Did you miss the Microsoft/Xbox Conference? Thumbsticks didn’t, and we’ve got you covered. Here’s a summary from Microsoft’s E3 Press Conference for 2015.
Microsoft’s E3 conference was a rapid-fire assault of some really, really good stuff. For those of us who are time-impaired and can’t sit down through the lengthy presentation, here’s the blow-by-blow of Xbox-related E3 goodness:
- Opens with an Xbox games montage to set the stage.
- Halo 5: Guardians is next, shown in all its glory; comes out exclusively on Xbox One on October 27, 2015.
- A teaser for Recore, a new Xbox One exclusive IP from Keiji Inafune. Set in a desolate dystopian desert with a robot dog, and mechanical enemies. Slated for Spring 2016.
- Todd Howard from Bethesda Softworks shows Fallout 4 gameplay and promises mod support for Xbox One version of the game. Fallout 4 releases November 10, 2015.
- EA comes out to highlight EA Access and how Madden and Dragon Age Inquisition will soon make their way to EA Access vault. Also, all Xbox Live Gold members get access to all EA vault games throughout this week.
- Phil Spencer announces ‘backwards compatibility’ for Xbox One, meaning Xbox 360 games will be playable on the Xbox One. More than 100 games are being made available shortly. Downloads will show up in your Xbox One library and discs can be inserted into the console to download their Xbox One compatible copies. Mass Effect was shown at the conference running on an Xbox One.
- Reveal of the new Xbox One Elite Controller happened. They took pride in the customizability of the controller and showed a video to that effect. Also highlighted was the recent deal with Oculus and how each consumer unit comes with the new Xbox One Elite controller in the box.
- Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare 2 was announced by EA.
- Henry Ford III from the Ford Motor Company took to the stage as part of the reveal for Forza Motorsport 6, comes out September 15, 2015.
- A teaser for Dark Souls 3, looks very souls-ey – no surprise there – and its slated for Spring 2016. Visually, it doesn’t blow you away, so maybe they learnt their lesson after the Dark Souls 2 recourse.
- Tom Clancy’s The Division gameplay shown; Xbox One players get exclusive beta access in December, release date remains unannounced.
- Rainbow Six: Siege shown; the previous two Rainbow Six games are included in Rainbow Six Siege Xbox version, releasing October 13, 2015.
- ID@Xbox is next, showing off 4 independent games that come either first to Xbox or are Xbox exclusive. Steve Gaynor from Fullbright Games shows Tacoma, their next game that comes first on Xbox One and PC (looks BioShock-esque). Ashen was next, an Xbox One exclusive. Beyond Eyes was shown a dreamy third-person game, looks like the oddest game from the conference, something that would surprise mainstream fans, but real brave gesture from Microsoft. Fourth was Cuphead, probably the most anticipated ID@Xbox game, comes out in “1936 + eighty years” (their words, not ours).
- Xbox announces their Early Access component called ‘Xbox Game Preview’, a program where a demo for select games is available and an early access purchasable copy just like Steam’s Early Access, where players can help the development of games early in their life cycle. Games like The Long Dark, Elite: Dangerous, Day-Z and Sheltered were announced as games slated for the programme. The programme begins with The Long Dark and Elite: Dangerous being available from today: June 16, 2015.
- Day-Z creators are working on Ion, a game that will be part of the Xbox Game Preview programme.
- Rise of the Tomb Raider was next and went straight to the action. It has Lara, a helper dude and tons of ice climbing, jumping, falling, swinging, sliding. All very unrealistic but extremely fine looking. Got a release date too, coming November 10, 2015.
- Rare Replay revealed, a collection of 30 Rare games for $30 as an Xbox One exclusive.
- Sea of Thieves a multiplayer pirate game was revealed; it’s very cartoony with ship-based combat – very much reminiscent of Black Flag – and green usertags hanging above characters.
- Fable Legends comes out this Holiday, on Xbox One and PC as a Free-to-play game, a trailer was shown.
- Minecraft Hololens was announced, a version of the uber-popular game just for Microsoft’s holographic peripheral. It was shown played in conjunction with a Surface tablet and via holographic projection of a Minecraft level on a physical table. It blew the crowds minds, and honestly it was a really inventive twist to Minecraft, probably the best part of the conference.
- The inevitable Gears of War: Ultimate Edition was announced; beta begins on June 16.
- To finish off, Gears of War 4 was shown in gameplay footage, slated for Holiday 2016, exclusively for the Xbox One.
That’s it folks, a pretty lengthy affair but extremely impressive showing from Microsoft. Bring on the backwards compatibility…
