E3: Microsoft Plays It Safe and Casual

Photo of Robert Allen Robert AllenJuly 14, 2008
93 2,071 2 minutes read



The first hour of Microsoft’s press conference was earmarked
by teleprompter dependability and corporate predictability. Senior Vice
President Don Mattrick was visibly nervous when the event started, and quickly
handed over the reins to Todd Howard of Bethesda Software. Howard played through five minutes of Fallout 3, which unsurprisingly, looked like Oblivion with a
new post- apocalyptic texture set. Combat was an interesting mix of real time play,
interrupted with a tactical element where players could target individual body
parts.

Much like the Oblivion, the game offers players the ability
to play in first and third person.  The
user interface allowed a Bioshock-like set up for variable player upgrades, and Howard
mentioned that multiple methods of play were supported from combat oriented to
a more stealthy approach.


Next, Resident Evil 5 was shown, and a very brief co-op
level was demoed. To deflect accusations of racism, main character Chris
Renfield shot both Black and White zombies. Overall, the game looked like a
refinement of the RE4 engine.

Two sequels were shown next- as Fable 2 was introduced by
Peter Molyneux, and Cliff Bleszikski played through Gears of War 2. Both looked predictable, yet capable extensions of the game play introduced in their
predecessors.

For the next half hour of the show, Microsoft coasted,
showing little innovation and margin refinement. Their fall dashboard update
showed Wii-like Avatars, You’re in the Movies aped the action of Sony’s Eyetoy
Play minigames, while Lips was nearly indistinguishable from Sony’s Singstar. The
aptly named Viva Pinata: Trouble in ParadiseEye of Judgement showed -like
cards. British singer Duffy gave the conference one of the few moments of
spontaneity, as she sang an Amy Winehouse-like number. The singer was able to
answer a question for the ages- How well would a performer score, when singing
their own song in a karaoke game? The short answer: Very well, but not perfect.


The show did conclude on one, unexpected high note as Final
Fantasy XIII was announced for the Xbox 360, we’re sure someone over at Sony is
losing a job over the loss of that franchise. Overall, Microsoft played it conservatively safe,
offering sequels to their popular franchises, while attempting to secure the
ever-growing ‘casual’ market. Time will tell, if this seemingly over cautious
strategy will be effective.

Also Shown:
Geometry Wars 2
South Park
Portal: Still Alive
Galaga Ledends
Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts
Guitar Hero: World Tour
Rock Band 2
Scene It: Box Office Smash

Photo of Robert Allen Robert AllenJuly 14, 2008
93 2,071 2 minutes read
Photo of Robert Allen

Robert Allen

Since being a toddler, Robert Allen has been immersed in video games, anime, and tokusatsu. Currently, his days are spent teaching at two southern California colleges. But his evenings and weekends are filled with STGs, RPGs, and action titles and well at writing for Tech-Gaming since 2007.

93 Comments

  17. I thought it was kind of boring. Nothing really new announced except the new dashboard, portal 2, and the big one, final fantasy 13. That really made up for it.

  19. Was it me or did anyone else think the Fallout 3 gameplay was a bit, disappointing, dare I say?

  21. The avatars, Lips, and You’re In The Movies was a slap in the face to innovation.

  27. I said, “We waited over two years for this?” it looked just like Oblivion, and seemed a bit laggy.

    I just the feeling, the game was a bit emtpy. Enemies weren’t interesting.

    The nuke was cool, though.

  28. Fallout 3 sounds awesome, it’s definitely a game I’ve been looking forward to hearing about. I’m glad the went over the games that are highly anticipated, but I’m disappointed that that’s all they really had a show for. I thought they would show us some Xbox 360 exclusive devices, or anything that could be considered, “Innovative.” In any case, I’m looking forward to watching the show.

  30. it’s like joystiq’s overview, but without the useless stuff about seat saving, and bathroom breaks.

  34. Yep. I’m excited to see that FFXIII was unveiled. Can’t wait for Gears 2!

  37. Desert Eagle,
    Keep up the goood work! U R my eyes and ears on all the lastest gaming info.
    Keep informing consumers like me with the “inside” word on reviews, releases, etc.

  46. Much better than those other site where the authors drone on and on about themselves. Kohler and Grant, I’m talking about you!

