Adam Creighton, Computer and Video Gaming: X06: Microsoft press briefing (HUGE)

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Adam Creighton, Computer and Video Gaming (Subscribe)

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

X06: Microsoft press briefing (HUGE)

It's on -- and so much more exciting than TGS (which makes sense, because this is Microsoft's show).

Announcements of note are below; don't get lost in the list, there's some good stuff here.

Of course, you can probably just go to halowars.com for one of the bigger announcements. Oh, and the "only place to get the full GTA4 experience is on Xbox 360." And Splinter Cell will become an Xbox 360 exclusive. And stuff.

Read on:

Doom is coming to Xbox Live Arcade tonight.
Sensible World of Soccer from Codemasters is coming to Xbox Live Arcade (sometime).
Banjo and Kazooie is coming to the Xbox 360 (I think this was rumored in either GameInformer or The Official Xbox Magazine a few months ago).
Gears of War -- CiffyB showed a new level; hopefully, screenshots will be posted soon.
Assassin's Creed was playable, and looks amazing.
BioShock looked to be all pre-rendered or pre-scripted, but looks to be amazing and twisted and complex and important.
Blue Dragon is coming to the U.S. -- not just Japan.
Lost Odyssey is coming to Europe and North America, and new footage was shown (or that's what they implied, but the streaming video crapped out right at the new content, so all I got was the slideshow version.)
According to Peter Moore, the only place to play "the full Grand Theft Auto experience" due to exclusive download content. I'm not sure what this means for PS3-exclusive content.
Lost Planet: Extreme Condition got a nod from Peter, but no video. It is playable (single and multiplayer) at X06. Lucky bastards.
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent was represented with new video, but the big news (HUGE) is the next Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell title will be an Xbox 360 and Games for Windows exclusive. Brilliant way to lock in third-party support, and Microsoft is timing this perfectly -- Double Agent will likely rock, and fans of the franchise who haven't yet bought a next-gen console better get an Xbox 360. Sony, rebuttal?
Forza 2 has an early playable build on the X06 show floor.
There was a big plug for Games for Windows, and Windows Vista as a gaming operating system (Conan: Hyporean Adventures, Crysis, Shadowrun, LEGO Star Wars II, Hellgate: London, Halo 2, etc.).
Live Anywhere is the integration of Xbox Live and Games for Windows, with Shadowrun as the first title.
They announced Marvel Universe Online, a Live Anywhere title exclusive to the Xbox 360 and Games for Windows, and is a Marvel comic book MMORPG. I am literally shaking in excitement.
Peter Jackson and Microsoft Game Studios announced a partnership to create new form of entertainment medium "between games and movies". This first will be based on the Halo universe. They also announced of the formation of Wingnut Interactive, the interactive company division of Jackson's/Fran Walsh's empire.
There was an absolutely amazing cinematic of Halo Wars, a Halo-based RTS from Ensemble studios. As soon as I saw the sillouette of the Warthog passing overhead (I spend an unusual amount of time getting mowed down in Halo 2), I stopped IMing gamer buddy GammaZero and squealed at the screen like a Hello Kitty fangirl.

'Halo Wars is set during the UNSC's first deadly encounters with the Covenant, allowing players to lead the crew of the UNSC's "Spirit of Fire" from initial skirmishes to an all out war against the evil Covenant.'

(Hey, history buffs, did you know Halo was originally envisioned as an RTS before it became an FPS? Did you know Ensemble Studios knows RTSes (Age of Empires/Age of Mythology/The Conquerors/The Titans)? Did you know they're in Dallas? Did you know the drive from Austin to Dallas is nothing for talented, professional voice actors?)
The HD-DVD player will be available in in November for $199, and for a limited time, come with the Xbox 360 universal remote and the HD-DVD version of Peter Jackson's King Kong.
Come this holiday, there will be 160 Xbox 360 titles (I'd like to see the breakdown, because I suspect this is on Xbox Live Arcade and full titles, and I wonder if this is supposed to be "next holiday").

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SOURCES: Gamespot.com, joystiq.com, kotaku.com, Xbox.com, IGN, GameInformer, Official XBox Magazine, CNN, gamesindustry.biz, and others.

Adam Creighton, Computer and Video Gaming (Subscribe)

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

X06: Microsoft press briefing (HUGE)

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