E3 2011 Microsoft Press Conference

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Dual
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PostRe: Microsoft Press Conference
by Dual » Wed Jun 08, 2011 12:43 pm

YouSmellOfWee wrote:
cooldawn wrote:WTF...A RARE studio in Digbeth. DIGBETH, Birmingham?


Indeed, this is news to me too!


lol RARE putting Digbeth on the map.

I'm going there tonight actually for a gig at the HMV.

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PostRe: Microsoft Press Conference
by HSH28 » Wed Jun 08, 2011 2:28 pm

Photek wrote:How do you move around?


If you watch the video closely, the tutorial is running telling you how to control it.

Looks like move your leg backwards to go backwards and forwards to go forwards, I presume also a tilt to turn type thing.

Could be interesting....but 1st person melee is hard enough to pull off on a precise controller, god knows what it'll be like on Kinect when you are also controlling your character movement like that.

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Alvin Flummux
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PostRe: Microsoft Press Conference
by Alvin Flummux » Wed Jun 08, 2011 2:30 pm

Dual wrote:
YouSmellOfWee wrote:
cooldawn wrote:WTF...A RARE studio in Digbeth. DIGBETH, Birmingham?


Indeed, this is news to me too!


lol RARE putting Digbeth on the map.

I'm going there tonight actually for a gig at the HMV.


Image

Digbeth dig, Digbeth dig, trio trio trio.

Something Fishy

PostRe: Microsoft Press Conference
by Something Fishy » Wed Jun 08, 2011 6:36 pm

suzzopher wrote:
Something Fishy wrote:Cheers Suzzles.


[gametrailers]715326[/gametrailers]

Not completely on rails, in fact it looks pretty damn good(gameplay wise).


Cheers Snuzzbuckles.

Looks interesting.

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KK
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Post'The Worst Microsoft Conference Yet'
by KK » Wed Jun 08, 2011 11:06 pm

Following on from the burial of the conference by all & sundry (well, apart from "B+ N'Gai"), 360 Magazine have jumped on in there as well, & has also been quoted by BBC News Technology:

360 Magazine’s Deputy Editor laments Microsoft’s focus on the casual market

Update: This story has subsequently been quoted by the BBC on BBC.co.uk

There are a couple of important factors behind the direction that Microsoft has taken at this year’s E3 press conference. Firstly, Kinect has cost Microsoft an undisclosed amount, but when you add together the amount the company has spent on development, marketing, and third-party support, the figure you end up with is something not a million miles away from the cost of a new console launch. Microsoft cannot afford to write it off.

Secondly, it was reported in March that Microsoft had sold some 10 million Kinect units. However, this figure has been widely reported as sold in, not sold through. How many Kinect units are actually in people’s homes then is something only Microsoft can tell.

Put these two factors together and you have a hardware launch that simply cannot, must not fail.

For me, though, Kinect just doesn’t work well enough to support core games as we know them.

The games industry has been ploughing in a very specific direction since it began. In a nutshell, it has aimed to create more realistic experiences for us, the consumers. You may quack at how a fantasy RPG, or a space opera like Mass Effect can be more ‘realistic’, but think about it: more lifelike characters, richer vegetation, believable weather. All these things mean little when compared to how hard developers have worked to make us feel like a part of the world they’ve created, how hard they’ve worked on our means of input and feedback.

From FPS’ to sports titles, the interface is, more than anything else, what translates gameplay into a language we can all understand. Breakthrough MMA title UFC 2009 was great because of its depth of control, not because of its visuals. How good would it have been if, for example, instead of complex reversals, executed with precision, timing and skill, we had to clap our hands in time to a flashing pair of man-shorts? Not good. Not good at all.

A control system defines how games develop over time, and the good old pad has guided that path across four generations. What Kinect asks of developers is the near-impossible. Because to do away with the pad is to do away with two decades of progress.

The upshot, as proven in yesterday’s Microsoft press conference, is that without the option to drop Kinect, and without the ability to rewrite videogame history, what we’re left with is a bunch of on-the-rails bore-trains that belong back in the arcades circa 1995. They may be fun for five minutes, but where is the gameplay? Where is the skill, the goal to overcome, and the satisfaction gained from achieving it?

All that: “Xbox! Movies! Latest! Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 1!” Selecting menu options with the wave of your hand, moving a spaceship using the force – since its release I haven’t seen one game, one interface, or one part of the Xbox 360’s dashboard that wouldn’t be more easily operated using a game pad.

