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I apologize for the lateness, it's been a long day. The next few days will be posted a lot earlier, but some conferences might be missing due to my schedule.
Alright, for those of you who didn't watch the video stream earlier today because you were either working or just didn't have the time to watch it, I will do a short, non-biased recap of the day.
Today was all about Microsoft. At 10:00 a.m. PT, the pre-show began, with general coverage and rumors of what Microsoft was going to be unveiling during the press conference, which began at 10:30 a.m. PT.
Microsoft unveiled news, trailers, and demos of some of the most highly anticipated games of 08/09. They showed off the gameplay of Fallout 3 which looks amazing. You can either play in real time or use a strategic aiming system in order to pin-point your target. They showed off a sniper rifle weapon, a machine-disabling grenade, and a mini nuclear-bomb launcher. The game showed a lot of interesting features such as the ability to really decide what you want to do. There are tons of groups you can join, the one they touched on in the teaser was a group that had taken over the Pentagon. They also confirmed downloadable content for the game.
They also showed of a demo of Fable 2 after showing the beginning of the trailer, where it shows how you start out as a child, either male or female, and advance from there. Not much was shown in the teaser, which is a shame since we all wanted to see more, but what they did show us was great. In the game the world is crafted around how you play, not just how your character looks. You can get married, go to a bar and get drunk, or just pick on the townspeople. All of this effects the town you live in, but the cool part is that now your friends can come into your own world and interact with it and change it as well, such as flirting with your wife. A purple orb will show in your game when your friends are online. Each one represents one of your friends and shows where they are, but using the orb you can easily summon your friend to join your game.
Can't forget the big one, Gears of War 2. I must say, the gameplay looks amazing. The weapon selection, being able to use your enemy as a meatshield, it all comes together great and created my personal favorite teaser of the day. Basically, think of everything you loved from Gears of War 1 and multiply it by five, and you've got Gears of War 2. New, bigger, more badass weapons along with new more badass features and improved graphics create a game that no 360 gamer can resist.
Next, we saw Resident Evil 5. This was one of the most anticipated games by a lot of big-time critics, and with good reason. Besides great gameplay, amazing graphics, and a great storyline, the game had an amazing co-op feature where the two players really needed to work together. This was shown by one person getting locked into a house, where one player had to shoot the lock from the outside so the other person could kick the door down from the inside. This game looks like such an improvement, and they left the teaser with an improved boss familiar from RE4 that looked so much more badass. The graphics are a huge improvement from the Wii, and this looks like a definite title to have for anyone who liked previous games in the series, or those who have yet to try it.
Now, they unveiled a new dashboard. Along with the new dashboard, they released a new update of avatars. You can now create your own character that will represent you by choosing from hundreds of different clothes that are released the same way real clothes are released at a shop. Thousands of pieces of content will be available and won't end. So now, you won't see a list of your friends online, you'll see all of their avatars on your dashboard.
There is also a community tab which shows your online friends avatars, which instantly popup when they sign on. Besides chatting and sending messages, you can create a [B]Live Party.[/B] From the party you can chat, play games, share photos, etc. You can also launch a game for your entire party so you're all instantly in the action together. Along with that, you can invite them to watch a movie with you, which brings me to the next point: Microsoft has also partnered with several companies, such as MGM Grand and the people behind Deal or No Deal. That means a ton of new movies and TV shows, especially since a partnership was made with USA and other big-time television channels.
Now, Deal or No Deal is not just to watch the shows, in the new [B]Primetime[/B] channel, you and your party can actually join these games over Live. You can play 1 vs. 100 with your friends and other real people, and win actual prizes! 1 vs. 100 will be the first and will be available this fall. You can either be the 1, or one of the 100.
The new games channel includes new games such as Uno Rush, which can be launched for your entire party at the push of a button like mentioned earlier. In the arcade, there's a new geometry wars as well as a new Galaga.
Also, Portal: Still Alive was announced as a Xbox 360 exclusive in 2008. The new test chambers are supposed to be much more challenging, which is definitely a plus! This will be coming to the Xbox Live Arcade this fall. Another exclusive for the arcade this fall is a South Park game, not much information on this.
They're also working on getting out games made by users, which will be available in the fall.
Now, they've announced a partnership with Netflix. Netflix subscribers and Live users can now watch their movies/television shows over Live with no additional cost. Amazing!
Then we got a look at the new Banjo Kazooie, which looks pretty fun. It basically shows all of the cool things you can create to travel any environment. Basically the same thing was done with Viva Pinata, a small teaser released for that as well.
Then we were showed Scene It, Box Office Smash, which looks extremely fun. Similar to the previous ones, but with better puzzles and questions that are more up to date. Comes with the four simple controllers used to choose the answer, not needed but come with the game so who cares. Your avatars accompany you in the game.
Now, they showed You're In The Movies. Basically, you and your friends use a camera for the 360 in order to do skits such as swatting flies or dancing to certain moves, then the game takes the recordings and places them in a movie. It's really cool, but you look like an idiot doing it. The end result is pretty funny though.
This next part is boring, same old stuff. Guitar Hero and Rockband had there chances to shine, showing off an impressive lineup of over 80 songs, new improved instruments, etc.
Square Enix then showed off a couple new games such as Infinite Undiscovery, the new Star Ocean, and FFXIII for the Xbox 360!
