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E3 Analysis: This Year, Microsoft Lived Up To Its Own Hype
by Leigh Alexander
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June 1, 2009
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[Gamasutra's Leigh Alexander reflects from Los Angeles on the major takeaways of Microsoft's E3 briefing -- why the company's real killer reveal will see the least buzz, and what announcements like Project Natal and MGS Rising could mean for the industry.]
When it comes to presentations, Microsoft hasn't exactly got a reputation for austerity, so it was fitting that the company's press event (also covered in liveblog form by Gamasutra for the raw announcements) should be the one to kick off the "new" E3.
The enormous packed amphitheater awash in drifting green light patterns, flecked with gold strobe and decked out with enormous display screens, throbbing power-pop and strange honeycombed stage architecture was exactly what you'd expect from a company that feels like it's number one at the event of the year.
E3 press conferences are usually well-choreographed, hype-heavy events; one can expect a few nice-looking trailers, a few surprises, and perhaps one or two real kickers -- like last year, when the company announced it had finally broken Square Enix's Final Fantasy PlayStation exclusivity for the thirteenth installment, at least in the U.S.
This year, it's been easy to dismiss Microsoft's promises that it would "completely transform how people think about home entertainment" as more of the company's usual aggressive bravado. But the company's E3 media briefing wasn't just talk.
Microsoft brought it. Formidably.
Beatlemania!
Early on in the conference, the company brought the Beatles on stage -- Paul and Ringo, the Beatles -- to thunderous cheers, joined by Yoko Ono and Olivia Harrison, to lend their support for Rock Band: Beatles, whose cheerful opening cinematic saw its first debut at the event.
"Who'd ever thought we'd end up as androids?" McCartney joked. "We look great," said Starr.
That moment of genuine joy was further warmed by the announcement that proceeds from Xbox 360-exclusive downloadable track 'All You Need Is Love' will all go to Doctors Without Borders.
The Stuff You Expected
Other than that, a cameo from skating legend Tony Hawk, the exclusivity of a surprisingly creative-looking Splinter Cell: Conviction, the impressive vividity of Modern Warfare 2, the revelation of a new Halo in Reach were all the sort of things you might expect.
Microsoft's vaunted entry into the racing space with Forza Motorsport 3 -- complete with shiny red Audi on stage, fog machine, and promises of "the definitive racing game for our generation," and "the best looking racing game on any console" of course -- was flashy, but a logical move.
Incidentally, that the company that owns the Windows OS made it through an entire two-hour presentation without once mentioning the PC platform is strange, but not too surprising, either.
The Obvious Coup
"But we're not done yet," Xbox senior VP Don Mattrick said. "It seems we're missing one crucial piece of the puzzle."
Enter Hideo Kojima.
Last year, the announcement of FFXIII for Xbox 360 in the U.S. was Microsoft's best card. This year's defection of a formerly PlayStation-associated franchise was not the biggest announcement -- in fact, it was something like one more stone in an avalanche of eyebrow-raisers for Microsoft this year.
The news that the forthcoming Metal Gear Solid Rising will come to Xbox 360 represents Microsoft robbing its rival of one of its few remaining third-party exclusive franchises, and certainly its most desirable one. The company didn't need Metal Gear to give a dominating presentation -- but it had it anyway.
The Quiet Triumph
Microsoft's real killer reveal will likely receive the least amount of press and buzz from the hardcore gaming community -- Xbox Live's integration with Facebook and Twitter.
Xbox Live users will be able to invite their friends on the service to become their Facebook friends, and vice versa. In the near future, starting with Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09, gamers will be able to post screenshots of favorite gaming moments to to their Facebook pages for all their friends to see.
This means Xbox Live as a community will be exposed in a huge way to Facebook's massive 200 million userbase -- not only will the Xbox Live network effectively join the webbing of an existing mainstream social network, but it's likely that Facebook users will be pulled in. The company gains free marketing at the same time it provides a much-needed service to its users. Brilliant.
And if that's not enough, the company's also partnering with super-sticky, explosive web app Twitter -- by integrating Xbox Live seamlessly with both of these powerful mainstream social networking platforms, Microsoft is proving that the Xbox 360 can be one, too.
And, Of Course, Natal
Strange that they should pronounce their gesture-based control project Na-TAL, because the company's clearly birthing something major here.
Although at the event Stephen Spielberg called video game controllers "a barrier separating video game players from everyone else," it's likely there's a significant portion of the gaming audience that isn't ready to put down their controllers yet -- or ever.