So developers have had to think ‘Okay, well, there’s no need for Kinect here. What we’ll have to do then is find ways in which we can use it that aren’t needed, but that will persuade people who spend a hundred and fifty bucks on it that it’s not completely useless.’

Because when exactly in the Star Wars films or TV series does a Jedi say ‘Lightsaber on!’ to activate his Lightsaber? Perhaps the Jedi used to, but then so many of them died because their saber didn’t understand a Kashyyykian accent, that they eventually relented and reverted to a button. Because a button always works. A button knows what it is you’re trying to do.

Third-party attempts to understand how to force Kinect into accepted gameplay norms are, in my opinion, nowhere near where they need to be. Nothing highlighted this in greater clarity than the Mass Effect 3 demo, where Dr Ray Muzyka introduced us to voice control. We thought this was a great idea, but, seconds later, we find out that it’s not Shepherd’s lines we get to speak, but his internal monologue, which Shepherd then translates into the actual dialogue. What?

What Microsoft promised from this E3 was to deliver ‘Core Gaming Experiences’ to Kinect. What we have here are some core-like experiences. We have a Star Wars game that makes the Jedi on-screen look like a bloke thrashing about in his living room, and the bloke thrashing around in his living room look a bit of a numpty. We have a Ghost Recon title whose gun customisation involves waving your hands about just like you wouldn’t in real life, and we can even become the sniper who raises his hand in the air to see down his scope. A sniper. Who raises his hand in the air.

As far as Kinect-specific content goes, we have a rogues gallery of saccharin Disney content, Sesame Street, and a bunch of Kinect ‘Apps’ that, broadly speaking, do nothing useful besides acting as competent tech-demos. The rest of the games were on the rails, and most of these are quite obviously designed so that it’s impossible to fail at them.

Because Kinect, in my experience, is inaccurate. Deadly inaccurate. Inaccurate to the point where even something that should be relatively simple for the technology, such as force-lifting a giant spaceship and putting it ten yards to the left, takes three or four frustrating tries before Kinect even begins to understand what the player is attempting to do.

This is what Kinect is forcing games to become. No more thinking, no more skill, no more intelligence required; just flail your arms roughly in time with the action and you’ll get through it when the device finally cottons onto your intention.

A new Halo game in 18 months time? An old Halo game re-mastered? Is this what we have to look forward to for the next year and a half? I’m as excited about Forza 4 as it’s probably possible to be, but Microsoft needs to take a serious look at its core audience and get things back on track by providing for their needs. If all this Kinect content – which is irrelevant to me – had been announced alongside a plethora of real games, I wouldn’t care. Let the casual crowd have their toy and I’ll stick to the games that involve skill and satisfaction. But, sadly, what we have is Kinect replacing the announcement of exclusive core titles.

For me Microsoft has lost touch with the people who made the Xbox platform the success it is. It promised to deliver to its core gamers, but instead it’s filled their core titles with a bunch of Kinect irrelevances, and made 2011-2012 the best 12 months on Xbox 360 for eight year-old girls.

For shame.

http://www.360magazine.co.uk/360-editor ... rence-yet/

Not quite the press MS were probably hoping for heading out of E3.

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PostRe: 'The Worst Microsoft Conference Yet'
by Born Stellar » Wed Jun 08, 2011 11:08 pm

I'd love to have 5 minutes with Don Mattrick to talk about this.

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Jonathan86
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PostRe: 'The Worst Microsoft Conference Yet'
by Jonathan86 » Wed Jun 08, 2011 11:14 pm

As posted in the E3 gifs thread:

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Something Fishy

PostRe: Microsoft Press Conference
by Something Fishy » Wed Jun 08, 2011 11:35 pm

I was just watching vids of all the games coming.

From this thread on the night itself (having missed most of it) i'd have got the impression nothing was coming but watching I realised there's a ton of good content coming. Yes a mixture of core and casual (some of which actually looks very good) but a quite impressive mix really.

As someone who has Kinect I'm really interestd in the "enhanced by Kinect" stuff. I was really hoping for that and am pleased to see it, a chance to use it with core games and not just for the more casual stuff.

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Alvin Flummux
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PostRe: 'The Worst Microsoft Conference Yet'
by Alvin Flummux » Wed Jun 08, 2011 11:50 pm

I didn't think it was that bad. Call of Duty being the opening demo was pretty awesome.

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PostRe: 'The Worst Microsoft Conference Yet'
by Lotus » Wed Jun 08, 2011 11:56 pm

I thought it was terrible from the point of view of it not showcasing anything like what I'd hoped it would. However, perhaps MS have realised that they have a pretty good thing going with 'core' gamers or whatever you want to call them, and so they're looking branch out into the family market, more like the Wii's done.

