2018 E3 Microsoft E3 Press Conference (Sunday)

Rate Microsoft's press conference

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    77
pravus said:
B-.

Could've been a lot better.

-Where the hell is 2020?
-They're still holding back announcements.
-No details on the new Halo is really disappointing though it looks f***ing great.
-Solid overall besides that I guess. Glad they're still mostly games, games, games style and there were a lot of games shown that I wanted to see.
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Someone else said that in the press conference thread. I thought Halo Infinite looked a bit bad when we didn't know it was a Halo game. The camera zoomed in on the dear drinking and I thought "God of Wars animals look a ton better".

With that being said, I'm happy it doesn't look as good as God of War because it means the game is most likely going to be ambitious AF. I don't think we're getting another linear corridor shooter here.
 
wshowers said:
Rollins I swear I want to punch you. Riding in McLaurens, getting previews of stuff after the show and 2 years of game pass. Don't come 'round here no more.
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Sadly I didn’t get a ride :(. But besides the game pass they did give as all Duke controllers!

Giant pumpkin controller.
 
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pravus said:
B-.

Could've been a lot better.

-Where the hell is 2020?
-They're still holding back announcements.
-No details on the new Halo is really disappointing though it looks f***ing great.
-Solid overall besides that I guess. Glad they're still mostly games, games, games style and there were a lot of games shown that I wanted to see.
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I don't know how Halo looks great when we haven't even seen a second of it, an "engine demonstration trailer" doesn't really count :)
 
Also I’m not at the Bethesda show, but they did give us tickets to another EA event..?

Here’s the swag bag:

D076C8EA-0852-4B6F-9214-3A1E83A64C69_zpsrxpeewza.jpeg


And I had a drink with GordoSan! Nice to finally meet up. We’re going to plow through E3 on Tuesday.
 
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The Sunset Limited said:
Someone else said that in the press conference thread. I thought Halo Infinite looked a bit bad when we didn't know it was a Halo game. The camera zoomed in on the dear drinking and I thought "God of Wars animals look a ton better".

With that being said, I'm happy it doesn't look as good as God of War because it means the game is most likely going to be ambitious AF. I don't think we're getting another linear corridor shooter here.
Click to expand...

I get the feeling it's going to be a sorta-openworld like Halo 5 was probably supposed to be.

The environment looked great, great looking textures, stupid-clean AA all over, super smooth depth of field, beautiful particle fx. awesome looking lighting engine, amazing looking water etc etc.. I'm impressed.

JinCA said:
I don't know how Halo looks great when we haven't even seen a second of it, an "engine demonstration trailer" doesn't really count :)
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Well, the engine looks great.
 
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pravus said:
I get the feeling it's going to be a sorta-openworld like Halo 5 was probably supposed to be.

The environment looked great, great looking textures, stupid-clean AA all over, super smooth depth of field, beautiful particle fx. awesome looking lighting engine, amazing looking water etc etc.. I'm impressed.



Well, the engine looks great.
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Spartan powers and the speed of Halo 5 would be a much better fit in an open world. I think that's where they'll shine.

I could see them take a Far Cry formula to a galactic scale. Infuse some of the physics and AI stuff they're working on. Halo CE set the bar in those areas for it's time.

I believe the first game that sets a new benchmark for AI and physics in an open world will become a gaming Superstar. One of the reasons myself and so many others are burned out on open world games is how basic combat and moment to moment gameplay is. Most open worlds aren't fun in those 30 second intervals. You grind until you get to the next part of the story. Add dynamic physics and more believable AI to the mix and that all changes.
 
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So here's my prediction regarding Microsoft 1st party with the studios they now have. I believe the majority of the acquisitions won't produce until 2021/22 since they are either just now being assembled or are a smaller studio who just finished a game.

2019:
  • Crackdown
  • Ori 2
  • Battletoads
  • Gears 5
2020:
  • Halo 5
2021:
  • Fable
  • Rare's next game
  • Ninja Theory's next game
2022:
  • Santa Monica studio's next game
  • Compulsion's next game
  • Undead Lab's next game
Of course there will be some Forza's sprinkled in there.

With Microsoft introducing new tech these studios will likely be trying to integrate along with some of them likely growing in size, I'd expect an average of 4 year dev cycles going into the next gen for their first rounds of Xbox Two games.

So that brings us to the next question. How will Microsoft fill up their next console launch and Game Pass while these studios acclimate themselves? Obviously Microsoft is playing the long game but they have some short term needs to sell Game Pass. Wonder if they've reached back out to Insomniac and Remedy to create new content. Looks like they're on OK terms with Platinum again. Do over?
 
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It was a great conference with tons of games. Can't really remember if they had any other exclusives outside of the main ones, but it's great to see them building their first party studios though as that is something they really needed to work on.
 
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The Sunset Limited said:
Someone else said that in the press conference thread. I thought Halo Infinite looked a bit bad when we didn't know it was a Halo game. The camera zoomed in on the dear drinking and I thought "God of Wars animals look a ton better".

With that being said, I'm happy it doesn't look as good as God of War because it means the game is most likely going to be ambitious AF. I don't think we're getting another linear corridor shooter here.
Click to expand...

I thought the same until it showed an entire herd of them. Did God of War ever have more than a couple? I only really remember the one from the cutscene.
 
