MICROSOFT E3 2007 PRESS CONFERENCE LIVEBLOG

Well, it’s still a few hours away, so as you can imagine, there’s not much to report right now. The big question on everyone’s mind is whether Microsoft will have some surprise up it’s sleeve for tonight’s address. Will the Xbox 360 see a price cut? Will Peter Moore unveil a tattoo of Metal Gear Solid 4? Will anyone actual read this while I’m liveblogging it? All those questions and more should be answered tonight.

In case you’re wondering about the whole “E3Outsider.com” deal… Back when the site went to it’s daily gaming news format last year, I took out the address as a joke of sorts – you see, the old official E3 website was located at http://www.e3insider.com and since I sure as hell wasn’t going to be invited, I thought it would be a great idea to cover the show from an outsiders perspective – hence the name. While that specialized coverage of E3 never really surfaced, it’s still something that’s on the drawing board here at nylatenite.com, and I figured I should at least get some usage out of my domain registration fee.

That said, we’re now in the holding pattern for the start of our show. Here’s to hoping the comment system actually works.

11:21pm – We’re just a few minutes away from the start – according to G4, there’s a rumor that MS will have a special guest during the presentation…

11:34pm – And here we go – a live band from Illinois is playing the Halo theme music

11:38pm – The band has been going on so long, I think Moore must have gotten lost on his way to the conference.

11:39pm – Peter Moore has taken the stage.

11:40pm -According to Moore, every demo shown tonight will be from a game released this year.

11:40pm – The folks from Harmonix have taken the stage with Moore and it looks like they’re going to demo Rock Band with Moore.

11:41pm – Wow, out of tune singing and missed notes – it’s just like Karaoke night at most bars.

11:41pm – Please, make it stop. This isn’t the kind of game that you can really get a feel for by watching others play, and this “exhibition” is just painful. I envy the deaf.

11:43pm – Thankfully, G4 has cut to a commercial. I guess the press conference has been designed with commercials in mind this year since G4 is exclusively carrying the video feed.

11:44pm – Since I’m watching a commercial for it, I’ve got to ask – does anybody use PeoplePC online?

11:45pm – Some bald guy is trying to sell me his hints on becoming a millionaire. I’m thinking if he knew, he sure wouldn’t be hawking a crappy money-making scheme on G4 – am I right?

11:47pm – A trailer for Mass Effect is now showing – and guess what – we missed it during the commercial break. Moore has announced Mass Effect will be available this November.

11:48pm – This year, people will spend more money on games than music according to Moore.

11:49pm – 2/3 of all third party games are on the Xbox 360. Moore also showed some install figures that didn’t look quite right.

11:50pm – Moore is continuing to push the Xbox 360’s catalog of games as compared to the competition.

11:52pm – Madden, Halo & Grand Theft Auto sold 75 million units in 2004 when they released near each other. Moore drives home the point that you can only play all 3 on the 360.

11:53pm – Video montage of games – PGR4, Dynasty Warriors Gundam, Half Life 2: The Orange Box, Call of Duty 4, Stranglehold, GH3, Beautiful Katamari, Lost Odyssey, NBA Live ’08, Mass Effect, Fatal Inertia, Medal of Honor: Airborne, Tiger Woods PGA 08, Ace Combat6, NHL 08, Assassin’s Creed, Spider-Man: Friend or Foe, The Simpsons Game, Splinter Cell: Conviction, NASCAR ’08, Eternal Sonata, BioShock, Madden NFL’08, Tony Hawk’s Proving Ground, Crash of the Titans (Crash Bandicoot Game), Harry Potter: Order of the Phoenix, Bee Movie, Rock Band & Naruto: Rise of a Ninja.

11:55pm – Microsoft’s Marketing Man Jeff Bell takes the stage and announces Scene it! will be coming to the 360 exclusively.

