Please do not refresh this liveblog, it automatically updates every couple of seconds to save you time! See the full liveblog after the jump! Lots of exciting and perhaps mind-blowing things happened at this year’s Microsoft Conference:
- 12:58 AM gameusagi – This liveblog will start on June 1st at 9:00 AM CST.
- 8:49 PM gameusagi – Time has been changed to 9:30 AM CST, so we shall begin then instead. 😀
- 9:24 AM gameusagi – 4 minutes until go time!
- 9:33 AM gameusagi – Mmmkay, here we go!
- 9:35 AM gameusagi – Well.
- 9:37 AM gameusagi – Our apologies, we got our time wrong. -_- It will be 11:30 AM CST as opposed to 9:30 AM CST. Fun times, we’ll keep you posted.
- 9:44 AM Spiffy – Thought there was something wrong with the time. I’ll come back in a couple of hours, then, lol
- 9:45 AM gameusagi – Closing comments just because it will mess up the feed for everyone, sorry.
- 9:59 AM gameusagi – Watching COPS while waiting… good plan for everyone
- 11:06 AM gameusagi – Green circle/bubbley room for the conference. Very shiny. : o
- 11:09 AM gameusagi – 20 minutes to go, for real this time. 😀
- 11:13 AM gameusagi – Perhaps this will be the year that Mario makes his appearance at the Microsoft conference : O That would be a worthy celebrity cameo ^_^
- 11:14 AM gameusagi – “It’s a me, Mario! I’m-a here to show you Gears of War 3! Rip off Locust’s heads and drink their fluids! Wha-hoo!”
- 11:21 AM gameusagi – T-minus 4 minutes
- 11:26 AM gameusagi – Link to Game Usagi page if ScribbleLive gets slow or something: gameusagi.com
- 11:27 AM gameusagi – Gamer Christmas is about to begin
- 11:28 AM gameusagi – Starting!
- 11:29 AM gameusagi – All floaty and green 😐 — Nothing’s happened yet, though
- 11:29 AM gameusagi – Trailer started, kinda anime-like
- 11:30 AM gameusagi – Ah, Rock Band Beatles
- 11:30 AM gameusagi – Good art style, I’m still probably not going to get the game, though
- 11:31 AM gameusagi – Lots of running around with anime Beatles, reminiscent of The Monkeys
- 11:31 AM gameusagi – Vocal harmonies with multiple microphones
- 11:32 AM gameusagi – A good addition to the franchise
- 11:33 AM gameusagi – Graphics are okay, bit different from what we’ve seen in previous Rock Band’s
- 11:34 AM gameusagi – Actually good singers for a demo for once!
- 11:35 AM gameusagi – Looks like more fun than I was expecting
- 11:36 AM gameusagi – Added cymbals to the Rock Band drums, nice fake bass drum too
- 11:37 AM gameusagi – Beatles songs all remastered for the game
- 11:37 AM gameusagi – 45 Beatles songs will be on the disc
- 11:39 AM gameusagi – The video feeds of the conference are understandably delayed about 2-3 minutes, even though they started at the same time
- 11:39 AM gameusagi – Internet magic or something for those watching on IGN/GameSpot
- 11:39 AM gameusagi – : O
- 11:39 AM gameusagi – They have actual Beatles there
- 11:39 AM gameusagi – Leave it to Microsoft
- 11:40 AM gameusagi – Not the dead ones, unfortunately
- 11:40 AM gameusagi – that would have been something
- 11:40 AM gameusagi – Abbey Road album available for full download for the Rockband Beatles game
- 11:41 AM gameusagi – Lots of short British people making little more than cameos, unfortunately
- 11:42 AM gameusagi – Yoko Ono, Olivia Harrison, Paul McCartney, and Ringo Starr all made appearances
- 11:42 AM gameusagi – They’re getting pretty old ^_^
- 11:43 AM gameusagi – Unscripted musical artists = kind of awkward
- 11:44 AM gameusagi – 10 games coming that have yet to be announced!
- 11:44 AM gameusagi – And NO CHARTS, woooooo!
