After having one of the most successful years for the brand, Microsoft enters this year’s E3 Expo riding the waves of the very successful launch of their Kinect peripheral, a device that Microsoft sees as a re-launch of the Xbox 360 system. The first wave on Kinect titles has been released, and there have been some successes, and some failures. The early half of 2011 has yet to see an impactful release for the Kinect, and a lot of questions surround just what is in store.
Microsoft also has rather light second half of 2011, software wise, with only Gears of War 3 as their sole system exclusive, and nothing announced for release beyond that release.
Lastly, Microsoft is always looking to further transform the Xbox 360 into the complete entertainment experience. Last year’s fall update added a lot of features to move towards that goal, but what else would Microsoft have in store?
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. Microsoft E3 2011 Press Conference.
The Good
A lot of on-stage presence.
Microsoft kicked off their E3 presentation with an on stage demonstration of Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3. The demo showed off a lot of the action set pieces that people have come to expect from the Call of Duty franchise, and some new tidbits like underwater controls. The demo turns into a Michael Bay movie, with massive explosions going on around the player as he speeds through the waters around a besieged New York City. Microsoft paid good money to receive exclusive rights to Call of Duty downloadable content, and they will not waste it by not showing off the current best-selling franchise front and center.
The next title to be shown on stage was the first gameplay look of the new Tomb Raider reboot from Crystal Dynamics. The title skews more dark and gritty from the previous titles in the series, featuring a young Lara Croft getting beaten and injured in some brutal ways. The atmosphere and environment also works very well with the direction they are taking the series.
Microsoft’s big title for the rest of 2011, Gears of War 3, showed off the co-op with assistance of Ice-T. Giving a few of some of the new baddies that the player will face, including a massive boss that you have to defeat by damaging several of the weak points on the creature. New gameplay elements, like the walking armored body suits, were shown off during the walkthrough.
The last two major titles on stage bridge the game between the technology of the Kinect, and the core gamer. Ghost Recon Future Soldier shows off how the game’s weapon customizing interface, known as Gunsmith, is 100% Kinect able. Players are able to break down weapons to their base components, switch out any piece out with another, and test their creations on a shooting range. Voice enabled commands can also be used to have Gunsmith put together preset or random weapons. Lastly, the game itself is Kinect enabled. While the gestures to aim and shoot are a bit strange, spreading out one’s fingers out to fire for one example, the controls seemed to be responsive.
The other core title with Kinect features is Mass Effect 3. The BioWare sci-fi RPG will be using the Kinect for voice recognition. During conversations with other character, you can say the lines that Sheppard are given as options, and he will respond accordingly. While you are in battle, you can give your teammates commands to more into position, and for them to activate their abilities. This will make combat flow much easier, as the player will not have to navigate menus.
Overall, it was a strong lineup of titles to show off on stage, and the further bridging of the Kinect with more traditional titles just furthers along the potential future of gaming.
The New New Xbox Live Experience
Every year, the Fall Update of the Xbox Live service is a reboot of the service. It is the time that Microsoft adds in the newest and biggest features that add more bang for the consumers buck. This year’s update should be no different.
The interface itself is changing once again. Taking a page from what looks like the Windows 7 Phone interface, the cleaner look and full Kinect functionality sets out to make browsing the Dashboard a smooth experience. Full voice commands are being added to the motion controls to help set out to achieve that.
Major services are being added to help increase the value of Live, and to make it a one stop destination for every entertainment need. The first is YouTube. YouTube was the last major service that Microsoft needed to have, after Facebook and Twitter were added in previous years. Second is Live TV. A complement to Netflix, this service will only be as good as the sum of its parts. Right now, only a few international driven channels are slated. If Microsoft can line up some premium channel coverage, it could be a force for the service. The biggest surprise would be the integration of the Bing search engine. Using Bing, you can search through all of the content on Live, from Netflix to game content, instead of having to dig through menu after menu for what you are trying to find. This is a huge way to tie in all of the services that Live offers.
The last surprise addition would come from Dana White, president of the Ultimate Fighting Championships. The service, known as UFC Live, looks to bring the world of mixed martial arts to Xbox Live in a way that is similar to ESPN 3.
From day one of the Xbox brand’s inception, Microsoft wanted to make one device for all of the consumer’s entertainment needs. They are moving closer and closer to fulfilling that goal.
The Bad
Another year, another canned Kinect demonstration.
Microsoft cannot seem to pin down just how to show off their bread and butter properly. Just like last year’s press conference, Microsoft used fake families and actors on stage to show off their lineup of Kinect titles. While the avalanche of Kinect title announcements brings hope for a strong second half of 2011, they did a horrible job for their unveiling's.
Microsoft’s own Kinect Sports 2 was the worst of the bunch. The woman showing off the golf game did a horrible job at selling the fact that her demonstration was not real experience, while the football demo features two “dudebros” fist pumping and acting like fools while playing a couple downs. It is almost a slap to the face of the consumer when you act like that is what the market for you product is.
Leaks ruin a big surprise, but would there have been cheers?
It was accidently leaked, and no I will not use the much often joke about the poor person looking for a new job, that several major announcement would be made during this press conference on the official Xbox site. The mistake was quickly corrected, but not fast enough for the internet, the world knew that Halo 4 was to be revealed.
When the end of conference teaser was finally shown, there was a noticeable lack of enthusiasm from the crowds in attendance, in stark contrast to the official reveals of Halo Reach and Halo 3. Was this due to the leak, or maybe the market has become a bit burned out on Halo? Microsoft also revealed, officially, the Halo Combat Evolved remake earlier in the show to, again, little enthusiasm.
With six Halo titles in ten years, and Bungie no longer holding the reins of the franchise, perhaps Halo is something no longer worth getting excited over?
The Ugly
Minecraft? On a console?
How can you announce that the largest independent gaming project of the last year will appear on your service, but not have anything solid to talk about afterwards? The brainchild of Markus "Notch" Persson, Minecraft is the quintessential time waster, giving players the ability to build and create anything they want in the world by interacting with the environment. It was one of the best stories to come out of 2010, and the future success of this game gives hope to aspiring game developers to dive in.
Microsoft needed to have something concrete, but instead it was a bullet point in their conference.
Mixed messages.
Microsoft is in a sticky situation with their new company focus.
On one side, they have the traditional core market that made them into the success they are. Core titles like Halo, Gears of War, and Fable have brought millions to the Xbox brand over the years. These games tend to be on the visceral side, featuring content that is made for the 18-34 demographic that enjoys shooting and blowing stuff up in their gaming.
In the other corner, Microsoft has the Kinect software. Looking to tap into the family friendly, casual market, the Kinect games tend to be the same. Experiences for the whole family and software that younger children will enjoy fill out the Kinect library.
The problem is that Microsoft has yet to come up with a way to balance the two when they present their press conferences. They cannot go from on stage combat to canned presentations of cute and cuddly. They need to find a happy balance between the two, mostly by respecting the titles for the Kinect for by having better presentations.
Microsoft’s conference was just as segmented as last year’s. They were unable to achieve a nice flow in showing off all of the products and services that they will be adding to the 360 in the coming year. While this will not have a direct bearing on their sales, it is still a bit disheartening to see a rather poor effort for the second straight year.
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