Directional Pad

E3 2008 - Microsoft Press Conference

Super-condensed Highlight Reel Time!

Games You Care About

• Fallout 3 . . . turns out it's Fallout 3. Shocking. I mean, it's good and all, but it isn't really news.
• Gears of War 2. See above.
• Banjo Kazooie 3 & Viva Pinata 2. Rare makes sequels, film at 11. Ok, no, seriously they look pretty good. Winter 2008.
• Guitar Hero 4 - 85 master tracks, lame stuff we already knew about ("make your own tracks!!!"), lame stuff we don't care about ("WHOAAA GUYS! SUPER SPECIAL TREAT FOR 360 GAMERS . . YOU GET 3 REM TRACKS! NOT FREE OR ANYTHING . . JUST LIKE . . AN EXCLUSIVE PACK. TO BUY.") Also the new Metallica album will be available as DLC for GH3 and GH4 whenever it actually gets released.
• Rockband 2 - 84 tracks on the disc (the leaked list was mostly right), all RB1 content is compatible and transferrable, 360 exclusive at launch (which will be worldwide this time for reals). Shooting for 500 tracks available for RB2 by the end of the year.

Dashboard Refresh
Remember a few months ago when there were leaks from inside Rare saying "Uhhhh, guys, Microsoft is making us rip off Nintendo in a Big Way and it makes us feel dirty." Totally true. The new dashboard coming this fall is all social crap all the time. It's got fake-Miis, fake-photo-sharing-app, fake everything. I would not be surprised if they make us pay a quarter for a shirt like they do with gamerpics right now.

Good news: they're expanding their video stuff. Not only will there be new partnerships for normal video content, but the new dashboard will bring Netflix streaming capability to the 360. It'll work just like That Roku Thing, except you already have one.

Games You Don't Care About

• Scene It Sequel, bleh.
• Lame Camera Stuff, bleeh.
• Partnership with the tools responsible for 1 vs 100, Big Brother, Fear Factor, etc to produce "Live" versions of shows like 1 vs 100, ultra bleh.
• Lips. It's a Karaoke game. From iNiS, the guys responsible for Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan! and Elite Beat Agents. Unfortunately it isn't innovative. It's just Karaoke.

XBLA Stuff

• Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved: 2: Colon: The Game: The Sequel: JUMP IN. It's Geometry Wars, with 4-player MP, and extra crazy stuff.
• Galaga Sequel from the same team as PacMan CE. May be sacrilege. I am reserving judgement until a demo is out.
• Portal - Still Alive. It's a level pack, and if it isn't being released on Steam I will go on a rampage.

Super Secret Bonus Stuff
Square Enix dropped a bomb: Final Fantasy XIII is no longer PS3 exclusive. Sucks to be you, Sony Defense Force. Also, inexplicably, they are releasing Last Remnant on the 360 and PC. Why? No one knows.

That's all for today, Nintendo and Sony are tomorrow. Get your press conference bingo cards ready.

Discuss this article on the forums.