Microsoft kicks off E3 2011 week this year, hosting the first of the major press conferences at 9am Pacific Time (5pm BST) on Monday 6 June.
The Xbox 360 fun and games show kicks off in grand style at the Galen Center in Los Angeles, followed later the same day by Sony's E3 conference (5pm PST/1am BST). Yet while both Sony and Nintendo's E3 showings are fairly easy to predict this year (a focus on the new Next Generation Portable and the Project Caf�/"Wii 2" console, respectively) Microsoft's plans are still shrouded in mystery.
So what is in store for Xbox at E3 2011? Is there anything in those online E3 rumours about the possibility of a new Xbox console hardware reveal? And, most importantly for the celeb spotters in the crowd, which Hollywood megastar or rock royalty might the company wheel out on stage in 2011? Elvis?
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Gamers are hoping that Microsoft's focus at E3 this year will be squarely on revealing and detailing a strong line-up of killer new AAA-games such as Gears of War 3, Activision's new Call of Duty Modern: Warfare 3, alongside a smattering of hardcore-gamer-friendly games for Kinect.
Xbox 720: the truth
Firstly, let's consider those recent rumours that a new Xbox console hardware reveal is a possibility for Microsoft at E3 2011. Is an Xbox 720 on the cards this year?
The rumours started earlier this month, following a report over on Develop claiming that next gen Xbox development kits were already with developers at Electronic Arts.
"The new hardware, sent to EA last month, is a very early build with no casing - it is in fact being stored inside a PC shell," read Develop's initial report.
A claim that EA moved very quickly to deny, with a spokesperson telling IndustryGamers: "This story is a total fabrication - 100 per cent not true.
Still, truth is generally the last casualty of a good pre-E3 rumour, with that particular story spreading across the internet in minutes and kicking off thousands of heated forum discussions.
Kinect revitalises 360
"I'd be amazed if Microsoft announced a new console," admits Jon Hicks, editor of Official Xbox 360 magazine. "The huge and ongoing success of Kinect has revitalised the Xbox 360 platform, and it makes perfect sense that Microsoft would seek to capitalise on that rather than making it obsolete with the announcement of yet more hardware."
You have to look at the business case. Microsoft is not going to rush out new console hardware, purely because its rivals at Sony and Nintendo have announced their own plans to do just that. This is not how the slow and steady process of gaming hardware design and commercially-viable tech development works.
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"Nintendo has to reveal a new console because the Wii market has collapsed," Hicks explains. "Sony has taken so long to get the PS3 up to speed that it can't afford to replace it yet. Microsoft, by contrast, has a very successful and profitable console business and very little reason to change it this year."
The OXM editor is far more hopeful that we will see a few more of the "hardcore" Kinect titles announced at the Tokyo Game Show. "E3 would be the perfect time for Microsoft to reveal these in more detail, along with other titles that would broaden Kinect's appeal beyond the family titles that arrived at launch."
With any luck, we should be treated to demos of the Kinect functionality in titles such as Forza 4, as well as being offered a glimpse of other hardcore-friendly Kinect titles such as Kinect Star Wars and Codename: Kingdoms.
Still, while hardcore gamers moan about the limited appeal of Kinect to date, Microsoft's motion control kit has unarguably been a success in the casual and family gaming markets.
"With Kinect Sports winning [the BAFTA for] Best Family Game, you could argue Xbox is moving to a broader audience in terms of its market appeal," Microsoft UK's general manager for sales and marketing, Neil Thompson told MCV at the BAFTAs earlier this year.
"I think people are excited about Kinect, that's what we're focusing on and that's what you're going to see us really deliver on as we go through this calendar year, both in terms of what we're doing with that platform and the different types of gaming experiences that we're bringing to market."
This means one thing, in addition to Microsoft pumping extra resources into creating and developing ever-better family and kid-friendly games for Kinect, other third-party publishers will also want a slice of the action.
