Thread: 360 kicks off E3 2009

Microsoft started the press conferences today, revealing a ton of new games and products for the XBox 360 at the Electronics Entertainment Expo (E3) 2009 in LA. Here's a summary of Microsoft's presentation. I will post Sony and Nintendo's during the week as they come.

Multi-platform-

The Beatles Rock Band (presented by Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr)

Tony Hawk Ride (announced)

Brutal Legend

Assassin's Creed 2 (available 11/09)

Lost Planet 2

Wolfenstein (available 8/2009)

Call of Duty- Modern Warfare 2 (playable demo)

Batman- Arkham Asylum (available 9/2009)

Crysis 2 (announced)

Final Fantasy XIII (playable demo running on Xbox 360)

Metal Gear Solid- Rising (announced/2010)

360 Exclusives-

CoD-MW2 exclusive maps

Gears of War 2 expansion, new maps, and campaign levels

Splinter Cell- Conviction (playable demo/2010)

Forza Motorsports 3 (announced, 10/09)

Left 4 Dead 2 (announced)

Crackdown 2 (announced)

Halo 3- ODST (available 9/09)

Halo- Reach (announced, prequel to Halo trilogy, demo included with ODST)

Alan Wake (presented with playable demo, 2010)

Mass Effect 2 (demo)

XBox 'Natal' motion system without a controller, similar to Eyetoy. Even detects various speeds and measures 'impacts'.

Shadow Complex- XBox LIVE game

Facebook and Twitter on LIVE.

Improved Netflix and streaming movies in HD 1080.

LIVE Party using Avatars (uggh)

TV on LIVE

Summary of games from Sony's presser for the PS3:

Multi-platform-

Madden X

Batman- Arkham Asylum (available 9/2009)

Call of Duty- Modern Warfare 2

Brutal Legend

Prototype (available 6/8)

Ghostbusters

Assassin's Creed 2 (11/09)

Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 (announced, Ninja Gaiden 2 available for 360)

Final Fantasy XIII (PS3 demo)

Exclusives-

Uncharted 2- Among Thieves

White Knight Chronicles

Agent (announced, Rockstar games)

Final Fantasy XIV (announced, MMORPG, may be coming to 360)

The Last Guardian (announced, developed by Team Ico, ala Shadow of the Colossus)

Gran Turismo 5 (announced)

MAG (announced with demo)

God of War 3 (announced, 3/2010)

50 PS1 classics coming for download (including Final Fantasy VII)

Playstation Motion Controller (announced, an upgraded Eyetoy, similar to Microsoft's unveiled unit)

Little Big Planet expansions

Mod Nation Racers, the next game in the "Play. Create. Share." line, which now extends beyond just LBP

(Lots of PSP news, the new PSP GO! featuring Resident Evil Portable, Metal Gear Solid- Peace Walker, and Gran Turismo Portable. PSP GO! available coming 10/09)

Nintendo's E3 presser-

Lots of DS games, downloads and DSi upgrades. The DS was the star of the presser.

Dead Space- Extraction (Dead Space available for PS3 and 360)

Exclusives-

New Super Mario Bros. Wii

Wii Fit Plus

Wii Motion Play (Nunchuk enhancement)

Wii Vitality Sensor (measures blood pressure, heart rate, etc.)

Super Mario Galaxy 2

The Conduit 2

Resident Evil- Darkside Chronicles

Metroid Other M

Nintendo's E3 Conference easily paled in comparison to Sony's and Micrsoft's as far as the Wii is concerned, and focused a lot on the DS.

Thanks for those updates! I've been following the articles on IGN.com and I'm looking forward to a lot of these games. As a PS3 gamer, I can't wait for Assassin's Creed 2, God of War 3, and Uncharted 2. But I will admit that Microsoft and XBox have stolen the show so far by announcing 2 of the biggest social networking sites to be made available through the 360, and of course Halo 3 and Left 4 Dead 2.

I look forward to more updates.

A new Halo game that nobody knew about was a big shock. I think after many months of speculation, the HUGE announcement of the Metal Gear Solid franchise finally on 360 was big news and an actual playable, extremely impressive Alan Wake clinched it for MS. True HD movies downloaded right to your 360 is pretty cool too and the networking, but I have zero interest there.

Sony dropped some bombs too, with FFXIV MMO and Last Guardian, with the other exclusives we all knew were coming.

Both Sony and MS motion systems seem capable. I just don't want them going head first too strong into turning out all the shovelware kiddie games like the Wii has ad nauseum, i.e.- crap.

I think Nintendo's conference was an absolute disaster. They kept patting themselves on the back with stats, and while the DSi has an incredible install base, they should've presented more for the Wii and held two different pressers. With 360 exceeding over 30 million in consoles and Sony continuing their slow but steady plod forward, they may not be on top for too long, especially if they abandon the people who got them to where they are today- the hardcore gamers. They offer too few premier titles with the exception of a pathetic few on Wii, and not a single one that Sony or MS announced are available for Wii. Even their sports games are inferior. If they get too fat and lazy like EA, it could spell their doom.

