|
Microsoft kicked its press conference off on a musical note with a short rendition of the now iconic Halo theme song by a group of high school musicians. Though I’ve never been a fan of the fiddle, I’ve come to the conclusion that someone could play the Halo theme on their armpit and it would sound good.
The short musical introduction led to more music. After a quick introduction, Peter Moore took the stage and not being one to be afraid of making a fool of himself (his words, not mine), invited Harmonix to the stage for a quick demo of Rock Band. Guitar controller in hand, Moore requested that the group, “Pump it up to eleven” as they broke out into a rendition of The Hives “Main Offender.” Failing to keep up with the rest of the band, Moore asked the group to pull him back in – which they did… twice. Hey, the man may be British, but he’s no Beatle… or Robert Palmer for that matter.
As a bit of post-concert entertainment, Moore announced Viva Piñata: Party Animals, a new game in the series that looks to take on a bit of a Mario Party vibe, only with piñatas instead of plumbers. The game will feature around 50 mini-games including races, ant chases and a game where you use the power of burps to push sail boats. Okay, I’m interested already.
This soon led to a brand new trailer for Mass Effect. Words can’t describe how incredibly awesome the game looks, so 360 owners definitely have something to look forward to this November when the game releases.
It just wouldn’t be a press conference without a few numbers being thrown around, so Peter Moore then rolled out a series of impressive stats involving Xbox 360 sales. By the end of this year, game sales will eclipse that of music. In the U.S. alone, the 360 has managed to grow an install base of 5.6 million users with the system outselling the PS3 by a 2:1 ratio. The system is also selling more hardware than the other two systems, combined with 2/3 of all next-gen third party software selling on the 360.
Moore then recalled Holiday 2004 numbers which saw some of the best sales in the industry. The top selling games that season were Madden, Halo 2 and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Games from all three franchises will again appear side-by-side only on the 360. In addition to these three top-sellers, the 360 will also see a number of other third party games, all combining to form what Moore calls one of the, “…greatest holiday line-ups ever.”
A gameplay montage of the system’s holiday line-up was then shown: Call of Duty 4, Guitar Hero III, Assassin’s Creed, Beautiful Katamari, Splinter Cell: Conviction, Tony Hawk’s Proving Ground, Eternal Sonata, The Orange Box, Dynasty Warriors: Gundam, NBA Live 08, Ace Combat 6, Spider-Man: Friend or Foe and Naruto: Rise of the Ninja.
Microsoft’s John Bell then took the stage to announce that a new version of the popular board game “Scene It?”. In addition, Naruto: Rise of the Ninja is exclusive to the Xbox 360. Another set of clips is shown from the game and it is hard to not be impressed. The cel-shading is incredible and looks about as close to the series as you can get. Heck, it is enough to get me interested in the game and I don’t even like Naruto!!
Bell also announced that all of EA’s sports games, in particular Madden 08, will run “…twice as fast and twice as smooth” on the Xbox 360. To demonstrate, Bell introduced New Orleans Saints Running Back Reggie Bush (Woot!) on stage to demonstrate. Playing in a game pitting the Saints (played by Bush) and Seahawks (coached by Bell), Bell takes the defense and, after awkwardly taunting Bush on the play selection screen, is almost immediately silenced by Bush when he breaks away and, playing as himself, runs the ball in for a long touchdown (Double Woot!)
Rising from his humbling defeat, Bell then turned his attention to Xbox Live. The service has exceeded expectations and is now running 7 million subscribers strong; Microsoft hopes to expand that number to 10 million by next year’s E3. By the end of the year, the Xbox Live Arcade will contain over 100 titles. A montage of upcoming Arcade titles was shown spanning the spectrum from classics to brand new games. Among the titles shown were: Bomberman Live, Space Giraffe, Poker Smash, Puzzle Fighter II Turbo Remix, Every Extend Extra Extreme, Geon, Wing Commander Arena, Feeding Frenzy 2, Spyglass Board Games, Marathon: Durandel, Track and Field, Tetris Splash, Puzzle Quest, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Golden Axe. As a surprise announcement, it was announced that Sonic the Hedgehog and Golden Axe will be available on Live…. NOW!!
