We sat on the 5th row from the stage as we watched our gamertags and avatars pass by on screen, as we waited to watch this year’s announcements and game line-up for the Xbox 360.
The briefing began by showing Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 (Infinity Ward and Sledgehammer) with an underwater gameplay video and a submarine assault. Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 is a game developed by pouring heart and soul into it, and by using fan input and support. The game is expected November 8th, and extra content will be available first on Xbox 360.
Don Mattrick’s speech summarized what to expect from today’s briefing: a preview of the hottest upcoming blockbusters, Xbox Live entertainment, what’s next on Kinect choices, and ways to change how we watch TV.
The world premiere of the new Tomb Raider followed, and here we see a Lara Croft that is no longer indestructible, showing genuine fear and a sense of survival, desperately attempting to escape captivity. This darker reinvisioned Tomb Raider created by Crystal Dynamics is based on survival exploration and open environments.
From EA Sports, upcoming Madden NFL, Tiger Woods PGA Tour and FIFA games will support Kinect. Also from EA, the next in The Sims franchise will also support Kinect movements and voice recognition in The Sims 3 Pets.
There has never been a better time to jump in than with Bioware’s Mass Effect 3, where Earth has been taken and you must choose the path to take it back. A demo showed off the voice recognition feature which is used to branch dialog trees, issue squad commands and use skills.
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Future Soldier also uses Kinect to enhance gameplay with voice and movement tracking. A demo showed how gestures and voice can be used in Gunsmith Mode for quick weapon optimization, visualizing and customization. From here on, all Tom Clancy’s titles will be compatible with Kinect.
This Fall, all the entertainment you want with the people you like is made easier. Xbox and Kinect will make technology invisible to allow families to naturally enjoy their entertainment, with a new Xbox experience that requires no controllers or buttons, nothing in your hands. Kinect will give TV a new voice: yours.
The new dashboard will have a few new categories in addition to existing ones: live tv, video, games, music, apps. Youtube and Bing are coming to Xbox Live. With Bing, you can just say it and Xbox finds it. As exemplified in the demo, saying “Xbox, Bing, X-Men” will display results that include available movies, games animated series, all the content available.
With new partnerships with providers from around the world, news, sports and local channels will become available on Live TV (plus DVR and TV Listings). TV is more amazing when you are the controller., and Kinect transfprms TV by adding interactivity and friends to your experience. UFC will be available in Pay Per View over Xbox Live with interactive options such as guessing the outcome of a fight.
But Xbox will always be about games, and more trailers and demos followed. Gears of War 3 played by Cliff Blezinski and rapper Ice T. a Roman war that gets you on your feet fighting for your life breaks out in Ryse. Halo Combat Evolved Anniversary brings a remastered edition of the original game plus multiplayer maps on November 15th. Forza Motorsport 4 races to retail on October 11, and in-game footage showed how head movement can be used to look in different directions while diving. Fable The Journey was announced for 2012, with full Kinect support, in a demo where we could drive a horse carriage and use magic and hand-to-hand combat.
Minecraft becomes a Kinect exclusive. In collaboration with Disney, Kinect Disneyland Adventures brings the virtual park to your home this holiday for the family to explore. Attractions become mini-games, such as Peter Pan’s Flight and Alice in Wonderland or a simple walk along Main Street.
Kinect Star Wars will train you to be a Jedi as you deflect shots with your lightsaber or slice and dice through Storm Troopers, while Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster stars Cookie Monster and Elmo in an interactive book.
Kinect Fun Labs was the next item on the list. You can now play the latest Kinect gadgets from the industry and created by the community, which will be available to all Xbox Live members. Kinect Me uses a “people scanner” to create an avatar that looks just like you, hair and clothes included. Kinect Sparkler is like an art tool that tracks finger movement to let you take pictures and draw on them in full 3D, and you can then share your creations online at kinectshare.com. Kinect Googly Eyes is an object catcher that can scan an item, front and back, then create a virtual counterpart of it. Kinect Fun Labs is already live and it’s free to download.
Kinect Sports, the top-selling franchise on Kinect returns this holiday season with Kinect Sports Season Two, a compilation of football, golf, skiing, baseball, darts and tennis, all including new gestures and in-game voice. Dance Central also returns with a sequel and improved features, such as voice recognition, a campaign mode, redesigned “Break it Down” mode, the ability to import songs from the original game and simultaneous tracking.
The power of Xbox, the simplicity of Kinect and the intelligence of Bing will be able to turn livingrooms everywhere into a dance floor, a galaxy far far away or the happiest place on earth. The goal is to turn the Xbox 360 from the number one selling system in North America into the number one selling system globally. With more choices to appeal to a wide range of people as well as family-oriented content, maybe Microsoft is on the right track to reach a broader audience.
And while we may have been thinking that maybe the Xbox is now becoming too casual, the briefing ended with a preview of a the dawn of a new trilogy: Halo 4.