2018 E3 Microsoft E3 Press Conference (Sunday)

Rate Microsoft's press conference

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    77
Hedon said:
And many of us prepared ourselves and realized when Phil at E3 said last year they were still 2-3 years out and he wouldn't announce games early anymore. I think most of us agreed that we most likely wouldn't see anything, unless it was a CGI tease (similar to say Halo Infinite).
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Yeah, I underestimated how poorly they have been run for the past 3 or 4 years. I couldn't believe they would talk up first party investment for three years straight, then have literally nothing to show for it, not even an announce trailer for something in late 2019. I couldn't believe they would be that incompetent. But, I was wrong.

Good news is, things will look up in about 3 years.
 
Andy said:
Yeah, I underestimated how poorly they were run for the past 3 or 4 years. To talk up first party investment for three years straight, and then have literally nothing to show for it, not even an announce trailer for something in late 2019? I couldn't believe they would be that incompetent. But, I was wrong.

Good news is, things will look up in about 3 years.
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They had a great list of games they showed, and I will buy many of those, as well as buying Days Gone from Sony next year. Ghost of Tsushima IF they have an easy difficulty. I am just not good at those games, but if they have easy, I DO enjoy them.
 
Hedon said:
They had a great list of games they showed, and I will buy many of those, as well as buying Days Gone from Sony next year. Ghost of Tsushima IF they have an easy difficulty. I am just not good at those games, but if they have easy, I DO enjoy them.
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I think we represent two different perspectives. You're the guy who owns an X, who values the way the X delivers better looking or playing versions of multiplats, and you like nearly everything MS exclusive studios put out (at least I haven't noticed you disliking anything). You weren't looking for or expecting any new games from them. What you've got is more than enough to keep you a happy Xbox gamer.

Me, I'm the guy who does not own an X, who is fine playing a few multiplats per year on his Pro, and who is looking for a reason to buy an Xbox X besides some BC titles. In other words, I'm looking for games that I can only play on the Xbox (beyond the usual trio). And I didn't see any of that.

I'd say MS did a good job of speaking to people who already own an Xbox and reassuring them that good times are ahead. I don't think they did anything to persuade someone who's on the fence to buy an Xbox.
 
Andy said:
I think we represent two different perspectives. You're the guy who owns an X, who values the way the X delivers better looking or playing versions of multiplats, and you like nearly everything MS exclusive studios put out (at least I haven't noticed you disliking anything). You weren't looking for or expecting any new games from them. What you've got is more than enough to keep you a happy Xbox gamer.

Me, I'm the guy who does not own an X, who is fine playing a few multiplats per year on his Pro, and who is looking for a reason to buy an Xbox X besides some BC titles. In other words, I'm looking for games that I can only play on the Xbox (beyond the usual trio). And I didn't see any of that.

I'd say MS did a good job of speaking to people who already own an Xbox and reassuring them that good times are ahead. I don't think they did anything to persuade someone who's on the fence to buy an Xbox.
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I haven't bought Sea of Thieves, not sure I will. It's not looking to keep my attention. I dont buy MS games because they are MS games. Same with Sony games. I just buy games that look to appeal to me.

State of Decay 2 is good but not OMG, which is why I started and finished Detroit while still having a long way to go in SoD2.
 
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Don't want to buy a new console for next halo, don't want to wait 4 years for it either. Gow having playing female lead only is a terrible decision, in gears I want to play as bro. Not much at this e3 by ms for me.
 
Plainview Harold Halibut has a demo here.

3C940E15-D61A-476B-8B16-9CE5FA5D4AC5_zpsbtsfhceq.jpeg
 
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I just played the Division 2 for about 10 min with 2 of the devs. If you liked the first one you’ll really like this one. I had a long talk with the dev after and he said they’ve basically improved on everything. I’m still here so if anyone has any questions let me know.
 
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I expect there to be Xbox fanboys here but come on. It was a GREAT show in terms of presentation and time just flew by. But it wasn't an "Xbox show" IMO. It was more like a state of gaming today show.

We now know MS has purchased some amazing studios but it takes a long time to make AAA games. We also know Halo Infinite is at least 2 years away. So to me that translates too not much else happening this gen, join us for Xbox 4.
 
Intellivision said:
Did you try out 60 fps mode? If so, hows the image quality?

So the seasons change on the fly as you drive through different areas of the game?
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Not in this demo. They let you play about 5 min in each season, and with a different vehicle each time.

Super fluid, image quality is awesome. They have 2 full-motion arcade kits here playing it...unreal.
 
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Andy said:
I think we represent two different perspectives. You're the guy who owns an X, who values the way the X delivers better looking or playing versions of multiplats, and you like nearly everything MS exclusive studios put out (at least I haven't noticed you disliking anything). You weren't looking for or expecting any new games from them. What you've got is more than enough to keep you a happy Xbox gamer.