But don’t run off just yet! Really, there’s more…
Bell also announced that Microsoft has signed a deal with Disney, making several movies from their extensive catalog available via Live’s digital distribution system. These include animated movies like Hunchback of Notre Dame and Hercules as well as movies like The Waterboy, Coyote Ugly and Armageddon. New releases, like Deja Vu, Primeval and The Queen are also available, as will all future Disney releases. All of these movies are also available for download… NOW!!!
Shane Kim them took the stage to highlight some games coming to the system later this year. The first was Project Gotham Racing 4, which was then shown off by developers Brian Woodhouse and Craig Howard. The fourth game in the series, which releases this September, will include bikes from manufacturers like Ducati and Honda and feature 10 locations such as St. Petersburg, Macau and Shanghai. Races will also feature dynamic weather effects that will have an impact on driving.
Kim also mentioned Alan Wake, Fable 2, Too Human and Halo Wars. Footage of Lost Odyssey was then shown. The trailer is a mix of old and new footage – it looks like another awesome RPG for 360 fans to look forward to.
Microsoft will be expanding their Games for Windows initiative this year. THQ, Eidos and SEGA have all pledged support. Gears of War was announced for the PC. Kim then invited Epic’s Cliff Blezinsky to the stage to demo a new PC-exclusive battle against the Brumak, a monster that can only be described as Godzilla with armor plating and arm-mounted machine guns. The PC version will run on both XP and Vista and will also feature new multiplayer modes, five new single-player sections and a game editor.
Peter Moore then returned to the stage to introduce yet another holiday title – Call of Duty 4: Modern Combat. He then introduced developers from Infinity Ward who showed a short demo of the game. The demo began with two camouflaged soldiers (one of whom seems to pop out from nowhere – the camo is THAT great looking) moving around a field trying to avoid radiation pockets. The two then work their way around a few run-down buildings, stealthily taking out guards. After a helicopter fly-over, the demo ends… but not without another surprise announcement from Infinity Ward – an open multiplayer beta available only to Xbox 360 users. The beta will be available… well, an exact date wasn’t given, though you can check out www.charlieoscarbravo.com for details.
Although all of the games being shown will be available by the end of the year, one exception is being made – Resident Evil 5. A very quick montage is shown along with the announcement that a full trailer will be available for download on July 26. The “Someone Special” trailer for Grand Theft Auto IV is again shown along with an announcement of exclusive downloadable episodic content available only on the 360. All of the footage is running off of a 360 (wow!).
After the trailer and mention of Splinter Cell: Conviction, UbiSoft’s Jade Raymond was invited to the stage for a live demonstration of Assassin’s Creed.
The demo begins with the assassin jumping from a steeple high above the streets of Jerusalem into a bale of hay. The assassin then pushes his way through the streets, tossing aside women carrying jars and pesky beggars. It is explained that interruptions like these will pop up to slow down your progress. After locating his target, the assassin sneaks into his compound after creating a distraction and pulling off some fancy acrobatic tricks. Just when he thinks he has his target cornered, five henchmen pop out – a great opportunity to show off the game’s combat system. After the fight, he then chases the target down and kills him. Game looks good!
Moore then turns his attention towards Halo… finally. A short live-action Halo trailer is shown, though no explanation is given other than it shows what a Halo movie would probably look like. A new Halo-themed Xbox 360 console is unveiled. No details are given about the console other than it sports a Master Chief green paint scheme and metallic orange DVD-tray.
After recapping the titles hitting the system and reiterating that, “… this is what we are about”, Moore introduces the first single-player campaign trailer for Halo 3.
With that, the conference is over. |