The 360 is pretty much seen as a console for male gamers between the ages of, what, 15 and 40? Why limit themselves when they see the likes of Nintendo bringing in money from both casual and core markets.

Yes, this E3 won't do anything to please gamers like me, but ultimately it's about business and, of course, money. If good games keep coming out on the console, the current lot of 360 owners will keep buying them. What their conference was this year was an attempt to get into a whole new market like they haven't done before, and make a whole load more money.

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PostRe: 'The Worst Microsoft Conference Yet'
by Harry Bizzle » Wed Jun 08, 2011 11:56 pm

Very well written article.

I honestly think that they looked at the DS, which seemed like a total gimmick art launch, but the devs discovered some amazing uses for and then thought that if they provided the technology, then the devs would do the same again.

Sadly that hasn't happened, for the two reasons mentioned - they've tried to reinvent the wheel, and what they've tried to reinvent it with is so inaccurate.

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PostRe: 'The Worst Microsoft Conference Yet'
by Mafro » Thu Jun 09, 2011 12:52 am

The backlash to their conference reminds me a lot of the one after Nintendo's atrocious 2008 one.

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PostRe: 'The Worst Microsoft Conference Yet'
by Delusibeta » Thu Jun 09, 2011 1:00 am

Alvin Flummux wrote:I didn't think it was that bad. Call of Duty being the opening demo was pretty awesome.

The small problem is that the Call of Duty demo was one of the highlights of last year's conference.

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HSH28
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PostRe: Microsoft Press Conference
by HSH28 » Thu Jun 09, 2011 1:05 am

The Ghost Recon thing seemed to be a big hit with the people there. Looked cool to me too, though wasn't sure if it was just a mode on its own or part of the game proper as well.

Not that it matters, that game looked amazing.

Only real disappointment for Kinect was Kinect Sports Season 2, really wanted them to build on what they had in the first game, rather than just going at new sports. Hopefully they will offer more depth than the original rather than the exact same structure and features as the first game just with different sports. That the JoyRide developers are making it didn't put my mind to rest either.

EDIT - Could have done with at least seeing trailers for the TGS Kinect games too.

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PostRe: 'The Worst Microsoft Conference Yet'
by Jam-Master Jay » Thu Jun 09, 2011 1:12 am

Jonathan86 wrote:As posted in the E3 gifs thread:

Image


:lol: :lol: :lol:

To be honest I don't think it was that bad a conference. Microsoft are pushing Kinect hard, so they had to show a wide range of material for that device. It shouldn't be used as the primary input for more traditional games so there isn't much they could really show to please the so called hardcore but I'm sure the casual audience the device is suited for were thrilled.

If I remember correctly, Rik was watching with his children who seemed to love what was shown. It just wasn't a conference aimed at those who frequent gaming forums or are used to the typical showing from M$.

It's just a Microsoft repeat of Nintendo's family friendly conference all those years ago.

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PostRe: 'The Worst Microsoft Conference Yet'
by NickSCFC » Thu Jun 09, 2011 1:13 am

I don't know if it was because I just wanted to sleep, but the Sony one was much more depressing.

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PostRe: Microsoft Press Conference
by Born Stellar » Thu Jun 09, 2011 1:15 am

So what are Rare up to?

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Samuel_1
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PostRe: 'The Worst Microsoft Conference Yet'
by Samuel_1 » Thu Jun 09, 2011 1:18 am

NickSCFC wrote:I don't know if it was because I just wanted to sleep, but the Sony one was much more depressing.

The delivery of Sony's was lacking, they spent too long on a number of things. Most of the content was actually OK, but no big reveals hurt the overall performance.

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PostRe: 'The Worst Microsoft Conference Yet'
by Jam-Master Jay » Thu Jun 09, 2011 1:20 am

NickSCFC wrote:I don't know if it was because I just wanted to sleep, but the Sony one was much more depressing.


There was no enthusiasm about what they were showing once Uncharted had been demoed. It was like they were just going through the motions so it was hard to get excited for anything.

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PostRe: 'The Worst Microsoft Conference Yet'
by NickSCFC » Thu Jun 09, 2011 1:20 am

Samuel_1 wrote:
NickSCFC wrote:I don't know if it was because I just wanted to sleep, but the Sony one was much more depressing.

The delivery of Sony's was lacking, they spent too long on a number of things. Most of the content was actually OK, but no big reveals hurt the overall performance.


There's always something dingy about Sony's conferences.


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