  47. Definitely liking the girls as usual. I think the most anticipated still will be GoW2…no questions.

  48. Fable 2 is my most wanted game. Loved Loved the first game.

    The music is awesome too.

  49. A bit too tame for my taste, to be honest. Microsoft should be willing to take more big risks and innovate, rather than just stick with safe franchises and play catchup to other systems.

  51. Yeah, they played it way too safe. I watched the Press conference and couldn’t make it though more than 17 minutes.

  52. I hope the 360 version of FF13, doesnt water down the PS3 version D: . But, Squeenix knows what they’re doing.

  53. Psyched about fallout 3, portal, GoW2, BanjoKazooie, Fable 2, and, of course, FFXIII. I really liked the avatars and the netflix announcement as well. Best conference of the big 3.

  56. Wait a second how did a white zombie get into Africa?… I’m saying that’s racist right there.

  57. FF13 is a huge step to sony’s slow downfall its about time to see microsoft take over

  58. Galaga Legends?
    An Xbox Live game, perhaps? I’d like to see an update a la the recent Space Invaders update (was that on PSP?).

  60. Microsoft definitely played it safe this E3, but after watching Sony and Nintendo’s Press Briefings it looks like everyone did. As a 360 owner I’m super excited for the new Dashboard as well as being able to stream my Netflix Instant Queue through my TV. Not to mention the massive amounts of blockbuster games coming out: Fable 2, Gears of War 2, Fallout 3, etc. All in all it was a tame, but good E3 that focused on this year without distracting gamers with all the hotness coming out next year.

  61. I’m not sure MS is going more casual but the interface has become more gaming oriented and less software oriented.

  63. I hope they give us an option on which dashboard to use, I don’t want the new one!

  64. I’m pretty excited about the Netflix integration – it might even make me restart my subscription.

  66. FFXIII really shocked me. No 4 player coops for Gears 2 announcement was a bummer. Hoarde coops looks pretty sweet though.

  70. Netflix has me psyched, FF XIII has me depressed. Losing Final Fantasy exclusivity really is a blow to Sony, and makes me lose even more faith in my giant black box from Sony. Meh, at least it plays Blu-Rays…

  71. I don’t like where Microsoft is heading. They are beginning to focus more and more on the casual market. If someone wanted casual games, they would have bought a Wii, not a 360. Don Matrick was pretty bland as well, I want Peter Moore back.
    I enjoyed reading all of your posts on E3, I guess its th enext best thing to actually being at E3. I loved all of the content that Microsoft showed off, but the avatars are a huge Mii ripoff.

  76. Huge news on FF13. Even if it ends up on multiple disks, the new loading games onto the hard drive feature will take care of that.

  78. Sony is going to lose this generation simply because they refuse to pay for exclusivity. Their first-party stuff isn’t so hot, and certainly can’t carry a system, and their not going to get them for free like last gen being as they not only are not the leader, but they’re in 3rd and not even clost to MS or that other company… Good thing it’s a blu ray player. Don’t see much gaming happening on it especially since GT5 is now looking at 2010… Maybe…

  80. Microsoft has a great lineup, but the Mii thing is a terrible direction for the company to take.

  82. Its sluggish for me. I remeber when I first got my 360 changing blades was fast. To many ads I guess.

  83. I’m extremely pleased with the lineup of games coming out this fall and to get FFXIII has me stoked. Don’t know how the avatars will work, but the 1 vs 100 looked neat.

  84. I wonder how much money Microsoft had to drop into Square Enix’s lap in order to secure a release deal for FFXIII…

    Obviously not enough to secure a release in Japan alongside the US release, but I’m sure it was still a decent chunk of change.

  87. I can’t wait for FFXIII, I never thought it would actually hit the 360. Fallout 3 looks awesome, as does GOW2 and Fable 2. Seems like there will be no shortage of good games to buy for 360 owners.

  88. I wish that Microsoft had shown more 2009 games. They did the exact same thing that they did last year which had me disapointed. While I was happy about the FFXIII announcement I will not be purchasing the game.

  89. Im actually most excited for the dashboard I’m one of those who actually like the change. Oh and the primetime I think is going to be huge. 1 VS 100 BABYYYYYYYYYY

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