- 11:44 AM gameusagi – Nintendo could take a hint from that
- 11:45 AM gameusagi – Donating all money from exclusive (not on PS3) downloads of “All You Need is Love” for Rockband Beatles to Doctor’s Without Borders, by the way
- 11:46 AM gameusagi – Tony Hawk showing off his new game which comes with a super-expensive physical skateboard controller
- 11:46 AM gameusagi – Tony Hawk Ride is the name for anyone out of the loop
- 11:47 AM gameusagi – Not sure why there are buttons on the side, sounds kind of awkward
- 11:48 AM gameusagi – Tony Hawk used his teleprompter properly, take that Beatles
- 11:48 AM gameusagi – And the Microsoft exec. whose name escapes me using cue-cards
- 11:49 AM gameusagi – Modern Warfare 2 trailer, hopefully not included as one of the 10 ’cause we’ve seen trailers aplenty for it already
- 11:50 AM gameusagi – Same kind of things shown in the previous trailers. Underwater, snowmobiles, riot shields
- 11:50 AM gameusagi – IGN’s live stream has reportedly crapped out
- 11:51 AM gameusagi – Ooo, gameplay demonstration for Modern Warfare 2
- 11:53 AM gameusagi – Graphics are phenominal
- 11:54 AM gameusagi – Lots of superb snow effects
- 11:55 AM gameusagi – Ice climbing up a sheer sliff
- 11:55 AM gameusagi – Once again truly innovative
- 11:55 AM gameusagi – Infinity Ward does not disappoint
- 11:57 AM gameusagi – Much more interaction with environment
- 11:57 AM gameusagi – Could still be scripted, I suppose, but quite impressive
- 11:59 AM gameusagi – Xbox 360 will get Modern Warfare 2 map packs before PC and PS3
- 12:00 PM gameusagi – FFXIII running on the 360 for the first time : D
- 12:00 PM gameusagi – Surely looks the same as the PS3 version
- 12:02 PM gameusagi – FXIII Spring 2010 – Xbox 360
- 12:03 PM gameusagi – Demo level that came with FF Advent Children bluray being played, just on a 360
- 12:03 PM gameusagi – First time English version has been shown
- 12:04 PM gameusagi – Looks like they might have re-done the mouth movements for the English words like in Crisis Core
- 12:04 PM gameusagi – From now on it’s going to be Xbox 360-exclusive titles
- 12:05 PM gameusagi – Epic Games is first off with a game called Shadow Complex
- 12:06 PM gameusagi – It’s kind of like a side-scrolling mix of Metroid and Castlevania
- 12:06 PM gameusagi – Runs on Unreal Engine 3
- 12:07 PM gameusagi – Haven’t seen a good side-scrolling game for any of the new systems minus Megaman 9
- 12:07 PM gameusagi – Map is exactly like 2D Metroid games
- 12:08 PM gameusagi – Actually looks amazing, a lot like the side-scrolling Unreal Tournament mods
- 12:08 PM gameusagi – Xbox Live Arcade title
- 12:08 PM gameusagi – Coming out this Summer, yet!
- 12:09 PM gameusagi – Joy Ride from Big Park (new Microsoft acquisition)
- 12:10 PM gameusagi – It uses the NXE avatars and is a cartoony cel-shaded racer
- 12:10 PM gameusagi – Graphics actually kind of like Team Fortress 2, look good
- 12:10 PM gameusagi – It’ll be free to download and play!
- 12:11 PM gameusagi – They’ll get their dirty money through micro-transactions for new cars and tracks
- 12:11 PM gameusagi – CRACKDOWN 2!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- 12:12 PM gameusagi – Not the same dev. team 🙁
- 12:13 PM gameusagi – Crackdown is amazing, ’nuff said
- 12:13 PM gameusagi – a little less cel-shaded, but still as awesome
- 12:14 PM gameusagi – Splinter Cell Conviction, Sam Fisher lost the long haircut and is now super bad-ass
- 12:14 PM gameusagi – Lots of torture and explosions, he’s full of revengeness and stuff
- 12:15 PM gameusagi – Still classic Splinter Cell gameplay, though’
- 12:17 PM gameusagi – Quite a lot more cinematic than previous Spinter Cell games
- 12:17 PM gameusagi – Coming this fall exclusively for Xbox 360
- 12:18 PM gameusagi – October – Forza 3
- 12:18 PM gameusagi – Looks like every other racing sim ever
- 12:19 PM gameusagi – Imagine cars, now imagine them driving relatively quickly around a track, yay
- 12:19 PM gameusagi – Ooo, Audi concept car or something on stage
- 12:19 PM gameusagi – Red and shiny, more impressive than the game so far
- 12:20 PM gameusagi – Claims to have action and thrills, looks like a racing game
- 12:21 PM gameusagi – IGN Stream waaaaay slower than Gamespot streams unfortunately for those watching
- 12:22 PM gameusagi – Custom car painting in Forza 3 with car trading over Xbox Live
- 12:22 PM gameusagi – Still meh for me
- 12:23 PM gameusagi – Lots of Audi product placement, kind of annoying
- 12:24 PM gameusagi – Pre-rendered trailer with what looks like drift racing, probably not possible in the game
- 12:24 PM gameusagi – Halo 3 ODST now
- 12:25 PM gameusagi – Yay Bungie! Gameplay demonstration of Halo ODST
- 12:26 PM gameusagi – You actually drop through the clouds at the beginning in your drop pod, looks very nice!
