The Microsoft E3 2009 press conference got underway on Monday, June 1, 2009 in Los Angeles, California. A number of new and previously announced titles were on display, as well as a surprising hardware peripheral known as Natal. The show started off with a demo of The Beatles Rock Band coming out on September 9, 2009. Yoko Ono, Paul McCartney, Olivia Harrison and Ringo Starr introduced the game to those in attendance.
The next major title shown off by Microsoft was Activision and Infinity Ward’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. The demo that they played was a single player mission where players scale the side of a mountain. Later on in the demo the player will have to ride a snowmobile down the mountain, controlling the vehicle and shooting enemies along the way. Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 is due out on November 10, 2009.
Square Enix took the stage to show off Final Fantasy 13. The first Final Fantasy game was released over 20 years ago on the NES. To date the series has sold over 85 million units. The demo of Final Fantasy 13 introduced Lightning and Suds who were in the middle of a boss fight. The game will feature four active time gauges to allow for wider tactics. Currently, Square Enix is planning on a spring 2010 release on Xbox 360 and PS3.
From Ubisoft comes Splinter Cell: Conviction. Sam Fisher is back as a much more aggressive character on a personal mission to avenge the murder of his daughter. The story unfolds in real-time and is projected in the environment to keep a faster pace of gameplay. New to the game is a “Mark and Execute” feature that tags an enemy or object and automatically fires at them. EMP grenades are one of the new tools he can use as well. Splinter Cell: Conviction is scheduled for a fall 2009 release on PC and 360.
Next up was Halo ODST, which was also playable on the show floor. A heads up display gives you directional information. With a whole lot of fan fare the pistol from Halo 1 makes a return. The trailer has you place explosives and blow up a bridge. Halo ODST drops into stores September 22, 2009 as an Xbox 360 exclusive.
Last year Microsoft partnered with Netflix to bring its content to Xbox 360. This year they announced that you will be allowed to go through your ques without needing to be on a PC. Microsoft is partnering with last.fm to make its music available later this year to Xbox Live Gold members. Sky TV will bring live television to users in Great Britain and Ireland. Twitter and Facebook are coming to Xbox Live this fall as well. Finally, Microsoft will be re-launching their video service as Zune Video this fall with full 1080p HD support. All movies and tv shows will be available instantly. Live Party will allow you to watch videos with friends without needing to be in the same room.
Another game coming to Xbox 360 is Crackdown 2. Left 4 Dead 2 will be coming November 17 to Xbox 360 and PC. Forza Motorsport 3 ships in October 2009. Alan Wake is announced as an action/survival horror type game that plays a lot like a narrative. Hideo Kojima takes the stage to introduce Metal Gear Solid Rising. A very short video is played saying that “Raiden is back”, but no gameplay is shown.
Microsoft announces its entry into motion control gameplay with no controller required. Codenamed Project Natal, this camera peripheral tracks 3D movement, allowing you to be the controller. A demo of a fighting, soccer and racing game where players use motions to control gameplay. Natal can scan gear and use it in-game, as well as facial and voice recognition.
Natal will work with all Xbox 360s and will launch with every new Xbox 360 in the future. One of the tech demos that was shown on-stage had the player bouncing balls off of their body similar to a 3D breakdown. An art tech demo was shown that has voice commands to choose colors and has you “throwing” paint onto a canvas. You can even pose with other people in the room to take a picture for the background.
