The frontrunner in the console wars as of right now, the Xbox 360 may be a little stagnant
right now, but E3 was a great showcase for the future of the system. Every serious gamer
knows that summer is never really one of those times to get many games except for
Madden and NCAA, but E3 is the gateway to the rest of the year for us. Let's take a look at
the Xbox 360 Press Conference.




To start off, while most press conferences come off as boring and stodgy, to quote Yahtzee,
Microsoft started off really well. They cut right to the chase, showing us gameplay of some
of the newest titles that are due out from later this year, to spring of 2009. We got to see
Gears of War 2, which some people have said is more of the same, but with a game as
good as Gears, more of the same is not necessarily a bad thing. Cliff Blezinski, Epic's
captain and guide through the short demo, hinted at us being able to ride a Brumak, which
would be really awesome. Also, there is a new 5-player cooperative mode called "Horde,"
where you can take on waves upon waves of more powerful Locust. Sounds kind of like
Galaga, but with much more blood and gore. The entire Gears 2 demo practically had
intensity and testosterone dripping from it, and we also got a date for Re-Emergence Day:
November 7th, 2008.

Also, we got to see Fallout 3, which is a game that many have been waiting for. After
seeing this demo, I'm definitely ready to play, even though I've never played Fallout 1 or 2.
Fallout 3 gives you the option of playing in either first-person or 3rd-person views, which
allows you to play the game to your liking. Also, since it's made by Bethesda, the makers
of Oblivion, you know what they have in store for us: lots and lots of time sitting on our
couches, squeezing every last bit of fun out of this game.

The on-stage demo also showed us some more of the uniqueness that is in Fallout 3. You
can shoot enemies in real-time, like in every other first-person shooter you've played, or
you can slow it down and take potshots. By far the most entertaining part of the demo was
the mini-nuke rocket launcher. A nuclear weapon that is fun for the whole family! But the
biggest news for this game is that Fallout 3 has gone the route of Grand Theft Auto IV and
will be delivering exclusive downloadable content for the Xbox 360. Fallout 3 is due out in
March 2009.



Nukes are fun!

Next, there was Resident Evil 5, a game that people have been asking me about since RE4
came out. "When is Resident Evil 5 coming out, Jim?" Well, it's coming out the same time
as Fallout 3, March 2009. Both games in time for my 21st birthday! Anyway, RE5 was
shown off, with the co-op feature, as one player can take control of Chris Redfield, and the
other can control Sheva Alomar. Co-operative play seems to have a pretty important role
in the game, especially in the part we saw. Not too much was revealed about the game
that we didn't already know. The camera system from RE4 is back, and the game looks
every bit as intense as RE4 did, just better-looking and on a seemingly larger scale.

Finally was Fable II, which a lot of people are stoked for as well. Addressing the crowd,
Peter Molyneux said that Fable II is indeed finished and will be out in October of this year.
Molyneux showed off a bit of Fable II and its drop-in/drop-out gameplay. People can be
invited into your world at any time and can travel with you. Molyneux then showed us his
house, with his wife and child. The only thing that worries me is that we weren't shown any
combat, but as long as it's as enjoyable and as simple as the original, then we'll be more
than satisfied with the game's crushing depth.



Those were the four major games showcased on the Microsoft Press Conference, and after
this great leadoff, we were then treated to boring business stuff. However, Microsoft did
give us news we did want to hear: 2007 sales of Xbox 360 software were higher than the
PS3 and Wii combined. Also, there are 12 million Xbox Live subscribers, and 11
million Xbox 360's sold lifetime, which is only about a million ahead of the Wii. Microsoft
then announced that they would outsell the PS3 over its lifetime. That was a guarantee,
which shows Microsoft's confidence in their product.

Next up was the unveiling of the new Xbox Dashboard interface. Taking a page from Sony,
Nintendo, and Apple, the new interface looks like iTunes, but what was touted was the new
avatars, which are sort of in between Sony's realistic Home avatars, and Nintendo's Mii's.
These avatars will be added alongside your Gamercard. The new interface looks like Cover
Flow on iTunes, which I'm not so sure about. Sure this is a work-in-progress and is due out
this fall, but I like the "blade" interface enough as it is.

Microsoft also told us about new releases to Xbox Live Arcade, which is extremely
impressive right now, what with Rez HD, Ikaruga, some Sega classics like Sonic and Streets
of Rage, and most recently Soul Calibur. Now, we can add Portal: Still Alive, UNO Rush,
Galaga Legions, and Geometry Wars 2 to an already impressive lineup.

There were also other game announcements like a new Scene-It?, Lips (which looks like
Microsoft's answer to Sony's SingStar), Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise, among others.
Aside from games, there was also a partnership announced between Netflix and Microsoft,
which will allow us people to rent movies to our 360's. I would be more excited about this if
I watched more movies.

However, the biggest announcement was one that got every gamer alive buzzing: the
PlayStation 3's biggest titles (Metal Gear Solid 4 and Final Fantasy XIII) have had their
exclusivity to that platform in doubt for a while, but while MGS4 seems to be exclusive for
now, by far the biggest announcement of the convention came when a trailer for Final
Fantasy XIII was shown.


Yes, it's real. Square-Enix is now a traitor...if you're a Sony fanboy

It is true, Final Fantasy XIII will be on both Xbox 360 and PS3. However, another part of
the Fabula Nova Crystailis series, Final Fantasy Versus XIII, is still exclusive to the
PS3...for now. The third part of Fabula Nova Crystailis will remain exclusive to mobile
phones in Japan, and that is Final Fantasy Agito XIII.

That's about all there is to say about the Microsoft E3 Press Conference. Stay tuned and I'll
have both Nintendo and Sony's recaps. All in all, I say it was a very impressive press
conference from Microsoft, as it gave us what we wanted: announcements and games
aplenty, and possibly the biggest announcement of the entire convention.