Project Natal, then, is significant more for what it means to "everyone else." Though it's hard not to share Peter Molyneux's palpable excitement for the lifelike interaction the technology can enable, the concept of a television display that recognizes and greets you when you walk by, that allows users to control downloadable film menus by waving a finger in the air, are even more significant for the impact they could have on modern entertainment.
Microsoft's Winning
Between the social networking integration and the revelation of what could feasibly become a home entertainment mainstay, Microsoft's E3 presentation was so strong not so much because of its video games -- although there were no weak reveals there, to say the least -- but because it's obviously planned ahead to position itself as an integrated entertainment hub in all the ways its competition has only attempted to.
For once, the company lived up to its own hype. And as a legion of dazed media and industry folk filed slowly and quietly out of the amphitheater, one question could be heard on everyone's lips, murmured into cell phones and in curbside chatter in the lines to the shuttles.
It sounded hushed, funereal, sympathetic:
"What can Sony do now?"
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I was starting to regret my choice of Xbox360 as my console, but after the conference, I feel very content, knowing that my console has a bright future.
As to social networking, not sure its the big thing. Its one thing to use a phone to check or th shirk work and keep updated. Its another to purposely turn on advice with poor keyboard input to check and update text.
I thought Microsoft had a weak event as far as big reveals were concerned, but they had a solid showing of titles. Aging Alan Wake visuals still had a cool light mechanic and a release date. The Halo game has low res textures unfortunately. The crappy interface for facebook and twitter don't excite me but the cross marketing will be a good thing for them.
Overall I think either of the other two big events can beat this one.
But Natal does have that potential. I thought EyeToy was capable of that type of thing but it's so clearly a great step into gaming simplicity. Good move. I'm picky but I might snag one early.
Facebook and Twitter are solid add-ons. The article is right that they're massive for Microsoft and more of just a really decent convenience for the users.
I thought the conference was pretty weak - The only meaningful parts for me were in the Quiet Triumph section - but in all fairness I sold my 360 because franchises like Halo, Forza, and Crackdown don't do much for me.
3D movement and shape recognition can require an enormous ammount of CPU Power. Nobody knows if NaTal will bring it's own CPU, which would raise the price of the product or if it takes the CPU of the 360, which would lower the overall performance of the console.
From all I read about the system it sounds interesting, but it surely needs new and innovative ideas to use it properly and looking at MS games portfolio I really don't see anything as addicting as Wii Sports. Let's see if they can deliver. But I think NaTal is a clear sign that there isn't a new console generation on the horizon. MS can't expect 3rd Party Companies to develop games for that system if the plan to release a new console in 2012. So I guess the XBox360 will stay on the market for more years then many analysts predicted.
The whole social networking stuff is overrated in my opinion. Sure Facebook has 200 Mio. users, but how many active user they have? And how many of these active users are interested in videogames and how many of these interested users own a 360 or plan to buy one?
This is something our industry has needed for a long time, especially since the best we've gotten so far is an oddly shaped TV remote that you can wave like a wand.
This camera is real. The only question I have is will it be ready for the holiday 2009 shopping season?
Like others have said, at the very least Natal is an important stride in the direction of 3D/motion recognition, even if it doesn't make it to this generation. Yet, what if it does? We are seeing another wonderful addition to the gaming world.
The biggest pitfall of the Vision Camera was the lack of developer support. There just was no real reason to own a vision Camera. So I'm sure we will see Natal come out on the market when there are some games to back it. Then you will see developers work at targeting and expanding that sub-user base.
Don't call it vaporware when its just been announced.
Seriously, i think we need to look at what this really is: A really cool tech demo of something that has a lot of potential if and when it comes out in its current form. And if it doesn't, then it will be in another way.
More varied tech is a win/win for the consumer, regardless of who develops it.
@ Dan Robinson - Yeah, absolutely right. Did no one else remember this?
I saw video of the Natal demo, and the character didn't match the girl's movements. Anyone else noticed that?
The guys at the Nerdworld blog at time.com tried the system out at Microsoft on a 360 running Burnout off the shelf. Quote:
"...playing Burnout with no controller, just holding up your empty hands like a steering wheel and pushing your foot forward to accelerate, that is an intense experience. And this is just straight Burnout code, in no way optimized or adapted for Natal. When people start dedicating teams to writing for Natal, very interesting things will happen..."
Complete post:
http://nerdworld.blogs.time.com/2009/06/02/thoughts-about-microsofts-project-nat
al-e3-halo-etc/
Also as someone brought up earlier, I would imagine it would have a separate CPU included since the 360 wasn't designed with this idea in mind.
Microsoft says the Natal sensor combines an RGB camera, a depth sensor, a multi-array microphone, and a "custom processor running proprietary software."