Xbox 360 E3: Microsoft Steps Up to the Plate

Well, Microsoft's Press Conference has come and gone. There was a lot of excellent footage shown both first-party and third-party and we're here to give you the rundown on our thoughts of the E3 show that you can go back and watch through again via IGN, YouTube and GameTrailers at some point.

Now, Microsoft started off the show with Modern Warfare 3 but I sat up in my seat when the new Tomb Raider was shown. Now, my friends all know how big of a fan of Uncharted I am and my dislike for Tomb Raider. (Strange isn't it?) Tomb Raider always felt clunky, stiff and buggy to me while Uncharted felt much more fluid. I'm happy to report that from what was seen with the new Tomb Raider from Square, Eidos and Crystal Dynamics it'll definitely find its way into the disc drive of my gaming console.

Lara Croft feels much more personable and much more human this time around. She never fired a single shot throughout the games demo but was in massive pain. The emotion engine is what is going to make Tomb Raider what it is. Its defining characteristic. It all seems to play smoothly and was running very well. I think this is the Tomb Raider that could draw a whole new crowd. Its understandable that Microsoft would bring in Tomb Raider to their show, and the game will likely not be shown at Sony's conference as Microsoft's attempt to combat Uncharted, though the game is multi-platform. Overall, I was extremely impressed.

Microsoft has also talked about the New Xbox Experience (NXE) which really felt like a rehash of last years showing. They announced that Bing would be part of that new experience and it really didn't come as a shock and Microsoft had been toying with the idea and asking consumers to use the engine and would be rewarded points usable on things. It was a way to gage interest in subjects and see how the engine performed. The fact its voice command however and means I don't have to shuffle through thousands of menu's to get a want sounds pretty good on paper. We'll see how it does when its actually put into practice. Microsoft further went on to announce that YouTube would be part of NXE. Honestly, this wasn't something that I really was all that excited about. Its working with Bing could be cool but not something I'm rushing to update my Xbox 360 dashboard just yet.

They also announced the TV service they're aiming for, which was pretty bare bones. Rumor had it that Microsoft were still trying to work deals to secure its success but it seems that they may still be struggling with that. The fact they couldn't get that by E3 I would think took from their show and they were probably pretty disappointed. We'll see how that turns out in the future.

We all knew that Gears of War 3 was going to be present and it was. It was great until Ice-T either attempted to steal the stage or they scripted that. The gameplay wasn't anything new and images and video had been leaked. To finish it off, Ice-T had to ramble on about his song he was doing. Epic Games should have left it at the demo's close. Ultimately, I'm still epically set for Gears of War 3 but, its appearance at E3 was pretty soft and I wasn't as impressed as I've been in years past. The God of War: Ghost of Sparta battle I'd seen though, the tickers they were dumping on the thing at the end was pretty awesome.

I think that Epic Games needed to show more of the multiplayer as that was the portion of the game they were really trying to sell. He'd stated himself that this time around was crucial to Xbox 360's success and that if it failed, so did the series. It was good to see more of the campaign, but we'd already seen it before. We're excited to get our hands on it come September it looks great but, if I were Cliffy B. I'd be smacking Ice-T in the back of the head asking where his brains were. By-the-way, where was Sam Burnes in this demo? Perhaps Claudia Black had been really busy?

Now, Kinect I was fairly impressed with the new idea's and new forms of integration into games. I think the biggest that will have everyone talking is the customizable 'Minority Report/ Iron Man' sort of navigation. I'm talking about the new Ghost Recon. Wow! It looks pretty awesome! My only gripe is that now that finger tracking has been added to the mix, why is his popping his hand open to fire? Where's the trigger?

Forza IS USING HEAD-TRACKING! Oh wait, Gran Turismo 5 already did that. If there's a game right now that causes me to doubt Kinect and Microsoft's big push on controller free gaming, its Forza. In video's shown recently, a steering wheel has been used and when Forza's rep walked on stage, he had a controller in his hand. It really seems to be showing that Sony has a wider grasp on reality that even though games can be done without a controller, buttons are still a necessary. Forza hasn't sold me.

What really had surprised me was Crytek's Xbox 360 Exclusive Ryse. I thought for sure this was going to be Microsoft's title to combat God of War on PlayStation but, surprisingly, it wasn't and I think the rest of the world is equally as shocked and share my opinion. Its a first person sword and shield sort of game with a "Sports Champions Gladiator" feel. Graphically right now, its not bad though I'm bummed they still tried to immatate God of War when you look at God of War's intro and art style. Hoping for more of its own identity though, the gameplay with the Kinect motion sensor will give it a sense of identity. It smells like God of War still but, it looks promising and we're interested.

Really, its great Microsoft are finding new ways to draw in more gamers. Their family friendly list is going to work with Kinect and getting into more households but, I still don't think the hardcore audience is going to bite. Tech enthusiasts like myself, will pick it up and toy around with and maybe design games with it now that indie developers can create for it but, its still not going to do it. many of the games shown, especially Star Wars were buggy, clunky and slow to respond. Tim Shaffer is going to find success with his game as Sesame Street is huge!

There was no appearance of a Gears of War Kinect game but, I wouldn't count that out just yet as Cliffy B. still loves that Kinect. "Its sexy." Halo will not be supporting Kinect as well, so far as we know.

At the end of the day, I've finally got to admit that Microsoft can claim innovation. I'm going to give it to their further integration of Xbox Live and continued success and the integration Ubisoft put into Ghost Recon is going to draw some attention mostly by other developers. They're going to take that idea and run with it. Dance Central looks polished and impressive. They did great in so many area's but, Ice-T left a bitter taste in my mouth and the hardcore gaming audience I don't think is going to quite be sold on Kinect yet. Gears looks awesome and graphically updated and Halo 4 should come out swinging. Mass Effects new tech will add to the gaming experience though, we expect that BioWare will announce similarly for the PS3 version as well. Bungie was also a no-show, but perhaps that's Sony's big surprise similarly to Gabe Newell last year.

Cliffy B. appeared at Microsoft's E3 Press Conference and thus, we don't expect he'll surprise us at Sony's stage. I don't recall, other than Kojima, a developer making an appearance at both shows. Microsoft did ok. I'd give them a B+. Last years show was bigger and better with more surprises. I felt sort of let down with their finale being Halo. I want to know what Peter Moore was so hushed about. Perhaps it was because it was on cable TV live.

Sony is next this evening and then Nintendo tomorrow morning. Check back as we break them down to see if they can top Microsoft. Sony's believed to have to sell and work through their console crisis but, I don't think the gaming industry is as bitter as so many think. Its politician's that have made it what it is and gamers aren't concerned with that. Nintendo is also set to unveil their new hardware and be the first out the gate and we're interested to see what will happen there. So check back for all things gaming and all things E3 as we keep you inside the X-Gaming Zone here at the XZONE on ThumbDrive.