CheckPointDone! Does…E3! – Xbox 2016

So here it is, one of the big boys of the E3 press conferences. It’s Microsoft with some pretty interesting announcements. Here’s a very quick rundown of Microsofts offerings

First off was the Xbox One S, a slimmer console with 4K Ultra HD video capability coming with a “streamlined” controller that will be released this August.

Next up was the debut gameplay of Gears of War 4. Yes, it certainly looks like a Gears game for better or worse. Horde mode was demoed live on stage and was announced that it will be available on Xbox One and Windows 10 on October 11th. Along with all of this was the announcement of the cross-buy / cross-play. This means that anything that is bought on the Xbox you will get a copy on Windows 10 as well, as well as allowing cross-play on both platforms.

While I can’t find the gameplay demo from official sources here’s a trailer for a limited edition Xbox One Gears branded Elite controller…yeah…

And General RAAM will be available as a character in Killer Instinct…

Next on the list was the reveal of Forza Horizon 3, being set in Australia and offering 4 player coop and the ability to drive not only sports cars, but also off road vehicles too. Official trailer below

Recore was the next up on the list and debuted gameplay footage. The game looks like an open worldy, puzzle / action / platformy game. Check it out.

Then there was a live demo of Final Fantasy XV that went on a litttttttle too long. The demo showed off what looked like a more extreme version of the Shadow of the Colossus battles. Looked ok but nothing earth shattering.

Next up! Ubisoft showing off a brief trailer for The Division DLC titled Underground. Promising randomly generated missions and looking to add a lot more game to The Division as a whole. It was also announced that it would be coming first to Xbox One on June 28th with PS4 and PC coming 30 days later.

The trailer from last nights EA PLAY conference for Battlefield 1 made its way to the Xbox conference.

Afterwards was the triple announcement of features coming to your Xbox. Xbox introduced the ability to listen to background music while you play games, Cortana coming to consoles, Clubs coming to Xbox much like the groups on PS4, Arena which are publisher run tournament events that you can take part in.

After that was Minecraft! It was announced that Minecraft would allow people to play together from multiple devices, including; Xbox, iOS, Android and Windows 10. Also, Xbox achievements on iOS (insert inappropriate slapping noise here)

One of the weirder announcements was Xbox Design Lab, allowing you to create a customised Xbox controller, choosing colours for every aspect of the controller and allowing you to get it custom engraved all through Xbox. An interesting idea for sure.

Next was ID@Xbox the slew of indie games coming to the Xbox platform in the near future. Some of the more standout titles included Cuphead, Outlast 2 and Stardew Valley. Check out the vid below for the full line up

Then there was a stage demo for We Happy Few, something that looks like it’s developed from someones nightmares. It looks like a super psychological Bioshock-esque game but with heavily stylised visuals. Looks super interesting and it’s coming to Xbox Game Preview from July 26th.

CD Project Red was up on stage to announce that Gwent, the immensely popular card game within The Witcher 3 would be coming to consoles September.

Now for Tekken 7?…With a brief story cutscene and game play and a guy who looked totally offended to be wearing the garb he was donning…

…Also some amazing sunglasses!

 

Then Dead Rising 4! Shocker! However I do like to be given any excuse to play a game where I can kill zombies in the silliest ways possible. It’s a return for Frank West from the original Dead Rising game. Coming Holiday this year.

Next was a long ass demo for Scalebound…

… and Sea of Thieves

Then the announcement trailer for State of Decay 2 coming in 2017

Then a gorgeous looking trailer for Halo Wars 2. Along with the trailer was the announcement that you can play the Halo War 2 NOW! Right NOW! Well, for one week only.

Then finally was the announcement of a way better Xbox console codenamed Project Scorpio, which as I just said is a way better version of your Xbox One console. No real info came out other than the fact that it has all the flops! Ok, it has 6 teraflops of goodness…I know this because it was mentioned at least 5-6 times during their video package. It’s coming out late 2017 and would play Xbox One games…only better! ALL THE FLOPS!

And that was the Xbox conference. If I can find the official conference stream i’ll be sure to update the post. Next up is Ubisoft. E3 continues on!!!!