MS E3 2012 conference

[pc999]

I'm still loving the idea of Tomb Raider as an origin story. But I was disappointed with the lack of gameplay so far. It's taking the corridor to new heights. Compared to Uncharted, which had corridors too, there's too much 11/10 volume, and not enough exploration parts being shown so far. But we'll see more of the game right after this I think.

I agree but at least it seems more than clic in the next buttons that many games are today.


Almost only (semi) corridor games (even halo) today and specially on the big titles.

Didn't liked very much of the games, but I think that for Call Of Duyt SP player it is probably a great conference, or probably just the surprise of not being the terrible conference I was expecting).

 

[Arwin]

wut? 60million Xboxes hundreds of millions Android/IOS devices.. only way to do it.

The Wii U could be the biggest apocalpyse of modern times at this rate. Tech is advancing too fast for Nintendo to stay relevant

Well we'll see. First we'll have to wait and see what software we'll get. Nintendo so far has a much better track record of actually doing something useful with their tech. When presenting something like smartglass, Nintendo would have some great software ideas for using it. Microsoft is just launching a platform, which is cool, and they can do that kind of thing really well, but we're 100% dependent on other parties actually doing something cool with it. May be interesting to see if something like GTA V can do something cool with it, definitely. Above all, I think if they can use smartglass to make all sorts of portable devices become a useful controller, that's definitely interesting.

 

[Rangers]

oh, and are you people serious with ms indicating no durango in 2013? please tell me you're joking...that would be annoying to say the least.

 

[liolio]

oh, and are you people serious with ms indicating no durango in 2013? please tell me you're joking...that would be annoying to say the least.

It's not that we can tell for sure. The fact that Geow Judgement is a 2013 & a 360 title clearly cast some shadows in my mind.

It would be very "not MS like" to stry away from their Halo geow mechanic as well as having a major title, advertized this early, to be eclipsed by a new system launch.

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WRT to the conference, I find it underwhelming. The highlight was definitely "smart glass" to me but the presentation missed some kick. I would definitely have welcomed a title of significant scale (even a XBLA title) to push the concept further and go with Phone/tablet only as the input device.
It's a fit to quiet some genres that are not well represented on console because the output (pad) is far from being an optimal match. I also believe that the flexibility of a touchscreen could do some good to more classic genres.

I would also definitely have appreciate a new, slimmer, 360. With the direction they seem to take a optical drive free SKU could also have been nice.

 

[ERP]

Even if MS is launching in 2013 there will be a lot of 2013 with no Durango.
I didn't see anything that indicated Durango in 2013 or not.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

This goes to show how jaded we gamers are becoming, methinks. A few years ago we were having to put a hardcore Mod watch on E3 discussion. This year, I hadn't really realised the conference was this week! This MS conference talk has been and gone - I'll catch up on the highlights in EG articles.

Edit: The EG article on SmartGlass makes it sounds exactly as we were discussing using touchies when Wuu was announced. Seems a no-brainer, and MS are on the bandwagon. The only obvious issue is supporting existing hardware. Anyone with an iPad or Droid is going to have to get a Windows tablet. Sony could trump MS by implementing the same idea cross-platform, but at the added cost of supporting divergent devices; might not be as smooth or painless an experience.

Still, MS have set themselves up head-to-head with Apple, and there's not much Apple can introduce with a livingroom box that MS couldn't counter through the Windows ecosystem.

edit 2: GI.biz says Smart Glass has support for iOS and Android too. Wise decision. MS can add extras bonuses to Windows devices to promote adoption, but won't have people like me thinking "I already have a tablet. Why can't I use SmartGlass on this?"

 

[liolio]

Even if MS is launching in 2013 there will be a lot of 2013 with no Durango.
I didn't see anything that indicated Durango in 2013 or not.

let's pray.
Definitely more and more amazing stuffs are pushed out of those old systems but at this point it only lets me wondering about what they would achieve with more power.

 

[SedentaryJourney]

Can't say I care about games on these ancient boxes, but the non gaming stuff is interesting. Especially Xbox Music with over 30 million tracks! Looks like I may be ditching Spotify if that turns out to be true. Smart glass looks intruiging as well. I'll see tomorrow when I'm at e3 if anything pops out at me game wise, but somehow I doubt it.

I'm the complete opposite. If it wasn't for Halo 4 and 3rd party demos this press conference would have tanked.

 

[Brad Grenz]

If Xbox Smart Glass doesn't support WebOS I'm gonna throw a fit!

 

[Deleted member 13524]

Smart Glass is nothing like the Wii U.
As far as I can tell, there's no option to stream the games directly to the smartphone/tablet screens. Even if it does, we'd have to keep the xbox controller in the hands and only the video+audio would be sent to the tablet.. and that's two objects that need to be held with both hands, so say goodbye to "seamless toilet action".

The Wii U has a tablet and the gamepad into a single device. The screen is always there and the game buttons/sticks are always there.
Smart Glass forces the player to pause the game, drop the xbox controller, pick up the tablet/smartphone, interact with the tablet, drop the tablet, pick up the controller, resume the game. How is this a threat to the Wii U?

How is that any different than keeping a normal tablet with a webpage opened within an arm's distance when we're playing xbox?