Me, I'm the guy who does not own an X, who is fine playing a few multiplats per year on his Pro, and who is looking for a reason to buy an Xbox X besides some BC titles. In other words, I'm looking for games that I can only play on the Xbox (beyond the usual trio). And I didn't see any of that.

I'd say MS did a good job of speaking to people who already own an Xbox and reassuring them that good times are ahead. I don't think they did anything to persuade someone who's on the fence to buy an Xbox.
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That’s a fair way to look at it. If I were knee deep in the PlayStation ecosystem, liked the controller better or close to equal, didn’t care for multiplayer and had a Pro, I’d hold off on Xbox for now.

As someone who’s invested in the ecosystem, has a year of Game Pass, has an X connected to an Oled, likes multiplayer gaming and loves the Elite controller...it was a great conference.

I’ve now had an entire day to digest after watching all the conferences. It’s still an A- and I appreciate the conference’s tone more.

Microsoft didn’t have any AAA new IPs however their show was a gamer’s party, was positive, was hopeful for the future and seemed to embrace all types of gaming. The tone of the show was great and I think l like what Spencer is trying to sell with diversity of lineup. They are on a great path.

I hope they continue to support some of these standout Indies. They really add some spice to the mix.

Side note, Spencer seemed to indicate that NT has a project well underway. My feeling is we’ll see it next year.
 
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Frozpot said:
Did any of you guys notice the game- Harold Halibut? It's an ID@xbox game that looks like it was handmade. Apparently everything WAS handmade and then 3d scanned and, I'm assuming uses photogametry. It doesn't look like 3d graphics at all. looks like a stop-motion game. Check it out

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Really damned cool. These are the types of games I’m hoping Microsoft negotiates for Game Pass between their 1st party stuff.
 
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Frozpot said:
Did any of you guys notice the game- Harold Halibut? It's an ID@xbox game that looks like it was handmade. Apparently everything WAS handmade and then 3d scanned and, I'm assuming uses photogametry. It doesn't look like 3d graphics at all. looks like a stop-motion game. Check it out

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Microsoft should invest money into this project, like they did for Cuphead, IMO.
 
People can complain all they want but the Halo, Gears, Forza franchises form the golden triangle - the best exclusives on any system for each of its genres (FPS, TPS, Racer). Its like complaining Sony is always putting out TLOU, GoW, UC. All third person action adventures by the way and absolutely the best exclusive in its genre. However, Sony's over reliance in story driven TPAA is troubling, perhaps that's what the fanbase want. Microsoft on the other hand needs a strong story driven franchise in the TPAA genre.
 
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Swede said:
Don't want to buy a new console for next halo, don't want to wait 4 years for it either. Gow having playing female lead only is a terrible decision, in gears I want to play as bro. Not much at this e3 by ms for me.
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I suspect Halo Infinite will be cross generational. It'll release on the XBox One and Scarlet.
 
I have a feeling next xbox and all games will be compatible with xbox one for a long time. Just like pc but with set hardware. Low medium high and ridiculous type settings.

Not to mention we may see cheaper streaming boxes next console cycle where we can play our digital games.
 
Andy said:
Yeah, I underestimated how poorly they have been run for the past 3 or 4 years. I couldn't believe they would talk up first party investment for three years straight, then have literally nothing to show for it, not even an announce trailer for something in late 2019. I couldn't believe they would be that incompetent. But, I was wrong.

Good news is, things will look up in about 3 years.
Click to expand...

Yeah I was expecting something more this year. Last year I was patient, but this year I thought they were going to tease something.

I get they don't want to show stuff way too far out, but everyone else does it. Games are shown at e3 for 3-4 years before they come out.
 
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Dread Fox said:
I expect there to be Xbox fanboys here but come on. It was a GREAT show in terms of presentation and time just flew by. But it wasn't an "Xbox show" IMO. It was more like a state of gaming today show.
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I had a hard time giving it a grade, because I could see it either as a gamer or in terms of the MS platform. As a show for gamers, it was an A -- good words from Spencer, not much fluff, just world premiere trailer after trailer of good-looking games. As a show about the MS platform, it was both encouraging and discouraging. Encouraging in that they bought all those studios; discouraging because, for the next 3 years, it's just more Halo, Gears, Forza. There is light at the end of the tunnel, but the tunnel goes on the rest of the generation.

We now know MS has purchased some amazing studios but it takes a long time to make AAA games. We also know Halo Infinite is at least 2 years away. So to me that translates too not much else happening this gen, join us for Xbox 4.
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Yeah, that's how I heard it, too.

Oh well, I've got copies of Jade Empire, Morrowind, and the MCC on my shelf. Hopefully next gen Xbox will still play them in their X-enhanced versions, and you won't need an X to do that.
 
OneBadMutha said:
That’s a fair way to look at it. If I were knee deep in the PlayStation ecosystem, liked the controller better or close to equal, didn’t care for multiplayer and had a Pro, I’d hold off on Xbox for now.

