Microsoft were first to kick off this year’s E3 in Los Angeles and while Microsoft’s presentation was as slick as you’d expect you couldn’t help but think they were holding back. There was no next Xbox, yet, but they did show off a multitude of new games, new partnerships and apps for Xbox Live.
The Games
Microsoft showed off a host of new titles that it hopes with be top sellers when in comes to the lucrative Christmas period; Forza Horizon was on show for the first time and has been taken in a bold new direction for the racing simulator.
Created inconjunction with Turn 10 and Playground studios it’s an open-world racer thats looking to take the franchise out onto the open road. The action is set in a music festival-crazed Colorado state, where exotic car drivers roam the roads around the Horizon Festival's location. According to the devs, the game will feature upgradeable cars, and music festival-based challenges, in and around the venue itself.
Crystal Dynamics’ new Tomb Raider reboot got many salivating as it is a truly next-gen outing for Lara Croft. It’s darker, more action packed and see’s a bruised, battered, hungry, and alone, Lara Croft tackling a free forming adventure in the mould of the Unchartered series. While it’s still a few months away it looks like the Tomb Raider fans have been crying out for since the classic PSone and PS2 outings.
Halo 4 and the Master Chief got its gameplay debut yesterday during Microsoft’s E3 2012 conference with a colossal gameplay trailer using both live action and also Xbox 360 in-game footage.
Originally thought to be the flagship game for the potentially upcoming Xbox 720, the now Xbox 360-bound trailer shed light on both what the Halo 4 single player campaign would look like and also showcased both the new-look Covenant and ancient foes the Forerunners.
New App & Partnerships
At the centre of their presentation was, of course, Kinect - Microsoft big-wigs took it in turns to show off new partnerships with the NBA, NHL, UFC and several movie studios.
Microsoft confirmed, what had been rumoured, that Internet explorer would be gracing the console for the first time. Microsoft explained that console browsers had been done before (PS3) but the overall evidence was users don't tend to use them.
To make Internet Explorer work from the comfort of your sofa, a new streaming and companion app will be released alongside a new service called Smart Glass.
It is an app for Android, iOS and Windows Phone that allows you, amongst many other things, to use a tablet or phone as a trackpad to easily and intuitively navigate the internet from your living room.
You will be able to use the Smart Glass app to stream film or music content from a smartphone or tablet directly to your Xbox 360; so you can start a film on your tablet and then pick it up where you left off on your Xbox console.
Microsoft demoed a situation where you might be watching episodes of Game of Thrones and the app would show you an active map of the world, reflecting what you're watching on the TV show.
The technology can also be implemented in Xbox 360 games. A user was showed playing Madden, moving members of their team around on your tablet's touch-screen. The player's actions were then reflected when the game un-pauses on your TV screen. It's very similar to how Nintendo are implementing a tablet in to everyday console use. No details were given when the app would be released.
Xbox Live Music
Microsoft also unveiled Xbox Music which is a new music service coming to Xbox 360, Windows Phone and Windows 8-based devices. It looks a lot like a super-slick version of Spotify with a strong focus on sharing what users are listening to via the service. No details on release or pricing were given.
There's new voice-controlled Bing search functionality that lets you look for movies and other visual media by genre. So you can now say: "Xbox: nature documentaries" and the console will find everything related to that genre.
Microsoft also announced a fresh range of entertainment apps for Xbox 360 in the UK, including Napster, Absolute Radio and AOL On Network.