E3 Xbox360 - Thoughts, wishes and predictions + Advertising

So as I sit here, on the eve of my final and only mid-year exam I decide the best course of action is to blog. Blog about what you say? Why E3 of course! It's only a few days away, so the time to use my clairvoyant powers is running out. Of course E3 coverage, even in preview form is by no means easy, so I'll have my work cut out for me. Thank god that exam is tomorrow.

E3 2010, marks the 16th annual E3 since its inception in 1995

Each company, and indeed platform is bringing something exciting to this year's E3, so I think the best course of action would be to categorise, at the very least, to Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft, for the sake of you the reader. Funnily enough, I do care about you, even if in a distant and irrelevant way - oh well you can praise me in the form of advertising, bless your souls. In this blog I'll be focusing solely on Microsoft, as the post will get rather lengthy if not split.

Microsoft's little black box of joy - Project Natal, alongside an Xbox360

To begin with Microsoft are obviously going to be pushing one huge thing this year - Project Natal. This is the company's first move into mainstream motion controls for their flagship console the Xbox360, alongside Nintendo's Wii and Sony Playstation's Move. Even if I weren't a Wii enthusiast, I'm pretty skeptical about Microsoft and indeed Sony's counterpart project, which from a business standpoint, seems to be a risky gamble. It's obvious that there are a number of people who enjoy the casual, motion controller approach - but what can both of these companies offer than Nintendo haven't already? In this blogger's opinion, bar some fancier graphics - nothing. With no real ammo to draw people to this new technology, let alone buy another console, Microsoft and indeed Sony will need to reveal some impressive software to win some of the casual scene away from Nintendo. Certainly from my personal perspective, the most impressive part of Natal's design is the absence of a controller - which I believe could go either way. Depending on the degree limitations this causes, which one can almost be certain it will impose some, we will either see something revolutionary (in terms of motion control) or something really not worth the time.

Woman interacting with Milo software (virtual boy simulation), sans controller

However, there is plenty outside of the Project Natal camp, for 360 owners to be excited about. For starters, flagship exclusive titles in Halo: Reach and Gears of War 3. Both of these series, (particularly the former, being the 5th iteration of its series) do not require introduction. Interestingly enough, players around the globe have already been exposed to Reach, vial the multiplayer BETA and questions have arisen as to just what Microsoft can actually show off from this title. The folks over at IGN.com have two suggestions, namely a first-look at the campaign, which revolves around the epic and climactic destruction of the planet Reach (being a prequel to the original Halo: Combat Evolved) or to just quell some of the public's Halo thirst, give the journos a go at ODST's Firefight mode, allegedly similar to CoD: World at War's Nazi Zombies and Gears of War 2's Horde mode. Personally I've grown distant from the Halo franchise (the last title I played being Halo 2), so it's difficult me for me to comment on just what I believe will be unveiled. I'd probably back the revealing of the campaign's nature and scope, as this would surely increase hype and therefore advertisement. In the Gears of War camp, the release of the third and final title, will complete the triology and the story set up in the first two titles. Naturally any fan of the series and story will be ready to gobble this up. Having only played a marginal amount of the first Gears of War, and finding it not particularly engaging, my comments on this title will be even more slim. That being said, to spawn two sequels is by no means an easy feat, so obviously the developer's have improved the game design dramatically, or I just don't get the franchise - I am human after all.

Scope? Well if this artwork is anything to go by, then yes, scope... copious amounts of scope

It's also rumoured that Rare will be releasing details on a new game. What exactly? It's hard to say. Out of their existing and successful IPs, only Conker hasn't received treatment in a while, but this blogger believes Rare won't tamper with the classics and instead be revealing a brand new IP (something I can honestly say I'd be excited about), and if not, nothing at all. Alongside this is Fable III, which has been reported to have Natal enhanced features, although Project Natal is not required to play the game. Fable is a unique and engaging series which I think could benefit from a subtle use of Natal, but nothing too over the top, which is what it sounds like the developers are aiming for. However at the same time it's essential it isn't just some tacky add on and actually add some quality to the title, if minimal.

Rare would do well to leave Conker, and other old IPs, well alone

Alongside these big first and second party releases, Microsoft will also have the pleasure of hosting some fantastic third party titles. Chief among interest are Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, Fallout New Vegas and id software's latest, Rage. The latter in particular being a point of interest, as id have not solely produced a game since Doom 3. However it seems they're moving away from tradiotional old school shooter cliche's and moving towards the commonplace open enviroments, which I for one, think it is a bad move. Do you see anyone else offering that old school experience? No. It's a niche, and id should stick with it. Still the game looks polished and has some impressive graphics, so at the end of the day, it's pretty hard to complain at this stage.

At the very least, it's pretty! (Cheers IGN)

Overall Microsoft seem in good stead for this years E3. They have a huge title in Halo: Reach, which is heavily supported with Gears of War 3 and a nice collection of third party titles to show off, collectively with other companies (read: Sony). There is a looming potential of a new Rare IP, which I think is something anyone into gaming would appreciate, particularly if the developer can reignite some of that spark that helped it produce some of the best offering's on the Nintendo 64 in the 90's. However a lot seems to hinge on Project Natal. Is it the correct move business wise, and is there even software able to win over some of the Nintendo entrenched audience? E3 awaits.

On a final note, in relation to my previous mentioning of advertising being the best form of praise, if anyone wants to request a nice Game Over Blog banner they'd like for forum usage, just drop me a comment with the character you'd like to feature. Here are some examples of what they look like (of course I'm willing to spice them up if you wish, but I do like them to match the current site layout - however size is always negotiable):