As gamers, we can only hope that Microsoft deploys slightly more rigorous levels of quality control than Nintendo did at the same point in the Wii's life cycle - in order to prevent a slew of party-game shovelware de-valuing Kinect (even more) amongst the hardcore.
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OXM's Hicks agrees with the argument that because Kinect's family titles have been hugely successful for Microsoft, it is inevitable that we will see further gaming announcements in LA next month around the biggest hits such as Kinect Sports and Dance Central, "along with other titles that cement the Xbox 360's newfound appeal to a broader range of players."
So what do some of the UK's leading Kinect developers think could be done with Microsoft's motion-control tech to expand the current crop of gaming experiences into different, more interesting genres?
"In terms of new experiences I'm hopeful that the developers will find new ways to combine and interpret the data feeds from the Kinect sensor and also challenge the way games are controlled," argues Blitz Games' studio design director John Nash.
"For instance, just putting R&D effort into generating collision geometry from the sensor would allow more compelling AR experiences beyond that of the immediate pet and party games. Kinect has the ability to both actively and passively understand and rationalise more about us and our surroundings. By blurring the lines between the game space and our real space, more engaging and psychologically-relevant experiences are entirely possible. More core thriller and horror titles are a real possibility as well as more calming transcendental art experiences too.
"That said, entertainment junkies and of course the development paymasters still need to see the killer app to establish the genre and prove the theory - this is the challenge to all game designers. Speech is also a very compelling goal as a control method and even hand and finger gestures are not now out of the question.
"The real trick for the game industry will be to release a flow of games that will gradually 'educate' gamers into accepting new definitions of the word 'game' as well as new ways to 'control' games."
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Skype Avatars on the Xbox
Let's also not forget that Microsoft just made the biggest acquisition in its history, spending over $8 billion on VoIP specialists Skype.
Following the latest Xbox 360 dashboard update, set to arrive later in May prior to E3 and to feature a free virtual chat room called Avatar Kinect, it is highly likely that we will be treated to a demonstration of how Microsoft plans to integrate Skype into the 360 experience in the future.
That forthcoming update also includes support for a new Microsoft disc format, which apparently increases the capacity of Xbox 360 games discs, while also introducing improved piracy prevention measures.
Let's hope that the Microsoft execs don't go on about all of this in too much detail at E3 though! After all, it's the best of the crop of new games we are there to see, play and write about.
Pleasing the hardcore
To recap: it is highly unlikely that there is an Xbox 720 on the cards. And much of Microsoft's E3 2011 press event is going to focus on the success of Kinect in the family and casual-gaming markets.
So how is Microsoft going to stop the gathered audience of hardcore gaming hacks from grumbling and produce the requisite amount of whooping and hollering from the more vocal members of the crowd which we have become used to at past Xbox E3 press conferences?
Firstly, this year is the 10th anniversary of Halo. It is likely that we will be treated to a short retrospective overview of the Xbox's biggest hardcore franchise. Then, of course, there is Cliffy B's almost-certain appearance to show off a new Gears of War 3 demo.
"There is certain to be some sort of Halo presence at this year's E3," agrees Hicks. "It might take the form of an all-new game - it's no secret that 343 Industries has been working on a new Halo game since it was created in 2007 - but given that we've already got Gears of War 3 coming out in September, any new Halo game is likely to arrive next year. More likely is the long-rumoured remake of Halo, which would be a great gift to fans and wouldn't compete with Gears.
"Whatever happens, I absolutely believe there will be news and games that will play to the established Xbox 360 fanbase of hardcore gamers. Microsoft owes its success to the hardcore, and it has said many times that it has no intention of leaving them behind."
Phu Tien, International Sales Manager at Xbox peripherals specialists Calibur11 sums up our expectations from Microsoft at E3 2011 well, which he argues will be all about "reinforcing the fact that gamers can still get more for their money from current-gen consoles."
And just like us, Tien is particularly excited about "the rumoured Gears of War Kinect and DLC reveals. We're all big fans of the franchise here and are looking forward to the good news."
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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techradar/gaming-news/~3/aTD_U8fGXNI/story01.htm
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