- 12:26 PM gameusagi – Game starts off weeks before the story in Halo 3
- 12:26 PM gameusagi – Game is in first-person contrary to rumours
- 12:27 PM gameusagi – Silenced weapons and night-vision visor
- 12:27 PM gameusagi – Pumped-up the pistol to Halo 1 power
- 12:28 PM gameusagi – Very much improved graphics engine from Halo 3
- 12:29 PM gameusagi – Game lets you play as different ODSTs as the main one tries to find out what happened to his team
- 12:29 PM gameusagi – Animations are smoother than in Halo 3
- 12:29 PM gameusagi – Graphics beginning to look not as good as originally thought
- 12:30 PM gameusagi – Still a tad better — launched Sept. 22, 2009
- 12:30 PM gameusagi – : O
- 12:30 PM gameusagi – Top-secret Bungie project!!!!!!
- 12:31 PM gameusagi – Showing earth kind of blowing up
- 12:31 PM gameusagi – Halo Reach, as rumoured
- 12:31 PM gameusagi – Launches 2010
- 12:32 PM gameusagi – No real info from trailer
- 12:32 PM gameusagi – When you buy ODST you get into the Reach Beta
- 12:32 PM gameusagi – (multiplayer beta)
- 12:33 PM gameusagi – Alan Wake from Remedy now
- 12:34 PM gameusagi – Graphics look pretty great, a lot like Uncharted 2
- 12:34 PM gameusagi – Perhaps too much like Uncharted, same kind of slightly shiny people
- 12:35 PM gameusagi – Alan Wake narrates the game pretty much all the way through
- 12:35 PM gameusagi – Kind of unique, could get annoying
- 12:35 PM gameusagi – Same mountainy area as shown before
- 12:35 PM gameusagi – Looks like enemies may be ghosts?
- 12:36 PM gameusagi – Your flashlight seems to burn the ghost-zombie guys
- 12:36 PM gameusagi – They have ghostly auras, but behave like Resident Evil zombies
- 12:37 PM gameusagi – Looks like you might have to shine your flashlight on them for a certain time before you can shoot them
- 12:38 PM gameusagi – Flare used as a grenade against zombie dudes, could see the shockwave from the explosion, pretty cool
- 12:39 PM gameusagi – Alan Wake coming out Spring 2010
- 12:39 PM gameusagi – Done with exclusives
- 12:39 PM gameusagi – Last.fm coming to Xbox 360
- 12:40 PM gameusagi – Available to Gold Members for no charge later this year
- 12:41 PM gameusagi – Netflix movies can be added to 360 remotely now
- 12:41 PM gameusagi – UK and Ireland getting streaming movies and TV through sky TV
- 12:42 PM gameusagi – Live TV without extra hardware for UK
- 12:42 PM gameusagi – Relaunching video service as Zune video
- 12:42 PM gameusagi – Full 1080p streaming tv and movies
- 12:43 PM gameusagi – Will be available in 18 countries now
- 12:43 PM gameusagi – Instant play for 1080p everything, industry standard, could be fantastic
- 12:44 PM gameusagi – Movies, TV, and music can be shared over Xbox Live Party
- 12:44 PM gameusagi – Shrinks TV size by having avatars sit in front of movie, but still pretty awesome
- 12:44 PM gameusagi – facebook partnership!!
- 12:45 PM gameusagi – facebook available on Xbox 360, shown off by Felicia Day
- 12:45 PM gameusagi – facebook redone in NXE style
- 12:46 PM gameusagi – You can see who has Xbox Live that you’re friends with on facebook and add them
- 12:46 PM gameusagi – View facebook pictures full-screen
- 12:46 PM gameusagi – Shows status updates & everything
- 12:47 PM gameusagi – Well-done interface
- 12:47 PM gameusagi – Facebook Connect – new feature
- 12:47 PM gameusagi – Post screenshots and texts in-game (certain games) straight to facebook
- 12:47 PM gameusagi – In addition to facebook, Twitter is coming!
- 12:48 PM gameusagi – Very unique bubble-page to Tweet from Xbox
- 12:48 PM gameusagi – They’re coming out this fall : D
- 12:49 PM gameusagi – Don Matrick up now
- 12:50 PM gameusagi – Metal Gear to Xbox?
- 12:50 PM gameusagi – Kojima takes the stage!!
- 12:50 PM gameusagi – Metal Gear to 360!
