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Having held a special conference for the newly renamed 'Kinect' (formerly 'Project Natal') on June 13th, Microsoft was the first of the big three to hold their main conference.
The conference began with a trailer for 'Call of Duty: Black Ops'. Treyarch Studio Head, Mark Lamia, walked onstage to demo the new 'CoD', playing us through an impressive attack scene and a helicopter flying segment, in which the power of a military helicopter has never seemed so epic (think many, many explosions).
A familiar face from last E3 then walked on stage; Microsoft Senior Vice President of Interactive Entertainment, Don Mattrick. He reminded us that 2010 marks 10 years of Xbox, and highlighted that the biggest blockbusters in gaming today are on Xbox 360, with exclusive sequels to 'Halo' and 'Gears of War' coming to Xbox, as well as the 'CoD' franchise.
Mattrick then welcomed and bowed to gaming legend and creator of 'Metal Gear Solid', Hideo Kojima. Kojima introduced 'Metal Gear Solid: Rising', and explained that he wanted to produce something special for the series' first outing on Xbox. Next, Kojima’s friend and producer of Kojima Productions, Shigenobu Matsuyama, walked on stage. Together they explained the concept of “Zan-Datsu”, Japanese for “Cut-Take”, which the game is based around; Raiden cuts and takes in gameplay to dismember enemies. A trailer for 'Rising' was then debuted, showcasing the brutal cutting mechanics and physics.
After a boring speech from Corporate Vice President of Microsoft Games Studios, Phil Spencer, the stage made way for Cliff Bleszinski, Design Director of Epic Games. He gave a live demo of 'Gears of War 3', introducing new enemies and female Gears amongst other things. The Unreal Engine looked better than ever.
Then Peter Molyneux, Creative Director of Microsoft Games Studios Europe and world champion of empty promises ('Fable 2'...), walked on stage to showcase 'Fable 3'. Surprisingly, the trailer made the game look more story-driven this time around, and certainly looked to improve on the series, but given Molyneux’s past promises I wouldn’t get too excited just yet.
Following this Phil Spencer came back on stage to announce an upcoming exclusive for Xbox 360 with Microsoft Games Studios newest partner. This was revealed to be 'Codename Kingdoms' from Crytek, perhaps Microsoft’s answer to 'God of War'? Definitely a title to watch.
Spencer then bigged up 'Halo' before Bungie Creative Director, Marcus Lehto, walked onstage for the world premiere of the campaign of 'Halo Reach'. A CG trailer merged into gameplay which saw the Covenant plunge down from the sky, and the segment ended in a space battle in the planet’s orbit, where you control the spaceship - exciting stuff for 'Halo' fans.
Corporate Vice President for Xbox Live, Marc Whitten, talked about how Live has gone beyond gaming with movies, music and social networking. This led on to him introducing 'Kinect', which makes Live simpler to enjoy. With Whitten assuring us there are no barriers and no learning curves, he invited Ron (some low-level Microsoft employee that apparently didn’t deserve a surname on the big screen) to demo 'Kinect'! Ron waved to sign into Live (VERY cool) and then went on to show how, using hand and voice commands, we will be able to play movies and music and use all the commands you would find on a remote. By this point I was sold, and Whitten assured us this technology will be available with all Xbox Live experiences.
A new social possibility with 'Kinect' was then shown - 'Videokinect', a video to video chat which can be between two friends on Live with 'Kinect', or with one person on webcam with Windows Live Messenger. A very cringeworthy scripted conversation ensued between the two girls demonstrating it, but the technology seemed solid; you can watch videos/play music together, and if you move around the room 'Kinect' pans to keep you in shot - very cool. No headsets. No controllers. Saying “xbox endchat” ends the conversation. All very futuristic!
Shin from Rare Studios then demoed 'Kinect Sports', Xbox’s answer to 'Wii Sports'. More sporting events are available than on the Wii, and as 'Kinect' uses your whole body, it did seem more involving than 'Wii Sports'. Even more 'Kinect' games were then demoed - 'Kinect Joyride', 'Kinect Adventures', 'Dance Central' from Harmonix and finally 'Kinect Star Wars'. The latter was, personally, extremely disappointing, as the light sabre gameplay looked jagged and boring, but the game is not yet finished. 'Forza' players will also be able to use 'Kinect', driving their car by placing their hands in the air at ten and two.
Phil Spencer walked back on stage to announce 'Kinect' will launch later this year, starting in North America on November 4th, with 15 launch titles.
Don Mattrick reappeared to make the final and biggest announcement of the conference. He said that we are entering a brand new era for the Xbox and Xbox Live, and to kickstart this era he unveiled a NEW XBOX 360 - Sleeker, smaller, whisper-quiet, 250gb HDD, built in wi-fi N (fastest available) and ready for 'Kinect' - all for just £199 ($299). This surprise was made even bigger when he announced the new model is shipping today (June 14th) in the US and will be available here in the UK next month. The lucky people in the audience in Los Angeles were informed they are all getting a new 360 for free! I’m jealous too.
Overall, Microsoft had a strong conference, catering to the hardcore with numerous sequels and debuts, but also introducing 'Kinect' in ways that will appeal to gamers from all walks of life. No hardcore titles for 'Kinect' as such, but the new ways to interact with your Xbox are enough to convince. Also, if you’ve been waiting to get an Xbox, or simply looking to update, there’s never been a better time with the sleek new slim model! Nice one Microsoft.
Check out part one of the conference below (watch the rest here - it's a long one!)
If only the new Xbox 360 had support for harddrives from other models! Might still pick up a new one with Kinect later this year.
That lack of hard drive support is a bit strange but with 250GB I doubt you would ever need much more really, and I think I read something somewhere about being able to do a USB transfer from an existing console.
I think it looks really cool, but I already have a 360 elite and a wireless kit so don't see much point in spending £200 for something I already have 
Good for people who don't have one yet though!
If it's quiter than the airplane engine noise the current models make, and there is an easy way to transfer games I have installed on my Elite, I am DEFINITELY buying this when it's bundled with Kinect.
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