Microsoft @ E3

[Paco]

Your E3 pass with Xbox Live
E3 Xbox Live Schedule

Confirmed demos to be available on Xbox Live:
Test Drive: Unlimited (Atari)
Moto GP™ ’06 (THQ)
Crackdown (Microsoft Game Studios)
Dead or Alive® : Xtreme 2 (Tecmo)
The Lord of the Rings ™, The Battle for Middle Earth™ II (EA Los Angeles)
Lost Planet: Extreme Condition (Capcom)
Sonic the Hedgehog (Sega)
Splinter Cell: Double Agent ™ (Ubisoft)
Viva Piñata (Microsoft Game Studios)
- Plus a flood of HD trailers from games that have yet to be announced
- Call of Duty®2 – New Multiplayer Map Packs (Activision)
- The release of UNO on Xbox Live Arcade
- Game with Fame celebrity gaming sessions with stars like Jenny McCarthy, Method Man and Panic Channel (Featuring Dave Navarro, Stephen Perkins, Chris Chaney and Steve Isaacs).
- Play and Win contests with the latest Xbox 360 and Xbox Live Arcade titles
- Exclusive high-definition blockbuster movie trailer downloads
-Limited edition E3 Gamerpics and Themes
-A Backstage Pass to see developers preparing for E3

Hardware
Not much is known other than we will see the HD-DVD add-on and the camera.

I wonder to what extent they'll be showing off the gesture gaming aspects of the camera?

Rumored to be announced are bigger capacity harddrives.

Microsoft Game Studios
(internally developed or published)

Halo 3 (supposedly a short teaser video)
Gears of War (playable)
Too Human (playable)
Crackdown (playable)
Mass Effect (playable)
Ninety-Nine Nights (playable)
Viva Pinata (playable)
Lost Odyssey
Forza 2
Fable 2

also expected is the FASA (MS firstparty) Shadowrun. http://www.shadowrun.com

Also expected is a new title from Rare. It's been strongly hinted that it's either Banjo-Threeie or Kameo 2.

For the up-to-date E3 list go here: http://www.gamespot.com/e3/e3games.html?...lar&page=1

Rumors:
Free Xbox Live
Recently, Microsoft acquired in-game advertising firm Massive Inc.

Massive makes its money by placing ads into games that have already shipped, typically slapping the ads onto in-game objects like vending machines, billboards, and TV screens. The ads are dynamically served, which means they can be changed on the fly, so a billboard advertising a fast food restaurant this week could be updated to plug a new movie next week. According to Microsoft's announcement, purchasing the company "will help deliver dynamic, relevant ads across Microsoft's online services, starting with Xbox Live and MSN Games."

Link

Many believe that Microsoft is doing this so they can compete with Sony's recent announcement of a free online service. The money generated from in-game advertising should offset the costs of maintanence and upgrade.

Some think Microsoft will still have two flavors of Xbox Live. One that offers free online play with some other XBL services all coupled with advertising. The other option being an ad-less Live experience for a paid subscription.

Movies coming to you through Live
Microsoft has made deals with both DirecTV and more recently Paramount. The Paramount deal is thought to be for HD movies.

strong rumor that Microsoft will publish Alan Wake exclusively for the 360. We should see it at E3.

Microsoft is still supposedly is some bidding war to get the next Grand Theft Auto exclusively for the 360.

Music
Perhaps Microsoft will shed some more light on their new music service with MTV, Urge. We know it's built in to Vista, but some are expecting it for Xbox 360 as well.

Miscellaneous
-New multiplayer maps for Perfect Dark Zero
-Street Fighter 2 to be released on Xbox Live Arcade


more as it comes...
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[Dark Jaguar]

MS certainly has the advertising thing down with the 360, to an insulting degree. The hard disk comes bundled with a free game, but also loads of terrible music and frickin' COMMERCIALS. Not even like game commercials, commercials for the 360 ITSELF (which is odd, since anyone playing these movies already owns it) and worse, advertising for, I think sneakers. There was basketball involved.

Yeah, that's exactly how they attempt to convince you this new generation is "all that". Also, they apparently are trying to convince me to advertise their system for them by sticking a little windshield sticker right in the box with the 360 logo on there. To go British for a sec, I can't be arsed to do that. That went straight into the garbage, after I used the adhesive side to remove some cat hair from my clothes.

But hey, this isn't so bad, actual GAME advertisements are an interesting idea :D. They already have been doing that (and if you can manage to find a game demo between advertisements for movies and stuff in the marketplace, good on ya mate), but this is more.

[lazyfatbum]

Banjo wouldn't sell on 360, its too teh kiddie and for faggots lolololo, etc. However, Blast Corps 2 would do very well indeed :D

[Paco]

Go to TXB. Banjo-Threeie is the second most requested game among all the Rare franchises (Killer Instinct being number one). Kameo 2, surprisingly is coming in third. Seems the more people play it the more word of mouth gets around how good it is, and more people are picking it up. Reminds me of just how Jak & Daxter started (slow) and picked up over time to become a popular franchise.

I think it's Kameo 2. I believe it was Shane Kim who recently said that it's a sequel you wouldn't expect so quickly. It might also coincide with the possible release of the Kameo movie that was announced last November, said to have begun production earlier this year.

Who knows, it could be Banjo-Threeie AND Kameo 2. There have been several people who have claimed to have worked on the assets for Banjo-Threeie, stating they would be surprised if Banjo 3 wasn't shown very soon. Rare certainly has the staff to work on multiple titles at any given time. We'll see soon enough...

[Paco]

update:

strong rumor that Microsoft will publish Alan Wake exclusively for the 360. We should see it at E3.

Microsoft is still supposedly is some bidding war to get the next Grand Theft Auto exclusively for the 360.

[A Black Falcon]

Killer Instinct is such an overrated game...

[lazyfatbum]

it is pretty over rated but the characters made it what it is. it's a mix of street fighter, bushido Blade and mortal Kombat gameplay wise with extreme combos that make for alot of replayability.

B~K, JFG, and BC (a side from PD obviously, but that's required gaming) are my favorite Rare games. from what i've played of kameo it was okay, very banjo/DK64 in feel actually with its puzzles and monster morphing, hopefully with the sequel they'll introduce more gameplay mechanics that make more of a unique experience. But i wouldn't rule out a sequel to Conker or grabbed by the ghoulies either.

[Smoke]

Damage Control

[Great Rumbler]

Solid, if not spectacular.

[Paco]

E3 ultimately doesn't matter. None of the trade shows do. That's just truth.

[Paco]

B~K, JFG, and BC (a side from PD obviously, but that's required gaming) are my favorite Rare games. from what i've played of kameo it was okay, very banjo/DK64 in feel actually with its puzzles and monster morphing, hopefully with the sequel they'll introduce more gameplay mechanics that make more of a unique experience. But i wouldn't rule out a sequel to Conker or grabbed by the ghoulies either.

The Conker team said that a new Conker is not their current project, but expect to see him again eventually.