E3 2009: Microsoft Press Conference

Many big things went down at the Microsoft Press Conference, which took place today at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) at 10:30 a.m. PST this morning. Below I am going to cover some of the highlights that I personally found interesting. To view the full conference I recommend that you check out IGN.com, GameSpot.com or g4tv.com and look for their E3 coverage sections.

Rock Band: The Beatles

I have been a huge Beatles fan since shortly before my first year of university (yes, it took that long!) and I was both thrilled and delighted to see a game of this nature being released. This is definately getting added to my wishlist. Among the comments made regarding this game were that "All You Need Is Love" will be available for purchase on Xbox Live with all proceeds going to Doctors without Borders, that there are 45 songs that are included on the actual game disc and that entire albums by the Beatles will be available for download and purchase for the game, starting with Abbey Road. A further interesting surprise was the fact that Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr were actually at E3 to show their support for the game. Here is a video showing gameplay and revealing ten of the forty-five included tracks. Enjoy!



Final Fantasy XIII -- Playing On Xbox 360!

Yes, yes, yes! Not only does this look awesome, it looks very fun. Apparently it is currently aiming for a spring 2010 release but my money is still on a 2010 winter release knowing how Final Fantasy tends to work. Here is a video with some combat that was shown at Microsoft's conference:



Joy Ride

This looks like it will be cute, fun and charming. You get to take your avatar for the ride of its life in a vehicle that you can chose different things about. I do not know a great deal about this yet but it looked like it could show promise for having some casual fun. Here is a nice little video of the trailer included at the conference. I wish that I could have found a video with the spoken introduction but that was, unfortunately, not possible.



Other Goodies...

In addition to many other games shown, Microsoft also announced that a partnership with Last.fm will be coming to the 360 and that a new video / TV service will allow more people then ever to take advantage of the console's multimedia functions. Further, there are plans to add social networking via Facebook and Twitter. Looks like I will need to update the former more more often, and get an account with the latter. No point in letting good tech go to waste.

Natal: The Future of Gaming(?) Awaits...

The Final announcement from Microsoft's conference confirmed two suspected rumors: a camera focused on motion gaming, and a presentation of a new project by Lionhead Studios' Peter Molymeux. First we will look at Natal itself.

So, what is it? It is a full body motion camera, complete with face and voice recognition. Don't believe me? Just check out the video below. As the presentation claims: You are the controller!



But what does Mr. Molymeux have to do with all of this, you might ask? Plenty! It seems that Lionhead have had access to the technology for several months now and what they have managed to do with it is quite astounding. Prepare yourself: this may feel like you have stepped into the pages of a science fiction novel. Also, please note that this is (at least currently) a demo to my understanding, so do not attempt to judge what you are about to see as a complete product.



*shiver* Tell me that is not the most -insane- thing you have ever seen?! Is Natal a Wii clone? Definately Not. I dunno about you, but I have never seen the Wii do stuff like that. So, guys... What do you think? I look forward to hearing your opinions. Stay tuned! Tomorrow I will be writing about Sony and Nintendo's conferences. I will also try and find a way to view EA's conference so that I can get e3 2009 information about Mass Effect and The Old Republic.

I hope that you have enjoyed my coverage of Microsoft's 2009 E3 conference!