shots of the new game. It looks wild, very colorful and zany. The voice says that the game will swell to over "1000 different varieties."
- 11:26 Now we're seeing a trailer for Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts.
- 11:25 Shane Kim, corporate Vice President of Microsoft comes out on stage. He speaks about the exclusive games for the Xbox 360, and mentions the upcoming downloadable "episode" for Grand Theft Auto IV. He says that the Xbox 360 will have 1000+ titles launching by the end of 2008.
- 11:23 Schappert officially announces a partnership with Netflix. "If you're an Xbox Live subscriber, you can enjoy the Netflix library, at no additional cost," Schappert says. Did I hear that right? "We can all watch movies together," he says. You can apparently watch Netflix movies with your friends online, together.
- 11:20 Oh, boy. The Aperture computer voice from Portal is talking, and has officially announced Portal Still Alive, which has "brand new levels and achievements," coming this fall, Schappert says. It's Coming Fall 2008, to Xbox Live.
- 11:19 Schappert unveils a new version of Geometry Wars, Geometry Wars 2(!). It looks nice, very fast and flashy. Schappert now announces (too much!) Galaga: Legions, a true sequel to the original Galaga.
- 11:16 And now, there's a video playing of the new "gameshows." An avatar sits on a chair in a Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? type of show. "The best part,"Schappert says, "is you'll be able to win real prizes." Now Schappert shows us the new "games channel." He shows us how you can play Uno online with all of your friends. You can move from sharing photos, to Xbox Live Primetime, to playing Uno together, Schappert explains.
- 11:13 Now we're shown a promotional video for the avatars. "The power is when you see these things together," a man on the screen says. Then we see a sort of town setting with a bunch of avatars hanging out together. "This new Xbox dashboard is tailored for the living room," Schappert says. We're shown how avatars will work socially. When one of your friends is online, you will see them all lined up left-to-right under the new "community" tab. You can now share photos by streaming them with everyone in your "party." Schappert now introduces Xbox Live Primetime, where users can star in their own "gameshows," he says.
- 11:11 We're now shown the brand new Xbox 360 dashboard. "The new look and feel is more social and easier to use," he says. "We're making Xbox Live more personal, with avatars," he says. "With tons of hair, clothes styles...you can make your avatar reflect who you want to be." The avatars remind us of The Sims characters.
- 11:09 John Schappert, head of Xbox Live, comes out onto the stage. He's speaking about "innovation," innovation in games, innovation in entertainment. "Through continuous innovation," he says, "we're able to make your experience better and better." Video chat, instant message: "this is what allows us to drive the evolution of games and entertainment," he says. "What's next?" He asks. Big announcement coming, perhaps?
- 11:07 Mattrick announces two new partnerships: NBC and Universal Studios. Cue trailer showing short film clips of things like The Scorpion King and The Chronicles of Riddick. All of this, he says, will be available for download starting today.
- 11:06 Mattrick says that, since launch, consumers have spent more that $1 billion on Xbox Live. He says that Xbox Live now offers the best selection of high-definition entertainment and television shows. Movies and TV shows have become so popular, they account for one third of all Xbox Live purchases.
- 11:04 Mattrick shows a chart, and says how the Xbox 360 is "5 million units ahead" of both the Wii and PS3. He continues to talk up the Xbox 360, saying they'll offer the most "comprehensive games lineup."
- 11:02 Don Mattrick is back. He's talking about how consumers worldwide will spend an estimated "$48 billion dollars on video games this year." Wow, really?
- 11:01 Cliff announces a new mode, "Horde," in which players can play online together (up to 5 at a time), and take on "wave after wave" of alien foes. The new release date is confirmed for Gears of War 2: November 7, 2008.
- 10:58 This is pretty long for a demo(!). They take an elevator down to a lower level. Oh my, the player has used something which called in some sort of "fire airstrike"(?!) One of the player characters says, "keep moving, this place isn't going to last much longer." They are in a subway/train type of structure. It stops and they get out, and face a very, very large "Brumak" monster, out in a large open area. One of the players pistol-whips a Locust on his way to the big boss. Nice. The demo ends.
