So E3 2007 is officially started now and the big three gaming companies have kicked the show off with a bang, each having their own massive press conference to make announcements, show off games, and basically get people excited about the future of their product. Microsoft went first on Tuesday night and after the show was over my initial impressions were overall pretty positive. Unusual to E3 press conferences Microsoft decided to focus almost entirely (save Resident Evil 5) on games that would be coming out sometime in the year 2007. At first I figured the decision would result in a very boring and surprise-empty conference, which it basically was on most levels, but it still left me happy and excited to be a Xbox 360 owner. Opening the show was a fan-based musical band that played a compilation of Halo theme music, pretty awesome stuff, especially the electric violin. After a quick game of Rock Band (which was interrupted twice by Mr. Moore's sticky fingers) Peter Moore started talking about sales numbers, market share, and the competition (mainly the Playstation 3). From what I understood of the sales talk Microsoft is in a pretty good spot these days and is holding the number one position with high hardware and even higher software sales numbers.
Peter Moore spoke a little about Xbox Live and how the membership has grown faster than anyone expected. He also showed off some video of a slew of upcoming Xbox Live Arcade titles (nothing too impressive but many classics to say the least) as well as a deal with Disney to start offering their movies in HD downloads over the Marketplace. Once the business mumbo jumbo was finished he launched into a speech about how important third-party games are to Microsoft and it shows through the sales numbers. Seventeen times third-party games have cracked the top 20 NPD video game sales charts which is an impressive feat, considering neither the Wii nor PS3 have any third-party titles yet to crack the charts at all. To show the future of third-party support on the Xbox 360 we got a video compilation featuring many of the major upcoming third-party games. I was very surprised at the sheer number of such games coming out this year, from big name publishers such as EA, Activision, Ubisoft, Rockstar, 2K Games, etc. Many of these games look like triple A titles that will surely be on my "must own" list for 2007. A few ones that stood out to me were: Call of Duty 4, Bioshock, Grand Theft Auto 4, Assassins Creed, NASCAR '08, Splinter Cell: Conviction, and many, many more. My choice for third-party game of the show: Assassins Creed. The demo was downright amazing, graphics looked superb, more animations than I cared to count, and a gameplay style that will surely make any 360 gamer smile come this fall when it hits store shelves.
Now it was time to get to the big hitters, first-party published games. I can't say that the list of third-party support was weak, but when you add in what Microsoft Game Studios titles we have coming this year I can only imagine how low my bank account will be come December. Mass Effect, Halo 3, Blue Dragon, Lost Odyssey, Project Gotham Racing 4, just to name a few of the stellar titles hitting our console this holiday season. If you add these with the titles mentioned earlier in the press conference most hardcore gamers will be pressed to spend upwards of 500 dollars just to stay somewhat current with the great games coming out. My first-party game of the show, to many fan-boys' dismay, is not the much anticipated Halo 3, but is actually what I am calling the sleeper hit of the year 2007, Lost Odyssey. The trailer that they showed at the press conference for this game was simply breath taking, many times it was hard to tell the difference between CG and real-time gameplay. The story is from one of the most famous writers in the RPG business and I just could not be more excited about anything coming out this year. Peter Moore ended the show with a brand new montage style Halo 3 trailer that both wowed the audience while disappointing them at the same time.
Because all the clips were so short and merged together it was impossible to learn anything more about the storyline in Halo 3 or really get a feel for how the single-player campaign is going to play out. One thing is for sure that this game looks fantastically better than the multiplayer beta we all experienced a few months ago. I am not sure if Halo 3 will deliver on all they hype surrounding the game but I am very confident that fans will come away feeling satisfied with the addition to their beloved series. Peter Moore also showed off a new Halo 3 special edition Xbox 360 (with matching green accessories) that was met with little to no enthusiasm from the crowd - oh well maybe if it was 100 dollars cheaper (where was that rumored price cut anyhow). Like I said earlier I walked away from the Microsoft Press Briefing feeling very satisfied and excited about the current and future state of the Xbox 360. The crazy first and third-party lineup coming to us this year alone should make most Sony fan-boys be at least a little jealous. Maybe it was not the most exciting or surprising press conference of the big three but Microsoft's devotion on quality software and their focus on the year 2007 made me very happy to be a Xbox 360 owner. Now if they would only give me the money to purchase all the amazing games coming out over the next six months I would be set.
