Let’s take a moment for the Game Bar. It’s that app you’ve probably never used in Windows 10. If you have an Xbox controller plugged into your PC, you may have accidentally seen it pop up when your thumb hit the logo button. Enabling the Game Bar allows you to take screenshots and post them to social media, record footage, and stream to Mixer or YouTube. It’s functional, but duplicates features in more popular programs, opting (up until now) for ease of use over more configurable choices.
Microsoft is updating the Xbox Game Bar. The improvements include a customizable HUD, the ability to (oh no) “turn your captured screenshots into memes,” run Spotify from an overlay, and a “looking for group” chat widget. Thanks to user feedback, the team at Microsoft felt these were the most needed additions. Okay, none of that sounds essential, but maybe you’ll use the Game Bar more than when you stumble on it with button mashes?
Microsoft brought out a new Porsche for their E3 press briefing. The 2018 911 GT2 RS was silver and looked like it could go really fast. It was a “monster” according to the breathless presenters. The car was at the briefing to introduce Forza Motorsport 7, but it was obviously also a metaphor for the new Xbox One X console, formerly known as Project Scorpio. Scads of horsepower in a teeny package. And expensive. The Xbox One X will launch on November 7th for $499. I’m sure there will be holiday bundles for even more money.
Microsoft showed off 42 games in total. Some of them only got a couple of seconds of video during a buzz reel for the indie games program, but the company hammered on the fact that 22 of the games shown were exclusive to the console which is a fancy way of saying “Pay no attention to the PC you already have.”
4A Games kicked things off with a surprise announcement for Metro Exodus which puts fans back into post-apocalyptic Russia. Ubisoft showed Assassin’s Creed: Origins, which now has random loot and a Far Cry primal hawk buddy that acts like a sighting drone. If trolling and betrayal are your thing, PlayerUnkown’s Battlegrounds should be right up your alley. Speaking of trolling, Battlegrounds will be exclusive to Xbox. State of Decay 2‘s trailer presented a min-tale of finding a new survivor in the zombie apocalypse, saving her, letting her join your game, then ended with her ultimately leaving. Rare answered the question “How can we show Sea of Thieves with co-op plaers that do not exist in real life?” Super Lucky’s Tale looked like Conker’s Good Fur Day. Crackdown 3 rounded up the games section of the show with Terry Crews and some decidedly last-gen looking explosions.
Microsoft announced that the Backwards Compatibility Program will be extended to original Xbox games. Good news for people that have held on to their Crimson Skies or Fable disks.
Finally, BioWare ran through some canned gameplay for Anthem. Giant robots. Exosuits. Beasts. Open world co-op gameplay. Jump jets and random loot. It’s Destiny all smashed up with Horizon Zero Dawn and Titanfall. The video also took a cue from Sea of Thieves and presented co-op gaming wholly incongruous with reality.
Gamescom 2015 kicked off with Microsoft’s press briefing today. While Sony decided that they had better things to do than talk to Europe, Microsoft took the opportunity to remind everyone that they had a lot of really great games on the Xbox 360.
A bunch of new Xbox One games coming up will come with a digital copy of the previous game in the franchise series, playable thanks to Xbox 360 backwards compatibility. Buy Just Cause 3 and you’ll get Just Cause 2. Purchase Rainbow Six Siege and you’ll get Rainbow Six Vegas. Plus, all future Xbox 360 Games with Gold titles will be backwards compatible on Xbox One. Current gen players will effectively be getting four games a month with their Xbox Live subscription. Backwards compatibility is something the PlayStation 4 can’t do, so it makes sense that Microsoft is going to push that feature for all it’s worth.
Microsoft and 343 Industries stressed how much they want Halo 5 multiplayer to be an eSports darling. Halo 5 has better balance and new fast-paced abilities built into players’ armor. The game has two competitive modes called Warzone and Arena. They’ve built live commenting tools like on-screen graphics and instant replays into the feature set of the game. They’re sponsoring a $1 million Halo 5 tournament. They all but begged for gamers to come back to Halo. Won’t someone think of the Spartan children?
Crackdown 3, Scalebound, Quantum Break, Forza 6 and Fable Legends were shown as Xbox One exclusives with some of the titles also coming to Windows 10 as well. A rep from Mojang, looking about as unenthused as possible, premiered Cobalt which appeared to be a lackluster multiplayer platformer. On the flipside, Cuphead, a side-scroller set in a faux-1930’s cartoon from Studio MDHR, looks more evocative than anything else Microsoft brought in their reel.
Remember Homefront? It’s back as Homefront: The Revolution. This time, it’s more of an open-world affair. You’ll still be fighting implausibly powerful North Korean invaders, but now you’ll do it on a motorcycle. There was a distressing lack of Hooters and White Castle in the gameplay video. Perhaps in the game’s dystopian future, North Korea has outlawed theme restaurants?
Finally, in a bittersweet moment, Microsoft announced Halo Wars 2. It’s being made by Creative Assembly and it’s coming in 2016. Pour one out for Ensemble Entertainment!
Microsoft has announced Windows 10. That’s not a misprint. Your next PC operating system will not be Windows 9, the logical follow-up to Windows 8. It’s Windows 10, because according to Microsoft, there were too many changes for a measly one number jump. It combines everything Microsoft has learned about Windows 8 and mashes it onto every device. Plus, the Start Menu is back! Microsoft acknowledged that a lot of people stuck to Windows 7 and if they upgraded, it was only because Windows 8 is what was installed on their new system. The company is keen to make these people comfortable and not force the infamous Metro screen on them.
“We want all these Windows 7 users to have the sentiment that yesterday they were driving a first-generation Prius, and now with Windows 10 it’s like a Tesla.”
Let’s say you’re not a PC gamer. Why should you care about an operating system for desktops and laptops? Beyond the fact that the OS influences development of games, take a gander at the image above that came from the press conference in San Francisco. That’s an Xbox One user interface redesigned for Windows 10’s “one platform” mantra. It’s just an early preview for now, but you can expect the company to drive the console towards that user interface barring any difficulties.
E3 has come and gone. Attendees squint around in its wake, cobbling together a means of remembrance from the show. What were the themes? Was this the year of early access? When Battlecry is dated for “Beta 2015” it’s hard to think not. Maybe it was finally the unveiling of next-gen games? Maybe there were #trends to talk about. Sure, let’s do that. I feel like I’ve learned something. I daresay, even a few things.
After the jump, we hardly knew ye. Continue reading →
Microsoft’s E3 press conference was today. If you watched for red meat from gaming’s biggest budget productions, they had you covered. There was another tease for Halo 5, and a reveal of the Halo: Master Chief Collection that bundles up all the previous numbered Halo games into one Xbox One package. Shooter fans got some Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare campaign gameplay. Rise of the Tomb Raider apparently features Lara discussing her feelings with a therapist. Assassin’s Creed Unity had some killing during the French Revolution. A painfully staged demo of Tom Clancy’s The Division showcased some profanity-free multiplayer. A couple of reps from CD Projekt Red brought some footage from The Witcher 3. Crackdown is coming for Xbox One. Fable Legends is going to give us asymmetrical multiplayer. Evolve will give gamers co-op monster hunting.
Wait. Was that Crackdown? Crackdown for the Xbox One? “Skills for kills” Crackdown? That Crackdown? I’ll be in my bunk.
