Kurze" Zusammenfassung der MS-PK von Vgchartz.
Big day with major announcements. Starting with the FFXIII announcement, and going through other announcements not mentioned on the E3 presentation, we'll breakdown what's big, and what isn't.
you were an Xbox 360 owner, or interested in one, today was the day that was filled with quite a few major, and minor announcements. To most (including myself) it was a roller coaster of a conference, with useless, redundant announcements, and some megatons. News is still rolling in about things not announced at the major E3 presentation that just concluded about 30 minutes ago, so let's start with the biggest things, and work our way down.
Major News:
Final Fantasy XIII Announced. Day and Date with PS3 Version in NA and PAL Territories. Certainly the biggest of the bunch. Square-Enix president was live, onstage at the E3 presentation to announce FFXIII coming to the Xbox 360. The update from the Square-Enix conference seems to be that the PS3 version is still releasing in Japan first. But this remains to be fully confirmed (will the X360 get FFXIII in Japan at all?).
Netflix Announces Strategic Partnership with Microsoft/Xbox 360.
I've actually mentioned this a few times as being viable for both companies. What this means is that as a Netflix subscriber, you will be able to pay their normal, everyday rate and log onto XBL (Silver memership, for free), and download movies via XBL. This is huge as this partnership will most likely increase the depth of the movie service Microsoft offers, and will greatly reduce the current pricing for movies on XBL.
Xbox 360 Games May Now Be Downloaded to Your Hard Drive.
Not mentioned in the E3 presentation, and revealed on Major Nelson's Blog . This move allows you to download any, and all Xbox 360 games to it's hard drive. This will decrease load times for all games downloaded to the system. However, there is a catch: You must have the game in your hard drive for it to work. This (I assume) is to prevent pirating of games, and is a DRM issue. However, your game disc will not spin, decreasing heat production of the system. One can only wonder how far in the future that MS will take this further, and launch the Xbox 360 library for Digital Downloads without the DRM policy.
Middle-Tier News
Portal Announced for XBLA. This is the beloved Portal from The Orange Box (released last year). However, this version is slightly different, as it will be a self-contained release, and feature new levels, exclusive to XBLA from my understanding.
Banjo-Kazooie Announced for XBLA. Another key XBLA title to the library. Banjo is one of Rare's largest games, having sold a reported 3.65 million units worldwide. We currently do not have all of the details as to what this rendention of Banjo will have.
Xbox Live Marketplace Will Be Accessible from the Internet. A major step in the right direction for simplyfing the marketplace. All content will now be available for purchase, or queuing from the internet. So should you be away from your Xbox 360 (such as at work), you can download it from there, and have a demo, or arcade game purchased and downloaded.
Exclusive Fallout 3 Content for Xbox 360 and GFW. Todd Howard announced that the Xbox 360 version of Fallout 3 will contain content that will be unavailable for the Playstation 3 version. This content will also be available for Microsoft's Games For Windows.
Avatars. Everyone knew about this. I'm not very impressed by it at all. However, the saving grace (from what I have seen) is the fact that they are partnering with EnDeMol (SP?) to build in gameshows for Xbox Live Primetime, to allow those avatars to compete on XBL-based gaming shows.
Rockband Timed Exclusivity. Again, everyone knew this was going on. Good list of new tracks, ect. We knew this though.
Geometry Wars 2 Next Month. Yep. August launch date.
Last Remnant Timed Exclusivity. November 20th, 2008. Worldwide.
Star Ocean 4. Spring 2009
Infinite Undiscovery Launch Date. Sept 2nd in the US, 5th in PAL, 11th in Japan/Asia
NBC and Universal added to Movies/TV Lists for XBL. Good news if you like either.
MGM and Constantin added to European Movies/TV Lists for XBL. Again, good if you live in Europe.
Minor News:
Your In The Movies . XBLA Vision Camera Game. Looked horrendously corny until the game put it all together to create an ultra-cheezy game. Looks like a bit of fun.
Lips . Singstar-esque game. Big news is that it can import songs from your Zune or Ipod...That'll save a bit of cash. Not a big fan of non-Rockband games, but if you crave singing, this will fit the bill.
South Park XBLA . New game, but very little information.
Galga Legions. First "true" sequel from Namco. XBLA exclusive it seems.
Guitar Hero 3 + World Tour Exclusive Songs. REM track pack from their new album, 3 songs exclusive to 360. Also, the 360 gets Eagles and Van Halen tracks exclusively. Whoop-De-Friggin-Do.
Other News:
Viva Pinata 2. In VP2, you can scan trading cards in, and the critter will appear in the game to play with. Warped child of Eye of the Beholder maybe?
Gears of War 2: 5 Player Co-Op Mode. Called "Horde Mode". You join with 4 others to fend off ever-increasing waves of locust. Seems like a fun little addition to the game.
Resident Evil 5, 2 Player Co-Op. Looks like RE5 is taking a big hint from Gears of War 2. The 2 player mode looked great.
Scene It: Box Office Edition.
Overall Analysis:
It was a pretty big conference for Microsoft. Certainly better than last year with the FFXIII announcement, and Netflix partnership. Not the best ever in the history of the world, but nevertheless: Microsoft actually set a bar this year. Good for them.
I would give the conference an 8/10. As an RPG fan, I'd give it a 10/10 since I will get Final Fantasy XIII without purchasing a PS3.