- 10:55 Gameplay begins. It's some two-player action. They make their down into a town valley in shambles. Some kill-footage now, Locusts are getting shot up in various ways. A "Corpser" (spider robot thing) approaches, but it is destroyed with a laser canon of some sort, awesome. Whoa, a locust has a flame thrower. The fire graphics look pretty sweet, almost like liquid. Now the player has the flame thrower, ahh.
- 10:54 It's Gears of War 2 time. We're shown a bloody, wild trailer, which lasts about 10 seconds, and then Mr. Cliff Bleszinski of Epic comes out. He says "we have the most anticipated title out this holiday season, on any platform."
- 10:52 Peter wants to introduce us to "my wife," he says. In the game. He navigates the character into his house, and shows us his red-head wife. She's wearing a wench-top. He's proud of this part, what he calls "the ability to experience your own unique world." He announced the release date month(!), October 2008.
- 10:49 We're shown a video of Fable 2. The camera sweeps through a town, Thomas Kinkade-esque buildings all around. Two little kids start talking to each other, English accents in full force. Then the video ends. Peter wants to show us one more feature, the ability to "play co-op" online. He shows us how you can walk up to a floating, glowing orb, press a button, and boom you've just imported one of your friends who's also playing online. Very slick.
- 10:49 Peter Molyneux, creative director for Fable 2, comes out onto the stage. He says "Fable 2...is finished" (light applause).
- 10:47 Jun announces the official release date(!) March 13, 2008, in North America.
- 10:45 The carnage continues. The female character has dropped into a small room, and is blowing zombies away. Jun explains how it's important in Resident Evil 5 for the two characters to team up together to overcome various obstacles. Jun at this point actually shouts at the players, urging them to hurry because they're running out of time for the demo. And, they were going to just face off against a boss together, but they did run out of time for the demo. Doh!
- 10:43 He's playing now, walking up stairs and through dark corridors, picking off zombies. He's explaining how the game takes place in Africa, where you have to respond to a bio...leak of some sort. You organization you control in the game is called the BSAA. He's explaining how there is an online co-op mode, and another player begins playing as well. They use team-tactics to jump over a ditch. (NOTE: the aiming features remind us of Resident Evil 4, the laser sighting and all.)
- 10:42 Jun Takeuchi, producer of Resident Evil 5 has come onto the stage. He's speaking Japanese, and being translated. He's pleased to show us the first public demo of Resident Evil 5. Oh boy, oh boy.
- 10:40 Oh boy, Howard has switched to the "fat man," a mini nuclear bomb catapult weapon, and he fires it. The explosion definitely looks like a mini nuclear bomb. He says, "it's a pretty effective weapon." Howard thanks the audience.
- 10:39 Howard is now facing off against a sentry-bot, he says. He's giving it an EMP blast with a pulse grenade. Wow that looks fun, all purple and static-looking.
- 10:37 Howard is playing Fallout 3. It looks nuts, post-apocalyptic landscapes and all. He's says "you can play a combat guy, a stealthy guy," while walking through the environments. He shows the aiming feature and snipes an alien from afar. The targeting features look very nice. He switches to a combat shotgun (happy marching band music is playing through all of this, mind you). You can hack computers, he says, but instead he uses a laser rifle to eliminate a bot.
- 10:35 Todd Howard from Bethesda Games Studio is introduced. The video is supposed to show the brutality, and humor, of Fallout 3. He's "ecstatic" to show us the first full live demo of Fallout 3. This is funny, he's about to start and the "please reconnect the controller" message comes up on the big screen. "I'm ok," he says.
- 10:34 We're now being shown a faux-50s promotional video for Fallout 3. "Where will you be when the atomic bombs fall?" a suited man asks. Kind of cool.
- 10: 33 Don Mattrick comes out on stage and starts the keynote. We're told that we're going hear about some of the most anticipated games on the horizon. Resident Evil 5, Fable 2, etc. We're told to "fasten our seat belts," and let's get started.
- 10:30 Music has changed now. Like, synth and angelic vocals type of thing. Couldn't they have just rocked some Zep?
- 10:27 Looks like the keynote is about to get underway. The screen is depicting various white, beautiful images of Microsoft products. And some sort of chilled house music is playing. All very relaxed.
- Check back at 10:30 AM on July 14, 2008, for our live blog coverage of the Microsoft keynote.
