Microsoft Xbox E3 Briefing didn’t suck. It actually didn’t suck at all. Maybe Micrsoft was serious when they said they were abandoning their DVR and “entertainment system” nonsense to focus on core gaming experiences. Microsoft didn’t waste any time at all—game after game, boom boom boom.
Xbox One S – $299 in August (40% smaller). If you don’t have a Xbox One yet, this is an enticing offer. If you already have one, I’d say stick with what you have and don’t worry about upgrading. I’m dubbing this one simply, “Xbox Slim.” Pre-orders are already available.
Gears of War 4 – Looks really good (they jumped right into showing us lots of actual gameplay), but I care way more about these details: Buy a copy on Xbox and play on Xbox AND Windows 10 – Share saves and there’s no additional cost. That’s awesome. Every co-op mode in the game supports cross-play. WOW. That’s a HUGE plus for gamers like us.  Comes this year.
Killer Instinct DLC -Â Play as Raam from GoW. Not my thing.
Forza Horizon 3 – I’ve never understood the popularity of car games. Not my thing. In the words of Graev, “They just need to add rocket launchers.”
Recore – Intriguing in a weird way. Something about the robot things creeps me out. I’ll be watching to see if it’s worth picking up.
Final Fantasy 15 – Made by the guy behind Kingdom Hearts. Combat looks really fun and the visuals are crazy. I’m admittedly not big on the FF games as that’s more of Graev’s thing. IÂ struggle with following the story in these ‘design for the east but adapted to the west’ RPGs and end up scratching my head with a lot of “wtf is going on?” moments. September 30 release.
The Division Underground – Meh. Looking pretty generic at this point.
Battlefield 1Â – See my comments in yesterday’s EA conference coverage. Xbox players with EA access get early access though?
Xbox Live Clubs – Create communities sharing interests. It’s like guilds for Xbox Live. That’s cool.
Xbox Live Looking for Group – It’s a LFG tool for Xbox Live. Huh. That’s also pretty cool. Making it easier to find people to play with works in this setup.
Xbox Live Arena – Compete in your favorite games against friends and others in tournaments. Totally set up for sports games. Not my thing, but the other Xbox Live improvements are great.
Minecraft – SUPER cool updates. Cross-platform compatibility between PC, iOS, Android, and Xbox is finally here. Do PS4 and Wii U get in too? The presenter kept saying “all platforms” but never mentioned PS4 or Wii U. “Realms” will be coming to consoles next year, so maybe that’s when PS4 and Wii U get in too? I’m confused! Also mods coming to consoles. ::prays:: Please let us play FTB.
Indie games coming to Xbox 1 – Meh. As Graev says, “Artsy fartsy indie fluff.” Then Cuphead came on and he started freaking out about how cool it is and wanted to see more Cuphead. (WTF is Cuphead?)
We Happy Few – WTF…Creepy. Skipping.
Gwent – Cool. A card game from a card game that was in a game. Next!
Tekken 7 – Fighting games. wooooooo. Skipping.
Dead Rising 4 – I played 1 & 2—Graev played them all. He’s super excited for this one. I’ll pick it up and play with him most likely. These games jumped the shark long ago and are always a fun and zany experience. More of the same I bet but probably fun.
Scalebound – Pretty much why I got my Xbox One. Looks SO GOOD. Dragons everywhere, fighting with others online… yep count me in. Pushed into 2017 though. 🙁
Sea of Thieves – Okay, this is easily on top of my most anticipated games list. I thought this was vaporware. I’m entering serious levels of hype here. DANGEROUS levels of hype. This is my dream guys. You’ve read my posts for years about wanting to command a pirate vessel with a crew of real players. HYPE ENGAGED! In fact, I’m going to write another post about this game along. Graev says, “Don’t get your hopes up we always get screwed.”
State of Decay 2 – Hmm. Interesting. Now on my list of games to watch.
Halo Wars 2 – I never played Halo Wars the original, but this actually looks pretty dang good. The beta is available for a week starting now, so I’m in.
NEW Xbox One (Project Scorpio) -Â [Insert crazy tech specs I hardly understand here and a bunch of hyperbole about how amazing they make games. Teraflops and stuff.] Comes Holiday 2017. Plays all games, all accessories work, etc. I’ll probably get it if Microsoft makes good on these promises.
Microsoft brought their A++ game today. They made good on returning to the core gamer experience. They had more exclusive games, more third party support, and more from Microsoft studios than I can ever remember.
Microsoft Play Anywhere’s “Buy once, play everywhere” is seriously the best idea to come out of Microsoft. Merging platforms, bridging gaps between communities, and providing a fantastic user experience. I’m a huge fan of that philosophy.
Not only did Microsoft’s conference not suck–This is Microsoft’s best conference…. ever. They’re the ones to beat now. Good luck Sony and Nintendo because you’re going to need it. Welcome back, Microsoft.
Look more closely at the Minecraft announcement. What I read sounded like it was just the Windows 10 version of Minecraft, along with the iOS and Android versions of the game, on which the Win10 version is based, can now play together on a Minecraft Realms server. The PC version we know and love, along with the XBox, PS4, and Wii U versions, were not in the picture.
I was hyped to read your blurb about Sea of Thieves, then I watched the game play trailer and I thought wow that would be cool, and then I thought… where is the game? Is it a PVP naval battle? They showed drinking, but why? They have a captains quarters but, again… why? It looks like an alpha build where they have a cool tech build but no reason to play. I need more fleshing out before I can get hyped. It also looks indie so I don’t know how much depth they will build. I’ve not heard of that studio before.
Sony is going to come out w/ a Red Dead Redemption 2 exclusive and FF7 remastered game play and it will break the internet. They will win all they Hypes…
Thanks for inadvertently alerting me to We Happy Few. First non-MMO game trailer I’ve seen for a very long time that made me sit up and pay attention. Hitting quite a few of my buttons pretty much square on. According to the website it’s going into Early Access on Steam in July. Not sure I want to buy in that early but it’s on my watchlist now, that’s for sure.
We Happy Few was the best game of the Conference!
We Happy Few is Way too deranged for me. I get squeamish and the violence is off-putting. I’m not into the creepy stuff at all.
@WIlhelm: Ahhh good point. Windows 10 version so like the pocket version aka basic version of all these can play together?