Originally Posted by Shazam!

A new Halo game that nobody knew about was a big shock. I think after many months of speculation, the HUGE announcement of the Metal Gear Solid franchise finally on 360 was big news and an actual playable, extremely impressive Alan Wake clinched it for MS. True HD movies downloaded right to your 360 is pretty cool too and the networking, but I have zero interest there.

Sony dropped some bombs too, with FFXIV MMO and Last Guardian, with the other exclusives we all knew were coming.

Both Sony and MS motion systems seem capable. I just don't want them going head first too strong into turning out all the shovelware kiddie games like the Wii has ad nauseum, i.e.- crap.

I think Nintendo's conference was an absolute disaster. They kept patting themselves on the back with stats, and while the DSi has an incredible install base, they should've presented more for the Wii and held two different pressers. With 360 exceeding over 30 million in consoles and Sony continuing their slow but steady plod forward, they may not be on top for too long, especially if they abandon the people who got them to where they are today- the hardcore gamers. They offer too few premier titles with the exception of a pathetic few on Wii, and not a single one that Sony or MS announced are available for Wii. If they get too fat and lazy like EA, it could spell their doom.

MGS to the 360 and Alan Wake are definitely HUGE for Microsoft.

Final Fantasy will always be a hit with all the RPG gamers out there, although I'm not really one of those gamers.

And I absolutely agree with your viewpoint with Nintendo. With what Microsoft has announced and Sony right behind them, Nintendo is becoming a steady 3rd really fast. They have announced nothing spectacular other than the RE Darkside Chronicles and the Super Mario Games. The thing is with Nintendo, they focus too much marketability on the DS rather than the Wii. IMO, when it comes to handheld consoles, Nintendo dominates. They need to focus more on getting games that are exclusive to their system to be a success.

BTW, where are you watching the footage of the pressers?

Too many sites to List!

These summaries are from the blogs of the Conferences.

I may have left a couple of things out, but these are all the major games thus far, and I've updated things gradually as they broke that I missed.

The Wii moves hardware but it doesn't have too much in the software department. It almost seems like they neglected it too much and it could be a mistake by giving their supporters the cold shoulder. After playing all three machines extensively, 360 and PS3 blow the Wii away, it isn;t even a contest.

I posted most of the pertinent info from Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo. I would've liked to do all the pressers from developers like EA, Activision and Ubisoft, but it'd take me too long. I just post the most relevant announcements as I hear/read them.

Some more E3 Updates-

Halo- Reach has been confirmed to be a FPS and not a RTS ala Halo Wars... that was a no brainer to me.

From Square-

Front Mission- Evolved is in development for PS3, 360 and PC. The series will go away from it's RTS roots and be a 3rd person action game.

Square is considering "All options" for Final Fantasy XIV (MMORPG) and may be available for 360 as well as PS3 and PC. This is believed to be because FFXI still has over 2 million subscribers on 360.

From Konami-

Metal Gear Solid Rising is a stealth action game in a traditional MGS mold with players taking the role of Raiden instead of Snake. Hasn't been mentioned if Snake will even appear in the game yet. Release date is set for 2010 for PS3 and the franchise's first appearance on 360.

Hideo Kojima (Metal Gear Solid series) has taken the reigns of the Castlevania franchise. Kojima's team is currently developing Castlevania- Lord of Shadows for PS3 and 360. Release date is to be 2nd Qtr 2010.

The Silent Hill series is being developed for the Wii with a 2010 release.



Nintendo is still the biggest loser here. They're making a new Zelda for DS and not one for the Wii. N is driving away a large core of their fans and I don't think it's good by neglecting the Wii with first party titles. This could bite them in the ass.

Dammit, I forgot the Ico games were on Playstation.

I was really surprised to see Left4Dead-2... I mean, Left4Dead is not even a year old yet! I was hoping for the final episode of Half-Life to tie up the series.

Looks like they've officially put a hatchet in the Splinter Cell series for me. If I wanted a Jason Bourne game I'd go get the Bourne game... yeesh.

Beyond that the Batman game looks good and I was surprised to see Alan Wake was still even in production.

No new Diablo 3 info yet, unfortunately.

I was pretty impressed with SC-C. The tag and mark thing, if it works looks awesome. It's still a stealth game.

The Bourne Conspiracy game was awful IMO.

E3 2009: 360 to Stick Around Until 2015
Microsoft's Shane Kim suggests a 10 year life cycle for console, E3 win.
by Martin Robinson, IGN UK
From IGN

June 4, 2009 - The Xbox 360's recently unveiled motion control technology will help extend the console's life span into 2015, according to Microsoft executive Shane Kim.

Speaking frankly about the company's E3 showing in an interview with Venturebeat (thanks, videogaming24/7), Kim said 'We firmly believe that the Xbox 360 has a life cycle through 2015 (10 years after the launch). Project Natal is a great innovation. It will work with every Xbox 360 sold. It's not about pushing more pixels on the screen. It's about how to break down barriers that stop people from playing games.'