Dno69 said:
Im just glad the Halo presentation felt more open and more organic. I’m not worried about the wildlife rendering. Lol
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I love the locations like that in the Halo games, but greatly dislike the futuristic areas. I can't wait to see more of it.
 
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Frozpot said:
I thought the same until it showed an entire herd of them. Did God of War ever have more than a couple? I only really remember the one from the cutscene.
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That scene felt like a scene outta the lion king...fantastic shots and clever cinematography at first to hide those beams of light that shoot up, behind the tree and through the clouds making it look like lightning
 
Great presentation, the event itself was very smooth and paced well, but I think Microsoft still has the same old strategy/bad habit of treating multi-platform games as if they are exclusives. Nothing embodied that more than the last minute "hack" to premier CyberPunk 2077. Incredible looking game but Microsoft ended their conference with a game that will also be on PS4?

Only one major thing I hope for *sorta* happened, and that was the suggestion that Xbox games will at some point be streamable to your phone/tablet just like SteamLink is currently doing. That's pretty incredible considering less than a week ago I went on and on about that being a really great thing I'd like to see. Sadly it only got a brief mention and the full reveal of I assume an Xbox gamepad built for phones wasn't shown.
 
Frozpot said:
I thought the same until it showed an entire herd of them. Did God of War ever have more than a couple? I only really remember the one from the cutscene.
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It said it was an engine demonstration video, I wouldn't count on much of what we saw being represented that way in the actual game.
 
Man... Ninja Theory really sound pumped about being acquired.
They sound like someone explaining why they aren't pressing charges against Bill Cosby...

 
So someone asked Greenberg about Fable in the after-conference FanFest. He said he couldn’t talk about anything now, but basically hinted it was coming. No other details though.
 
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pravus said:
Is that a reimagined Halo 2 Armor?

3840_HaloInfinite_E318_MasterChief.png
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Who knows? They gave us zero information. Is this a flashback? Appears Chief is in an older variant of the suit and are we back on the original Halo ring?

Total mystery at this point.
 
I managed to *secretly* film the Gears 5 trailer they showed us afterwards. There are a few slight additions from the one shown to the public. Shot this with my phone while holding it low, so my apologies for the quality.

 
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I think Halo Infinity will have end-game content - open world, mmo, PvE/PvP Destiny style. This is how they are going to monetise it. I don't have a problem as long as:

  • There is a tight story campaign. I want this scripted with some freedom but not completely open world.
  • No loot boxes
 
According to Halo Waypoint, it was just an announcement of the their new engine. The game is a long way off.
 
I was a little disappointed. Sounds like Halo is a long, long way off yet and I'm not a huge Gears fan.
 
Great conference from Microsoft but falls into the same issue they have had all gen. A overly reliance on Halo, Gears and Forza. A ton of fantastic third party content with Sekiro and Cyberpunk being the two standouts. Great to see investment in new studios but only Playground are high tier and Ninja Theory are good but have plenty of potential. It's clear that Microsoft has accepted this gen is lost for good by the fact their line up next year looks sparse again. I am glad to see Microsoft investing in first party but they have a long way to get into same echelons of Sony and Nintendo; but you have to start somewhere. The present is solid if uninspiring but the future looks much better. Also disappointing that a lack of new I.P for the 3rd E3 running.
 
I watched a little of the conference. Alot of promising games, include Cyberpunk, problem is, most of these games are alos available elsewhere, dispite liberal & vague use of word 'exclusive' like "exclusive reveal" like they meant anything.

Also, I think MS shot themselves in the foot with the Gears 5 female protagonist reveal. I was like "why, MS, why?" Lets be clear, I am all for female protagonist or any ID group if they fit the story, & my personal game features a female protagonist, but you should question the motive, or at least the optic of featuring female lead in one of the most bromance game series. If I was them, I give option of of playing as either gender, since gears is almost always a 2-4 team game.

Also I am not sure why Spencer is still there. I would have sack him if I am the boss.
 
timmy-boy said:
Great conference from Microsoft but falls into the same issue they have had all gen. A overly reliance on Halo, Gears and Forza. A ton of fantastic third party content with Sekiro and Cyberpunk being the two standouts. Great to see investment in new studios but only Playground are high tier and Ninja Theory are good but have plenty of potential. It's clear that Microsoft has accepted this gen is lost for good by the fact their line up next year looks sparse again. I am glad to see Microsoft investing in first party but they have a long way to get into same echelons of Sony and Nintendo; but you have to start somewhere. The present is solid if uninspiring but the future looks much better. Also disappointing that a lack of new I.P for the 3rd E3 running.
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And if Rumours are true, then that one high quality studio they bought is going to end up making no new IPs and doing more Forza and Fable.

The issue with these studios is that on the face of things they are minor purchases. Ninja Theory is a hit and miss company, I know many are loving their recent title Hellblade but their next one could be very average. Undead Labs, a small indie studio who make one of the least polished franchises in State of Decay.

If Microsoft truly invest in these newly bought companies then who knows, Undead Labs with more bodies and funding could produce a quality AAA State of Decay MMO like they always envisioned the game to be, for example.

They have given up this gen. Hence the statement about next-gen hardware already deep in development.
 
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