Microsoft @ E3 – A Brief Summary

With just moments to go until the Nintendo press conference at E3 (Which will likely be underway by the time you read this) we thought we’d bring you a quick summary of what went down at Microsoft’s press conference yesterday, in case you didn’t hear about it.

There were quite a lot of interesting game announcements. First up were the multiplatform games coming to the 360. To start with, there was a big The Beatles Rock Band intro which saw Ringo Starr and Sir Paul McCartney appear on stage.

This was followed by Tony Hawk demonstrating the new skateboard controller for the forthcoming Tony Hawk : RIDE game, in which you grab the board to perform tricks instead of using the conventional controller. Following this, Infinity Ward showed off a level from the forthcoming Modern Warfare 2, which looked quite incredible and has certainly made me more excited for the game. And finally, a brief combat sequence from Final Fantasy XIII, confirming once and for all that it is indeed multiplatform.

Then came the exclusives, starting off with Epic’s new downloadable action game Shadow Complex, looking a bit Castlevania-esque. Then there was the free downloadable title Joy Ride, which will allow you to race using your avatar.

Next up was a game I’ll certainly be looking forward to, as Crackdown 2 was officially announced, as was called by our very own Keats. And, perhaps a surprising announcement, Left 4 Dead 2 was announced and is coming out in November.

There was a game play session with Splinter Cell : Conviction as well as some details on Forza Motorsport 3, which looks pretty spectacular.

Of course, there were the Halo announcements. There was some gameplay footage from Halo : ODST, which will hit stores in September. In addition to this, there was a confirmation of rumours which surfaced this week as Halo Reach was unveiled in a teaser trailer. Not much known about it at this point.

Then there was the re-emergence of long delayed sci-fi game Alan Wake, which is due to be released in Spring 2010. As well as this, Xbox 360 will be getting a Metal Gear Solid game. However, rather than MGS4, a brand new game was unveiled caleld Metal Gear Solid Rising, starring Raiden as the main character. This will be out on PS3 and PC as well, as we’ve previously noted.

Finally there was some news about Facebook/Twitter integration with the 360 as well as the unveiling of Microsoft’s answer to Wii’s motion controls, Project Natal. This is a whole body motion sensor bar which doesn’t require you to have a controller. It tracks your movements and makes your on screen avatar perform the same movements. Interesting.

So there was a brief summary of Microsoft’s briefing. Nintendo news coming up later today.

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