As someone who’s invested in the ecosystem, has a year of Game Pass, has an X connected to an Oled, likes multiplayer gaming and loves the Elite controller...it was a great conference.

I’ve now had an entire day to digest after watching all the conferences. It’s still an A- and I appreciate the conference’s tone more.

Microsoft didn’t have any AAA new IPs however their show was a gamer’s party, was positive, was hopeful for the future and seemed to embrace all types of gaming. The tone of the show was great and I think l like what Spencer is trying to sell with diversity of lineup. They are on a great path.

I hope they continue to support some of these standout Indies. They really add some spice to the mix.

Side note, Spencer seemed to indicate that NT has a project well underway. My feeling is we’ll see it next year.
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You know, I really appreciate your balanced perspective. You seem to be able to see things from multiple points of view, rather than just your own. You also seem pretty well informed.

Re. Ninja Theory, if you watch their explanation video, they said MS promised them "total creative control." If that's true, and I think it is, then MS has learned to stop meddling, to keep the suits at bay, and give their "creatives" more latitude and freedom. That's encouraging. I hope that translates beyond boutique AA developers like NT and into their AAA projects as well.
 
Consoles really should just stick to the PC model going forward. "But then people could just buy a gaming PC!!" you say, but I don't think that is going to happen. Even though you can buy pre-built gaming PCs at decent prices, it's still slightly more than a console costs. Plus at this point a lot of people are set in their way when it comes to the ecosystem that a console manufacturer offers, or has all their friends on that platform.

That said, to me it seems like it would be a lot cheaper for the manufacturers to continue to improve on their current console instead of going back to the drawing board ever 5 years or whatever to come up with some cutting edge hardware that will be obsolete in a year or two like every other piece of technology. Both seem to be set with AMD, and at least with what they are doing with something like Ryzen, it should be easy for them to say every three years drop a new piece of hardware running the newest processor/GPU set up and have something brand new. Backwards compatibility is no longer an issue so people that don't feel like spending the money yet or feel it's that big of a change can stick with what they have and still be able to play all the games.
 
Andy said:
Matt was on point with his statement about MS buying "more" than the 4 studios (Santa Monica, Undead Labs, 2 Playgrounds). The missing piece there was Ninja Theory, which was the big surprise of the show for me. That's a good studio to help solve the lack of narrative/story/character-driven games. I wonder what sort of project they'll tackle next. Probably something a little lighter than Hellblade.
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And Compulsion, who made a pretty intriguing world in We Happy Few.
 
Dread Fox said:
I expect there to be Xbox fanboys here but come on. It was a GREAT show in terms of presentation and time just flew by. But it wasn't an "Xbox show" IMO. It was more like a state of gaming today show.

We now know MS has purchased some amazing studios but it takes a long time to make AAA games. We also know Halo Infinite is at least 2 years away. So to me that translates too not much else happening this gen, join us for Xbox 4.
Click to expand...

All 50 games they showed will be playable on Xbox so it was an Xbox show. For gamers who own an X, multiplats are Xbox games until the PS5 releases. State of Xbox gaming for Xbox gamers is the healthiest it's been this gen. Those Japanese games were skipping Xbox most of this gen. The multiplats are getting more advanced technically which increases the value of the X. Game Pass value continues to increase.

I thought Microsoft did a great job showing current Xbox owners that the next couple years of gaming will be great while they showed non-Xbox gamers that it may be a platform to watch and consider in a couple years.

Very little evidence of why someone should jump into the ecosystem in the next 18 months if they have a Pro and aren't moved by racers or Gears...but I don't believe that was what they were trying to accomplish. This was a conference for current gamers while playing the long game with everyone else.

Traditionally this point in the generation is when you try to lock down your own base while making noise that gets everyone else to look at you in the future. Price is the key thing that gets people to buy 2nd consoles at this point. Microsoft dropping the X to $350 would do more than any new IP until next consoles launch.
 
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Stole this from Klobrille at Resetera:
Microsoft has acquired an animation studio with the Ninja Theory purchase. Previous press clipping regarding NT's animation studio:
"Having won the Siggraph Award for Best Real-Time Graphics and Interactivity, Ninja Theory have launched Senua Studio, a new division dedicated to offering solutions for live capturing and rendering of realistic digital characters in incredible virtual worlds."

My thoughts:
Microsoft’s resources that can be spread across studios:
  • Animation studio (Senua)
  • AI studio
  • Direct X Physics studio (plus they already own Havok)
  • Cloud compute studio
  • Streaming studio
  • Slipspace engine (343)
  • Water tech (Rare)
These are flying under the radar but shouldn’t. Every development team either has (or will have in the case of streaming and cloud compute) internal people dedicated to this stuff or has to outsource. No reason these teams can't set the bar since they only have to focus on DX12 unlike 3rd party engines.
 
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