Microsoft’s E3 conference has concluded. You can view our coverage as it originally appeared after the jump.
In case you can’t make it to Microsoft’s E3 show, we’ll be covering the news as it happens in text form right in this post.
Updates will be posted in reverse chronological order (meaning the latest news will be on the top). You’ll also need to refresh the page to see new updates:
Back to the Games
- The conference concludes with a rather lengthy trailer for Call of Duty Black Ops 2, which will have Xbox-exclusive content
- A trailer for Dance Central 3 on Kinect. Celebrity singer Usher performs dance moves on stage.
- A South Park game is shown, which features you as the new kid in the neighborhood. The creators appear on stage and discuss how difficult it was to get this game working. It is intended to capture the feeling of the show as best as possible to put you into the show.
- Wreckateer is an exclusive Kinect title for XBLA featuring comical destructive action
- Capcom shows a trailer for Resident Evil 6 featuring Leon taking down hordes of creatures in a hallway, running through a city, climbing a helicopter with a zombie on his leg, and other action-oriented scenes
- A game called Matter is also teased
- A teaser trailer for a game called LocoCycle is shown (announced for 2013)
- A new IP (?) is shown, featuring bloody armored samurai-like battles and giant brawls ala Shadow of the Colossus
- A gameplay trailer for the upcoming third person adventure game Tomb Raider is shown, featuring Laura Croft stealthily taking down foes and swinging from ropes. She sets things and people on fire using cleverly placed arrows and goes swimming down a waterfall, barely escaping thanks to a parachute. She’s brutalized by the end, covered in blood, scars, and limps to safely. Will be a timed exclusive for Xbox.
Multimedia Time
- Windows 8 is compatible with SmartGlass
- SmartGlass makes it “fast, fluid, and intuitive” to use Internet Explorer (which is coming to Xbox later this fall). It lets you use your tablet as a keyboard or browsing device to get the full experience of a browser in the living room.
- Marc Whitten announces Xbox SmartGlass. It will connect the devices you already own by allowing you to send movies from one device to another instantly. Your tablet provides a map regarding the sequence of the show while watching on the TV. This will be transferred to games as well, allowing you to use your phone or tablet to keep track of information. It allows you to use your tablets and phones as TV remotes.
- “The future of fitness”, Nike Plus Kinect Training, is shown for Kinect. It keeps track of your own statistics and has the ability to measure your fitness like a professional athlete. It also features a virtual trainer that can call you on the phone to remind you about workouts. Xbox Live will allow you to challenge friends online.
- Xbox Music is announced, which will bring over 30 million music tracks (will be available on Xbox, tablets, PC, and phones)
- A trailer shows how voice commands will make it easy to watch a game in just seconds
- ESPN will improve via live programming on Xbox by offering 24 hour live coverage of sports in HD
- With regards to sports, NBA and NHL games (as in, the ones you just watch) will be coming to Xbox
- For multimedia, Nickelodeon, Paramount Movies, Machinima, and Univision will be available on Xbox Live later this year
- Bing voice search will be expanding to numerous other countries and the previous functionality shown off is demonstrated in Spanish
- A demonstration shows how Kinect will make it easier to find items in the Xbox Live store using voice commands
The Games
- A trailer for the new shows Forza Horizon (mostly non-gameplay)
- A world premier trailer for the new Gears of War game, shows plenty of CG action and is coming sometime in 2013
- Head of Micorosft Studios Phil Spencer puts over the “bold new direction” of Halo 4 and claims this will be the biggest year for Xbox yet
- A very brief trailer shows a glimpse of Fable: The Journey
- Former hall of fame quarterback Joe Montana shows how Madden 13 will be enhanced, similarly allowing you to make the calls with voice commands (arriving later this year)
- EA’s Andrew Wilson appears and discusses how Kinect will improve Fifa 13; the game allows you to use voice commands to change up your strategy on the fly
- Blacklist will feature single player, co-op, and is coming spring 2013
- The aforementioned trailer shows how Kinect’s voice recognition enhances the title
- A trailer and gameplay footage for Ubisoft’s Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Blacklist shows Sam Fischer utilizing X-ray vision, taking down his foes, and climbing walls
- EA President shows up and talks about the success of the Xbox brand in North America
- Halo 4 gameplay trailer is shown featuring Master Chief squaring off against a “non-organic” alien of some sort and its subsequent minions
- A trailer features a CG scene of the upcoming Halo 4
- The show begins
You can also watch the show as it happens over here.
So, doesn't sound like I missed very much…I'll try to watch the entire thing later tonight. Just from reading the points though, (thanks for those!), it doesn't seem like much "new" was announced other than SmartGlass.
Oh good, I'm glad I wasn't the only one that was severely underwhelmed by this presentation 😛
Haha. I didn't even watch it yet, just read the list and was like, "Obvious. Obvious. Obvious. Meh, sort of interesting…maybe? Obvious. Obvious. NEXT PLEASE!"
Sounded like they're simply continuing the course, and pushing Kinect support, and not a whole lot of "gaming" news that was new and unexpected. Maybe the video will show me something differently.
SmartGlass doesn't interest me (I have an iPad) and Xbox Music is behind even Sony there, let alone Spotify. About the only thing that interested me was the sport/ fitness partnership with Nike. I like statistics with my fitness.
SmartGlass actually is compatible with everything, iPads included. We'll see how it goes in practice, but I think it definitely has some potential
I should clarify – I have an iPad and a Apple TV. 😛 I can already do pretty much everything SmartGlass is promising.