E3 2016 Microsoft Press Conference

 

Things started quickly for the Microsoft Press Conference. It debuted with the new Xbox One Slim. It is 40% smaller than the original with up to a 2 TB HDD. It also has a Integrated power supply which is a great feature for the modern game systems. It has a starting price of $299

 

The crowd was first greeted by Phil Spencer. He opened talking about the new Xbox One S, the smallest to date. He announced it will be launching this August. He stated this was a great welcome and this year promised to bring a number of exclusives coming to Xbox.

 

First introduced was Rod Fergusson, Co-creator of Gears of War. This title will also be the first in a new program they are calling “Xbox Play Anywhere”. It has a release date of October 11^th, 2016. It will also feature its own Elite Wireless controller.

 

The icon will means that with a digital purchase of the game, you will be able to play the game on both your Xbox and your Windows 10 PC. This will be with both your progress and achievements being on both devices. All at no additional cost. Every co-op mode will also support Cross-play for all the modes, including the new Horde Mode. He then brought out Laura Bailey, the voice of Kait. The game play they had for the co-op campaign with a mission where their characters need to go rescue Kait's mother, Reyna, who has been abducted by the Swarm. The mission showed off numerous weather effects in play with intense firefight action. This also featured a the weapon, the Buzz Kill, a saw blade launcher. Some of the cover in the environment was shown to be destructible and could be cleared away to get at the enemies behind it. The trailer ended with a quick showing of Marcus Fenix, famed from the original series.

 

Rukari Austin, community manager for Killer Instinct was next for the presentations. They revealed the next character coming to the Killer Instinct line up. It is General Raam from the Gears of War franchise. He looks to be a massive opponent that will be a difficult opponent to go up against.

 

After the quick announcement for Killer Instinct, they played the trailer for Forza. Ralph Fulton from Playground Games had come out to present on Forza Horizon 3. The game itself is set in Australia. They brought in 4 people to show off what the game it capable of. They needed all 4 of the players to quickly show off everything that the game can offer. Australia offers a massive area. This Co-op mode will let players seamlessly join their play worlds together, synchronizing everything from time of day to weather. When they all join together, they can race or complete objectives as a team. It is another title to be featured on Xbox Play Anywhere. There will be cross-play between both Xbox One and Windows 10. It has a release date of September 27^th, 2016

 

 

 

Next was a trailer for the Recore. This introduced Joule, the lead protagonist. It also introduced many of the robotic units with proper names this time. The dog unit, is Mack, the basic one you are likely to start with. Next was Seth, the Escape Artist. It multiple limbs make it capable of covering various kinds of terrain and allowing Joule to cover different kinds of terrain that she might not be able to otherwise. Duncon, the Heavy Hitter. A massive unit that can smash through foes with ease. It is also gorilla like in behavior. A number of foes were shown in the trailer. You could also see Joule maneuvering with a rocket pack and jet shoes. This trailer showed much more about the artful game play that Recore will feature. It will have strong platforming and puzzle elements throughout it.

 

 

Hajime Tabata (Director) and Mathew Kishimoto (Project Manager) were up next to present on Final Fantasy XV. Mathew set the scene for the demo with Noctis and his allies being involved in the Trial of the Titan where they are being tested. It shows just how fast and fluid the battle system. This goes from a simple two-way fight to massive three way free-for-all. The combat was very fast paced and there was a lot to deal with at any given moment. You needed to work with your team to take down the Titan they are fighting against

 

Final Fantasy XV has a release date of September 30^th, 2016.

 

Starting on June 28^th, 2016, the Underground will be available on Xbox One and PC. It will feature randomly generated dungeons and missions in the subway systems and tunnels. The trailer only showed a little about the upcoming expansion and what to expect underneath the streets in New York City. Ubisoft had a lot more to say about this expansion.

 

 

Patrick Bach, General Manager came from Dice to present on Battlefield 1. This can only be done with World War One. The game will feature dynamic weather, vehicles and weapons. All this will go to ensure that no two experiences play out the same way twice. It will feature the massive theater that was this war. October 21^st, 2016 is the world wide release date. If you are signed up for EA Access, then you will be able to get into the game on October 13^th.

 

 

Mike Ybarra was next to present on Xbox Live. It is the passion and the feedback which has been driving Xbox Live. There were several new features coming in the near future for Live. The first is Background music, allowing you to use your own streaming services to create a custom playlist while you play. Language Region Independence will also be a feature. This will let the player set the language that their games will display in. Cortana will also be getting integrated into Xbox Live.