There was one other crappy game where you sing along to songs, but that sucked so nothing more on that.
Alright, for those of you who didn't watch the video stream earlier today because you were either working or just didn't have the time to watch it, I will do a short, non-biased recap of the day.
Today was all about Microsoft. At 10:00 a.m. PT, the pre-show began, with general coverage and rumors of what Microsoft was going to be unveiling during the press conference, which began at 10:30 a.m. PT.
Microsoft unveiled news, trailers, and demos of some of the most highly anticipated games of 08/09. They showed off the gameplay of Fallout 3 which looks amazing. You can either play in real time or use a strategic aiming system in order to pin-point your target. They showed off a sniper rifle weapon, a machine-disabling grenade, and a mini nuclear-bomb launcher. The game showed a lot of interesting features such as the ability to really decide what you want to do. There are tons of groups you can join, the one they touched on in the teaser was a group that had taken over the Pentagon. They also confirmed downloadable content for the game.
They also showed of a demo of Fable 2 after showing the beginning of the trailer, where it shows how you start out as a child, either male or female, and advance from there. Not much was shown in the teaser, which is a shame since we all wanted to see more, but what they did show us was great. In the game the world is crafted around how you play, not just how your character looks. You can get married, go to a bar and get drunk, or just pick on the townspeople. All of this effects the town you live in, but the cool part is that now your friends can come into your own world and interact with it and change it as well, such as flirting with your wife. A purple orb will show in your game when your friends are online. Each one represents one of your friends and shows where they are, but using the orb you can easily summon your friend to join your game.
Can't forget the big one, Gears of War 2. I must say, the gameplay looks amazing. The weapon selection, being able to use your enemy as a meatshield, it all comes together great and created my personal favorite teaser of the day. Basically, think of everything you loved from Gears of War 1 and multiply it by five, and you've got Gears of War 2. New, bigger, more badass weapons along with new more badass features and improved graphics create a game that no 360 gamer can resist.
Next, we saw Resident Evil 5. This was one of the most anticipated games by a lot of big-time critics, and with good reason. Besides great gameplay, amazing graphics, and a great storyline, the game had an amazing co-op feature where the two players really needed to work together. This was shown by one person getting locked into a house, where one player had to shoot the lock from the outside so the other person could kick the door down from the inside. This game looks like such an improvement, and they left the teaser with an improved boss familiar from RE4 that looked so much more badass. The graphics are a huge improvement from the Wii, and this looks like a definite title to have for anyone who liked previous games in the series, or those who have yet to try it.
Now, they unveiled a new dashboard. Along with the new dashboard, they released a new update of avatars. You can now create your own character that will represent you by choosing from hundreds of different clothes that are released the same way real clothes are released at a shop. Thousands of pieces of content will be available and won't end. So now, you won't see a list of your friends online, you'll see all of their avatars on your dashboard.
There is also a community tab which shows your online friends avatars, which instantly popup when they sign on. Besides chatting and sending messages, you can create a [B]Live Party.[/B] From the party you can chat, play games, share photos, etc. You can also launch a game for your entire party so you're all instantly in the action together. Along with that, you can invite them to watch a movie with you, which brings me to the next point: Microsoft has also partnered with several companies, such as MGM Grand and the people behind Deal or No Deal. That means a ton of new movies and TV shows, especially since a partnership was made with USA and other big-time television channels.
Now, Deal or No Deal is not just to watch the shows, in the new [B]Primetime[/B] channel, you and your party can actually join these games over Live. You can play 1 vs. 100 with your friends and other real people, and win actual prizes! 1 vs. 100 will be the first and will be available this fall. You can either be the 1, or one of the 100.
The new games channel includes new games such as Uno Rush, which can be launched for your entire party at the push of a button like mentioned earlier. In the arcade, there's a new geometry wars as well as a new Galaga.
Also, Portal: Still Alive was announced as a Xbox 360 exclusive in 2008. The new test chambers are supposed to be much more challenging, which is definitely a plus! This will be coming to the Xbox Live Arcade this fall. Another exclusive for the arcade this fall is a South Park game, not much information on this.
They're also working on getting out games made by users, which will be available in the fall.
Now, they've announced a partnership with Netflix. Netflix subscribers and Live users can now watch their movies/television shows over Live with no additional cost. Amazing!
Then we got a look at the new Banjo Kazooie, which looks pretty fun. It basically shows all of the cool things you can create to travel any environment. Basically the same thing was done with Viva Pinata, a small teaser released for that as well.
Then we were showed Scene It, Box Office Smash, which looks extremely fun. Similar to the previous ones, but with better puzzles and questions that are more up to date. Comes with the four simple controllers used to choose the answer, not needed but come with the game so who cares. Your avatars accompany you in the game.
Now, they showed You're In The Movies. Basically, you and your friends use a camera for the 360 in order to do skits such as swatting flies or dancing to certain moves, then the game takes the recordings and places them in a movie. It's really cool, but you look like an idiot doing it. The end result is pretty funny though.
This next part is boring, same old stuff. Guitar Hero and Rockband had there chances to shine, showing off an impressive lineup of over 80 songs, new improved instruments, etc.
Square Enix then showed off a couple new games such as Infinite Undiscovery, the new Star Ocean, and FFXIII for the Xbox 360!
There was one other crappy game where you sing along to songs, but that sucked so nothing more on that.
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