 

[Scott_Arm]

There's this place called the Internet, where you can advertise and launch products with HD video and interactive multimedia all year round.

 

[Rangers]

If Xbox Smart Glass doesn't support WebOS I'm gonna throw a fit!

Haha LOL, as one of those lucky $99 touchpad owners I was kind of thinking the same (though I am sure there will be no webos support). In all honesty it will make me want to upgrade my tablet.

Guess I could try throwing the cyangenmod on there but imo it seems too buggy to even bother.

 

[Rangers]

Smart Glass is nothing like the Wii U.
As far as I can tell, there's no option to stream the games directly to the smartphone/tablet screens. Even if it does, we'd have to keep the xbox controller in the hands and only the video+audio would be sent to the tablet.. and that's two objects that need to be held with both hands, so say goodbye to "seamless toilet action".

agreed, they dont seem to be the same thing at all (and i say as one more bullish on smartglass than wii u)

 

[bkilian]

The conference was light on certain specifics such as, does smartglass work with iOS and Android or just Windows 8? What stuff is stuck behind the XBL Gold pay wall and what isn't? Are the different sports and media packages part of the Gold subscription now?

iOS, Android, Windows Phone, and Windows 8. I'm assuming no linux or WebOs.
I don't know what's behind Gold and what isn't.

I was a bit sad to see tomb raider (which I got a 3dfx card to play when it first came out ) turn into 'yet another' cover shooter...... and where were Rare? I was hoping for a at least a Viva Pinata Kinect game (ideally a new Kameo!). <sigh>

I loved Kameo. Still one of the best games I've played. Rare is pretty much Kinect only at this point though.

If Xbox Smart Glass doesn't support WebOS I'm gonna throw a fit!

Pretty sure it doesn't.

 

[Rangers]

web os literally has like 40 apps total and zero support going forward. nobody should have expected it.

 

[Rockster]

You can always do the smart thing and load cyanogenmod on that hp touchpad. ...I see Rangers beat me to it. it's getting better. lol. surely by fall when the new dash launches it will be solid?

Rare is dedicated to Xbox720 based on current job postings/rumors.

Tomb Raider is following the Uncharted template to a large extent so might be good for people looking for similar experience on other platforms.

 

[Brad Grenz]

I was joking about WebOS. I will be annoyed when it doesn't support my iPhone 3G.

 

[bkilian]

I was joking about WebOS. I will be annoyed when it doesn't support my iPhone 3G.

It does support iOS, but I have no idea which version. I suspect my first gen ipod touch will also be left out.

From the press release:

Xbox SmartGlass is available with select games and Xbox LIVE content and requires Internet connectivity and compatible devices. Xbox LIVE Gold membership (sold separately) is also required for some Xbox SmartGlass-enabled content and features. Available Xbox SmartGlass features may vary by device. See http://xbox.com/live.

Internet Explorer on Xbox requires Xbox LIVE Gold membership (sold separately).

 

[liolio]

Smart Glass is nothing like the Wii U.
As far as I can tell, there's no option to stream the games directly to the smartphone/tablet screens. Even if it does, we'd have to keep the xbox controller in the hands and only the video+audio would be sent to the tablet.. and that's two objects that need to be held with both hands, so say goodbye to "seamless toilet action".

The Wii U has a tablet and the gamepad into a single device. The screen is always there and the game buttons/sticks are always there.
Smart Glass forces the player to pause the game, drop the xbox controller, pick up the tablet/smartphone, interact with the tablet, drop the tablet, pick up the controller, resume the game. How is this a threat to the Wii U?

How is that any different than keeping a normal tablet with a webpage opened within an arm's distance when we're playing xbox?

Have you seen people claiming otherwise?
Because being dramatic is nice but there still is a need for a drama

The nice thing about smart glass is that devs can safely assume that everybody as phone or tablet. It makes game relying on touch screen input possible to develop. It's imho a nice feature by self without eyeing at what Nintendo offers.
The fact that phone and tablet can act as remote for the 360 is neat too. I wonder if they let people use keyboard functionality, it's not something they demonstrate at this point.

EDIT

I'm really surprised MS lets other OSes interact with the OS. I've been advocating for Wiuumote like controller multiple times as I see it opens the door to new gameplay and plenty of extra features.
Thing is I didn't expect MS to have such an open approach, it makes indeed the need for a Wiimote like device a bit moot.


Bkilian I've a question are phones and tablets apps are to be implemented in the game development environment?
What I've in my mind is something like this:
there is a smart glass app you download for your device.
A bit like for GO launcher on Android developer can create mods for any given games.
The development environment is update so games devs have access not only to the touchscreen but the accelerometer in the phone/tablet.
I could see developers (especially on XBLA) experience on plenty of input layouts, etc.

 

[joker454]

I was joking about WebOS. I will be annoyed when it doesn't support my iPhone 3G.

Well even Apple doesn't support the iPhone 3g, so I'd be surprised if Microsoft supported it.

I'm the complete opposite. If it wasn't for Halo 4 and 3rd party demos this press conference would have tanked.

Different strokes as they say Pc to me is for games, the consoles are for the fun casual stuff and new experiences. To that effect Microsoft is doing well, but I'm still more interested to see how the 360 ties to Windows 8 though. Kinda wish they would get Skydrive support on the 360 as well.