So impressive was Natal's debut that Kim believes it gave Microsoft the upper hand against its traditional rivals Sony and Nintendo. 'I think we won,' said Kim when asked how he rated the three company's E3 conferences. 'It's not just me saying that. It's pretty universal. We had something very special yesterday, starting with the games portfolio. We had a lot of content for a normal E3 briefing. But Project Natal doesn't come along every year, and it is very difficult to match.'

Kim also went on to reveal the origin of Natal's name, saying 'Natal is a city in Brazil, which is where one of our key development team members if from. Natal also means birth. We thought it was appropriate for what we are doing. This is the birth of the next-generation of home entertainment.'

Originally Posted by Shazam!

E3 2009: 360 to Stick Around Until 2015
Microsoft's Shane Kim suggests a 10 year life cycle for console, E3 win.
by Martin Robinson, IGN UK
From IGN

June 4, 2009 - The Xbox 360's recently unveiled motion control technology will help extend the console's life span into 2015, according to Microsoft executive Shane Kim.

Speaking frankly about the company's E3 showing in an interview with Venturebeat (thanks, videogaming24/7), Kim said 'We firmly believe that the Xbox 360 has a life cycle through 2015 (10 years after the launch). Project Natal is a great innovation. It will work with every Xbox 360 sold. It's not about pushing more pixels on the screen. It's about how to break down barriers that stop people from playing games.'

So impressive was Natal's debut that Kim believes it gave Microsoft the upper hand against its traditional rivals Sony and Nintendo. 'I think we won,' said Kim when asked how he rated the three company's E3 conferences. 'It's not just me saying that. It's pretty universal. We had something very special yesterday, starting with the games portfolio. We had a lot of content for a normal E3 briefing. But Project Natal doesn't come along every year, and it is very difficult to match.'

Kim also went on to reveal the origin of Natal's name, saying 'Natal is a city in Brazil, which is where one of our key development team members if from. Natal also means birth. We thought it was appropriate for what we are doing. This is the birth of the next-generation of home entertainment.'

The Natal Demo video on the Xbox Live Spotlight section is really neat. They have some girl playing a breakout style 3-d game that perfectly mimics her body.

Originally Posted by NameUsedBefore

Dammit, I forgot the Ico games were on Playstation.

I was really surprised to see Left4Dead-2... I mean, Left4Dead is not even a year old yet! I was hoping for the final episode of Half-Life to tie up the series.

Looks like they've officially put a hatchet in the Splinter Cell series for me. If I wanted a Jason Bourne game I'd go get the Bourne game... yeesh.

Beyond that the Batman game looks good and I was surprised to see Alan Wake was still even in production.

No new Diablo 3 info yet, unfortunately.

I think the new Splinter Cell looks sweet. They had to make some changes to it...the series had gotten pretty stale IMO.

Originally Posted by Shazam!

E3 2009: 360 to Stick Around Until 2015
Microsoft's Shane Kim suggests a 10 year life cycle for console, E3 win.
by Martin Robinson, IGN UK
From IGN

June 4, 2009 - The Xbox 360's recently unveiled motion control technology will help extend the console's life span into 2015, according to Microsoft executive Shane Kim.

Speaking frankly about the company's E3 showing in an interview with Venturebeat (thanks, videogaming24/7), Kim said 'We firmly believe that the Xbox 360 has a life cycle through 2015 (10 years after the launch). Project Natal is a great innovation. It will work with every Xbox 360 sold. It's not about pushing more pixels on the screen. It's about how to break down barriers that stop people from playing games.'

So impressive was Natal's debut that Kim believes it gave Microsoft the upper hand against its traditional rivals Sony and Nintendo. 'I think we won,' said Kim when asked how he rated the three company's E3 conferences. 'It's not just me saying that. It's pretty universal. We had something very special yesterday, starting with the games portfolio. We had a lot of content for a normal E3 briefing. But Project Natal doesn't come along every year, and it is very difficult to match.'

Kim also went on to reveal the origin of Natal's name, saying 'Natal is a city in Brazil, which is where one of our key development team members if from. Natal also means birth. We thought it was appropriate for what we are doing. This is the birth of the next-generation of home entertainment.'

Project Natal has the potential to bring about some really neat things. I just hope that not everyone starts making games that use motion control...a good old controller is just fine for most games. If everyone wanted motion control they would just buy a Wii. Anyway, it's cool that the 360 should be around for a while. It probably saves everyone money in the long run.

On another note, my favorite games (or games that intrigue me, at least) that have been shown off at E3 are Mass Effect 2, Bioshock 2, Assassin's Creed 2 (totally redone mission system...no more doing the same boring missions 35 times), Alan Wake (although the gameplay demo didn't get me as excited as I thought it would), and Splinter Cell.

Also, I thought Nintendo got bitch slapped by Sony and Microsoft as far as the conferences go. Sony and MS both had some jaw dropping stuff while Nintendo had 2 new Mario games...not that they didn't look cool, but they had nothing on the new motion control stuff.

I hope something cooler comes out by 2015; I'm sick of the 360 and PS3 stuff. This is lame. Video games are getting like computers. I want somethin' ballin'.