 

The first big new feature introduced was Clubs. This will enable the players to start building their own communities to share in their experiences. The next feature was Looking for Group on Xbox Live. This will make it easier to find people with similar goals to your own. Finally they are introducing Arena. This will allow you complete alone or with your friends. This will also feature access to a number of sponsored tournaments as well.

 

From the Minecraft team they brought out Lydia Winters and Sax Persson. They started with the news that those on iOS, Android and all other devices will be able to connect with your friends. It supports cross-play across all the different devices. This means support across all 14 platforms. There will be new texture packs that are being added in. There will also be add-ons to further expand the content inside the Minecraft world. It was a quick look into the ever expanding world. Anyone with a Xbox Live account can sign up for the Friendly update and join into Minecraft realms.

 

 

The following trailer was for, Inside, from the designers of Limbo. It will be releasing on June 29^th, 2016. To present they brought out Chris Charla from ID@Xbox. Limbo was made free on Xbox One on the day of the presentation, possibly more later. He had a trailer run for those numerous indy games that are coming out for Xbox One. This has been helping to support numerous studios break into the gaming industry. One example they gave was Ark: Survival Evolved. It will also be another title in Xbox Play Anywhere. It is also part of the early access Game Preview.

 

Guillaume Provost, from Compulsion Games came out next to present on their new game which will be reaching Game Preview on Xbox very soon, We Happy Few. This gives a very different look at a strange world with the drug Joy. This first person experience looks to give a very strange look at a twisted world.

 

 

Damien Monnier came from CD Projekt Red to present on the new Witcher Card Game. They noticed just how many players were playing the card game. Some players even made their own physical cards to play with their friends. Just the love shown by the players had lead to the creation of this stand alone game: Gwent, the Witcher Card Game. It will support cross-play. It will also feature a massive single player campaign. It is still a card game based on skill. The game will feature 4 factions which you will be able to build your deck from. The Closed beta will launch in September of 2016.

 

The next game presented was Tekken. It started as a story introduction follow by the game shifting into a 3d arena style fighter. The game features problems to interrupt attacks and counter. To have a Tekken game immediately feature Akuma of Street Fighter fame was a big surprise. This game aims to release in early 2017. From Bandi Namco came Katsuhiro Harada and Michael Murray (acting has Harada's translator). The game will evolve as a competitive fighting game and it will feature an all new story mode with seamless transitions between the cutscenes and the high action fights. To thank the players, Tekken Tag Tournament 2 is free with Gold.

 

 

This game has a release window of Holiday 2016. From the look, there will be a massive number of new weapons and something very new.

 

Shannon Loftis came out next to present on what Microsoft studios goal. They are working on a number of new games. She then introduced Scalebound.

 

 

Hideki Kamiya came out to talk about this new upcoming game from Platinum Games. To show off the game they showed off the most massive boss fight that Platinum games had made yet in Co-op mode. It is playing supporting 4 players in its massive arena. The character tell the player about attacks missing at extreme range and allow fro a lot of communication between the different players. The game featured all the action that Platinum games is known for. This game will be releasing in the 2017.

 

 

The trailer for Sea of Thieves. Full 3D stills taking in the midst of combat were shown here. The sailors are shown getting thrown into the water. There, they explore for hidden treasures. It will feature plenty of fantastical elements with Krakens, Merman, skeletons and much more. Rare then brought out the Studio head, Craig Duncan. In this game you will be able to explore a massive and vast world. There will be plenty to do with friends and compete with many others. They then premiered some new game play for the game. Rare invited community members to participate in some play. Without any tutorial they were set into 3 crews. From there, they just let roam the world and do as they will. This had them drinking, wandering around the seas and engaging in naval warfare.

 

 

With a release date in 2017, we were shown a lot about what could be happening in the game. There will be a massive persistent world where you are working together with other players to survive the zombie hordes.

 

 

Next was a trailer for Halo Wars 2. The various units from the basic soldiers and Warthogs to the strong Mechs and Covenant ship. This title will be releasing on Feburary 21^st, 2017. This is another Xbox Play Anywhere title. From Studio 343 they brought out Dan Ayoub, one of the Studio heads. The story places the Spirit of Fire's crew against a dangerous new faction of the Covenant called the Banished, led by the Atriox, a very cunning and brilliant leader. There was a week long beta for E3.

 

Phil Spencer came out after that. 15 years ago the original Xbox launched. They know that everyone plays on different devices. Team Xbox believes that players should have a massive library, be able to connect with your community and in so many different places. This lead up to the announcement of Project Scorpio. This is a console without boundaries, this brings gamers true 4k, give them uncompressed pixels and so much more. The systems are meant to be a monster of a system that will be handle anything. All games will be compatible across all of the Xbox Family.