E3 2008: Microsoft Presser Wrap

All You Need to Know from Yesterday’s Announcements

Microsoft disclosed a ton of infomation at their E3 conference yesterday–a lot of it is far too much to go into detail here, though some of the more important details we’ve either touched on already or will be doing so both on the web and in our radio coverage throughout the week.

Indeed, it might be better to offer you a more bite-sized sampling of what came out of Microsoft’s conference.

• Fallout 3, Resident Evil 5, and Fable 2 are all on their way to XBOX 360.  Fable 2 is about ready to be shipped and will do so this Fall.  The first playable demo of RE5 was also shown to the crowd.
• Gears of War 2 was also demoed at Microsoft’s event.  That will be released on November 7th.
• A lot of XBOX Live news came out of this meeting.  Microsoft announced several content partnerships; among them NBC Universal and Netflix.  You’ll need to be a Gold subscriber to take advantage of the Netflix content, however.
• Coming this fall there will be a Vista-esque overhaul of the XBOX Live dashboard.  The new interface will include Mii-like avatars that are very customizable.  Gamers will also be able to share photos and partake in a new game show experience called XBOX Primetime.  1 vs. 100 was demoed as part of Primetime and will be exclusive to XBOX Live.
• Some new games are coming down the XBOX Live Arcade pipeline, including Uno Rush, which is online multiplayer, and Geometry Wars 2, which may not be.  (More on the latter in a story later on.)  Portal spinoff Still Alive is also on the way to the Arcade.
• Rare stepped up and showed off some of Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts, as well as Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise.  The company also announced the original Banjo-Kazooie will hit XBOX Live Arcade in the fall.
• There will be a new video camera peripheral coming to XBOX360, similar to Sony’s EyeToy.  One game that demoed the XBOX Live Vision technology at the conference was You’re in the Movies.  Players are superimposed right on screen and take on a variety of thematic challenges.
• Guitar Hero: World Tour is coming, and it will include online modes including Battle of the Bands, and an 85 track selection.  Players will also be able to create music and share it online via XBOX Live.  Music from the Eagles, Van Halen, REM, and Metallica will be exclusive to this upcoming release.
• Lips was officially unveiled at the conference.  The karaoke title will utilize a microphone peripheral.  There is some interactivity planned between Lips and the Zune media player.
• Rock Band 2 will have a period of exclusivity with XBOX 360, and 86 base tracks along with 20 bonus tracks will make for over 100 total new songs.  Pair that with backwards compatibility from original Rock Band songs, and Harmonix expects over 500 tunes for players to jam on by the end of the year.
• Square Enix revealed that Star Ocean: The Last Remnant, Infinite Undiscovery, and Star Ocean: The Last Hope are all on their way to XBOX 360.  And, yes, Final Fantasy XIII is coming to the console too.

Nintendo’s press conference is today.  A lot of rumors are swirling as to what they have up their sleeve.  We’ll report it throughout the day and have analysis tonight on our radio coverage.