- 12:51 PM gameusagi – Metal Gear Solid Rising is the name of the next game
- 12:51 PM gameusagi – Coming out to 360 too
- 12:51 PM gameusagi – Trailer!!
- 12:52 PM gameusagi – “Lightning Bolt Action” is the tagline, same with “Raiden is back:
- 12:52 PM gameusagi – Trailer showed nothing
- 12:54 PM gameusagi – Talking about motion controller and the future, but not positively
- 12:54 PM gameusagi – “Going beyond a controller”, “Make you the controller”
- 12:54 PM gameusagi – Sensor-bar like thing under the TV
- 12:55 PM gameusagi – Full body control with 1:1 motion?
- 12:55 PM gameusagi – Like early eyetoy games except with full body motion capture
- 12:56 PM gameusagi – Scan skateboards into the game and use in Skate-like game
- 12:56 PM gameusagi – Facial recognition and voice commands
- 12:57 PM gameusagi – Automatically logs you in when you’re in front of the tv
- 12:57 PM gameusagi – Voice recognition for games
- 12:57 PM gameusagi – Full-body video chat
- 12:58 PM gameusagi – 2-camera Xbox 360 sensor bar
- 12:58 PM gameusagi – “Project Natal”
- 12:58 PM gameusagi – Pronounced Nah-tahl
- 12:58 PM gameusagi – 3D sensor and microphones for controller-free games
- 12:58 PM gameusagi – Will be fully compatible with all Xbox 360s
- 12:59 PM gameusagi – Supposedly instead of a new console?
- 12:59 PM gameusagi – Steven Speilberg takes the stage
] - 1:00 PM gameusagi – He’s always good with new technologies
- 1:00 PM gameusagi – He he, he said “council” instead of “console”
- 1:02 PM gameusagi – He’s super-excited to make a game for Natal
- 1:03 PM gameusagi – P.S. Natal reel also showed Minority Report-like navigation of NXE
- 1:04 PM gameusagi – Gestures a la Minority Report demoed in real time
- 1:05 PM gameusagi – 3D breakout where you hit balls with your hands
- 1:05 PM gameusagi – Works super-well even with all of the lights and flashes and stuff
- 1:06 PM gameusagi – Takes shot at Wii saying that there’s no “preset waggle commands”
- 1:06 PM gameusagi – Paint Party is the next demo
- 1:07 PM gameusagi – Huck paint at a canvas using voice controls to switch colours
- 1:10 PM gameusagi – Works better than any image recognition software out there
- 1:10 PM gameusagi – Make stencils by saying “stencil” and posing
- 1:10 PM gameusagi – Made a sweet painting of an elephant
- 1:11 PM gameusagi – Nintendo’s in trouble~
- 1:11 PM gameusagi – Dev kits go out today
- 1:11 PM gameusagi – Iwata is somewhere yelling at people in Japanese and crying, 🙁
- 1:12 PM gameusagi – Fable dude now
- 1:12 PM gameusagi – What if you’re in a wheelchair or only have one arm is a good question
- 1:12 PM gameusagi – Not addressed yet
- 1:13 PM gameusagi – British guys made a very well-made interactive person called Milo
- 1:14 PM gameusagi – He has expressions and body-language
- 1:15 PM gameusagi – Character throws the demo lady a pair of goggles and put them on
- 1:15 PM gameusagi – You reach down to catch it and everything
- 1:15 PM gameusagi – Playing in a fish pond with Milo with great water physics
- 1:15 PM gameusagi – You’re even reflected in the water
- 1:16 PM gameusagi – The demo lady draws a picture on a piece of paper, hands it to the in-game character by holding it up to the camera
- 1:16 PM gameusagi – Didn’t even take a second and was truly amazing
- 1:17 PM gameusagi – The character can learn dynamically to say your name and everything
- 1:17 PM gameusagi – Phenominal if it’s real
- 1:18 PM gameusagi – Unprecedented interaction with the console if this stuff comes through
- 1:18 PM gameusagi – although, I don’t really want to be jumping around all the time
- 1:19 PM gameusagi – Natal very well may break the barriers between gamers and non-gamers, as long as they have all of their limbs
- 1:19 PM gameusagi – Wow.
- 1:20 PM gameusagi – And that is it!
- 1:20 PM gameusagi – Milo will be shown to people behind closed doors later on at E3.
- 1:21 PM gameusagi – Hopefully we’ll get some impressions from those select people if it isn’t too classified.
- 1:23 PM gameusagi – I’m out for now, stay tuned at gameusagi.com for a full review of the conference and the liveblog tomorrow of the Nintendo conference. They have some catching up to do now…
- 1:23 PM gameusagi – gameusagi.com
