Microsoft's Press Conference began with 343 industries Bonnie Ross introducing the show. After some industry spiel she presented Halo 5.
With the game already having a beta back in December 29, 2014 to January 18, 2015, people have been waiting to see how the game has come along since then. We were shown a trailer that showed off a lot more of the story details. It then went into a gameplay demo with four people playing the game co-op. We saw a fair bit of action, aswell as some new enemies and weapons.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwjwJ9Z_XYs
Josh Holmes then came on stage to give some more details. He talked about how the multiplayer has gotten much bigger with a game mode called Warzone. The maps are bigger as well as there being AI enemies among the 12 on 12.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=av-N5smXFpw
Then a Xbox exclusive was shown. From Keiji Inafune and the creators of Metroid Prime. We saw a female character moving though a mysterious dessert world.
Phil Spencer then came out and talked about how excited he was for this new franchise.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2xgu4QnYA0
Phill Spencer then made the huge announcement that the Xbox One will now have backwards compatibility. At launch there will be 100 games that will work. You can also put in your disk and download the game to play it. We were shown Mass Effect running on an Xbox One.
A new controller was announced that seems to give an insane amount of customization. Including raising the buttons and changing the sticks.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJAix3h-1DM
Todd Howard then came out to talk about and show some fallout 4. Not much more was shown that wasn't at the Bethesda conference yesterday. We saw a bit of new gameplay, a few new characters and some extended section of some of the action already shown.
He then stressed his relationship and announced that mods made on the PC will be able to be transferred and played for free on the Xbox One.
Ea then talked about EA Access and the benefits of the service, things like playing Madden early and playing EA games from the "vault". Now Titanfall will be added to the vault and Dragon Age Inquisition will be added later in the year. Ea Access will be free this week for Xbox One owners.
Plants vs Zombies Garden Warfare 2
The game is set to come out next spring with EA showing the world exclusive trailer. The game continues the series wacky tone.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTXMbZjRMgo
They began by lowering a Ford from the ceiling. Yes. An actual car. After this overly extravagant opening they showed off the impressive visuals as well as gameplay, highlighting weather effects and 26 world famous locations. The date given for release was September 15th.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBbXxfZYTAA
A trailer was shown giving the expected dark tone for the game.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sMc2bnRc0o
A trailer for Ubisoft's division was up next. The environments of a post apocalyptic New York was shown with some fighting in the streets.
Laurent Detoc then came on stage to give some more details. An exclusive beta for Xbox One was announced for November.
Rainbow 6 Siege was also talked about, along with you being able to play Rainbow 6 Vegas 1 and 2 for free when you buy the game. A brief trailer was also shown.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZV2QlsArGg
Gigantic
I free to play 3rd person action Moba with a stylized art style with an emphasis on team-work.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CP0BRaoqr-A
Indie Games
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLJXBLvGJvc
Chris Charla then came out to talk about Xbox's commitment to indie devs. We saw a trailer from the gone home devs named Tecoma. Then Aurrora 44 showed of their game Ashen. Beyond Eyes was up next, we saw a pleasant stylish trailer for the game. Then, Cuphead, the 1940's cartoon inspired game was finally shown.
These 4 titles are what Xbox choose to highlight their ID program. They also talked about Xbox Game Preview with looks to be an early access program that will be coming to the Xbox One.
ION
Dean Hall, the creator of DayZ was next up on stage. He showed his new game that will be coming to Xbox One and PC. Not much was shown other than a ship in space and a creepy human in a bag.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_yq6zUzfnE
Last year we were only given a short trailer which seemed to depict a Lara who was struggling with the events first game. This year we saw a demo for the game. It started with Lara making here way through a snowy cave with here emerging on a mountain side. A tense ice climbing section then unfolded that seemed to mostly consist of quick time events. It escalated with her running form an avalanche in an action packed sequence. A trailer that showed more diverse environments and gameplay was shown to end it. It will be out November 10th.
30 games will be put together including Perfect Dark, Banjo Kazooie and Viva Pinata in one package with 10,000 gamerscore.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AaieVt3M72c
Rare then showed a new game that they are calling their most ambitious game that they have ever made. The trailer opened with the player moving through a mysterious sunny forest. The game looks to be a multiplayer pirate game.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1z48qvGsA_0
We then saw a trailer for Fable Lagends narrated by Lena Headey. The game will be free on Xbox One and Windows 10.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2v9rtc2a0rQ
Valve Partnership
A new partnership with Valve was announced. Not much was said about this partnership was really said other than to try and make sure The Oculus will run smooth on Window 10.
We have known since April that Microsoft would be bringing HoloLens to E3. We were shown a version of Minecraft that was designed for the HoloLens. We saw the game world appearing on a table whilst people were playing in the world. The tech continues to impress and could add a new dimension to some games.
Details on this had already leaked, such as 90 minutes of new content for campaign mode of the original game on PC and a streamlined multiplayer. It was officially announced today. A public beta starting today was announced and it will be out August 25th.
For the first time the new Gears of War was shown. In the demo we see two characters moving through an abandoned village. After a storm break out the two make a run for it, looking for safety. A fire-fight in a court yard eventuly broke out before ending abruptly.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bro5YugsPDg
Phil Spencer came back on stage to wrap up the conference in a positive way by humbly thanking gamers and trying to seem positive about the Xbox One. This was his second E3 as head of Xbox, he seems to be trying to give out a more enthusiastic message to Xbox One owners about the future of the platform.
What did think of the Microsoft Press Conference? Are you excited for any of these games?
