Microsoft
Technically, I should be an Xbox fanboy. I'm a college age white male who likes shooters and action-packed games. By all accounts I should own an Xbox 360. But I don't, mostly because of the sticking point of their faulty systems. I don't want to have to recycle a console at least once every year because it wasn't built right. So, no Xbox...yet.
Microsoft started off the show with Call of Duty: Black Ops. I've only ever played the first Modern Warfare, which I loved, and as such I can't really say what looks improved from previous outings. However, first impression is that the graphics look great, raining fire from above in an attack helicopter while screaming villagers run away from you looks appropriately intense, and otherwise it looks like any other Call of Duty title.
Next up, Kojima's first Metal Gear game for Xbox, Metal Gear Rising, in which you literally take up the sword of Raiden and cut...shit...up. If you ever wanted Kill Bill the video game, here it is. Only a trailer was shown, but boy what a trailer. You hack and slash your way through enemies, literally severing each one in half with each swipe. You can also enter a kind of bullet time mode in which you can line up your slices to dissect individual parts of enemies. It looks ridiculous, but also ridiculously fun.
Then they brought out Cliff and showed off the 4 person co-op of Gears of War 3. I played the first one, wasn't too impressed, but still had fun with it. This demo left my jaw firmly on the floor. The action was very intense, with all sorts of new enemies popping up, some who would morph into alien versions of tentacle rape if you left them alone for too long. It all ended with them having to run back to their base while the giant laser in the sky came down around them trying to hit a giant baddie who bullets bounced off of. They made it inside, it hit...and did nothing. So already the gameplay looks top-notch, but on top of that the visuals were stunning. This was easily one the highlight of the conference.
Trailer for Fable 3. Nothing new, looks kinda blah to me.
Then they step out and reveal a partnership with Crytek, makers of Crysis, for "Codename: Kingdoms" which has a very vague live action trailer. Just have to wait and see on this one.
Rounding out the big exclusive names, they showed off gameplay footage of Halo: Reach, which is said to be the very last Halo game. Yeah right. I remember when they said that about Halo 3. 3 games later and I doubt their cash cow is going to stop anytime soon. In any case, the graphics look better, but honestly I wasn't impressed. I played Halo 3, and it looks like the same exact game just a little prettier. Oh, and there's space combat. No doubt true Halo fans will rush out and make this the highest selling game ever though, despite any flaws.
Then they rolled out a looot of stuff about Kinect, formely known as Project Natal.
Some highlights:
-Sign in is as easy as waving at your Xbox
-Voice recognition realizes the Star Trek fantasy of saying "Computer...do this" but this time it's things like "Xbox...Netflix" to automatically sign in to Netflix or "Xbox...replay" to replay the last roughly 30 seconds
-Easy video chat with anyone on Xbox Live AND Windows Messenger
-Third party support for Kinect, especially the fitness game from Ubisoft, looks great (including a lightsaber game that looks based off the Clone Wars animated series) and most could only be achieved on Kinect
-ESPN thousands of live games from every sport except...no mention of NFL
Some disappointments
-Wii Sports...I mean...Kinect Sports
-Mario Kart...I mean...Joyride
-every other launch game from Microsoft copying something from Wii
-really bad acting and EXTREMELY obvious pre-choreographed showcases, leaving doubts as to the true authenticity of some of what they were showing
To wrap up, Kinect looks to be a really cool way of interacting with media, though third parties seem to have a much better grasp of that then Microsoft themselves. The ability to use voice commands looks like the feature to beat for me, along with its ability to sense your entire body, opening up possibilities for learning body-intensive things like fitness routines, martial arts, and even how to dance (all of which were showcased). But with such crappy launch titles that so blatantly rip off the Wii (especially when you're playing with avatars that are basically Miis) I would recommend delaying purchase on this until they spice it up with some good offerings.
Then to top off the show they unveiled the PS3. Technically it's their revamped Xbox 360 but...come on. It's got a black, sleek design. It's finally got built in Wi-Fi. The hard drive is 250gb. It's a lot quieter. Only thing is, it doesn't have blu-ray. Also, no mention of their overheating problems, which, if you're trying to convert people to buy your new peripheral along with a newly designed system needs to be addressed. Personally...I'll wait.
Overall, a good conference with lots of interesting things to show, but nothing too exciting either. Kinect still has a long way to go before it's going to be worth buying (for an as yet undisclosed price though most people are putting it at $150).
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