12:00am – Bell is now talking about Xbox Live and Electronic Arts. I noticed they didn’t mention APF2K8 earlier…

12:00am – Bell just confirmed that EA’s sports games (NCAA Football & Madden) will run at 60fps on the 360 while only running at 30fps on PS3.

12:01am – Reggie Bush is brought out to play Madden NFL’08.

12:02am – Bush vs. Bell at Madden. Wow, compared to last year’s conference, there’s a whole lot of fluff going on.

12:02am – Reggie Bush runs one all the way on a hand off.

12:03am – Back to Bell talking about Live. They predicted last year that they would have 6 million members by now – according to Bell, the number is actually 7 million. No word on if they mean Gold members only or both gold and silver. They now predict 10 million by next year.

12:04am – More than 100 games on Xbox Live Arcade by end of the year. Montage of Xbox Live Arcade games coming soon – Bomberman Live, Sonic The Hedgehog, War World, Sensible World Soccer, Every Extend Extra Extreme, Geono, Wing Commander : Arena, Feeding Frenzy 2, Track & Field, Spyglass Board Games, Golden Axe, Space Giraffe, Super Puzzle Fighter 2: Turbo HD, Word Puzzles, Marathon: Durundal, Poker Smash, Switchball, Tetris Splash, Puzzle Quest & Boku Soduku.

12:08am – Sonic The Hedgehog and Golden Axe will be available today as Xbox Live Arcade games.

12:10am – Xbox Live Marketplace has generated $125 million in sales via downloadable content.

12:11am – Microsoft has signed a deal with Disney where many of their movies will be available immediately on Xbox Live in HD. (Disney, Touchstone, etc)

12:12am – Xbox 360 Elite will go on sale in Europe on 8/24.

12:13am – Shane Kim (Microsoft Game Studios) takes the stage.

12:14am – Kim is talking about Microsoft Game Studios high level of quality. He predicts Forza 2 will break 1 million units by the end of the month.

12:15am – 2 guys from Bizarre Creations have come out to show off PGR4 – and this time, the game includes motorcycles!

12:16am – PGR4 wil feature over 120 cars in addition to the bikes.

12:16am – I hate G4. I really do. They keep cutting away to commercials whenever things get good. They suck.

12:17am – I’ve switched to the smaller feed over at Xbox.com – at least they don’t cut away when the going gets good.

12:18am – PGR4 video ends. Bell is the only one clapping. PGR 4 will be out in September.

12:19am – He’s talking about upcoming games – Fable 2, Halo Wars, Too Human and a new Halo branded game from Peter Jackson (since they aren’t showing them, they won’t be out this year)

12:20am – Here comes footage of Lost Odyssey.

12:21am – Lost Odyssey trailer plays, G4 is still showing commercials. This proves my, “G4 sucks” theory.

12:22am – Trailer ends. no one claps – I guess this is a no clapping area. Upcoming RPG’s – Lost Odyssey, Mass Effect & Blue Dragon.

12:22am – Now on to PC games – Viva Pinata is coming to PC. Kim also confirms Gears of War will be coming to Windows.

12:22am – CliffyB takes the stage – uses Windows Live to connect to a friend.

12:23am – CliffyB has just said Gears PC will have 5 new single player chapters!!!!

12:23am – Gears has a new multiplayer mode (deathmatch?) and new multiplayer maps.

12:24am – Remember the Brumak from the early Gears trailers? (The big creature with the rocket launcher attached to it) – Well, it’s in one of the chapters in the PC version of Gears. I so hope this content comes to the 360 as well…

12:25am – The level they’re fighting the Brumak in looks a little empty – almost like they’re fighting it in a school yard. Maybe they should rename it “The Gooch”

12:26am – Well, at least CliffyB stated that Gears will be available on XP and Vista. None of that Vista only crap.

12:27am – Moore retakes the stage.

12:28am – Sega, Eidos and THQ have signed on for Games for Windows Live.

12:28am – Moore has stated that Epic will be making Games for Windows Live support part of Unreal Engine 3

12:29am – …and naturally, G4 cuts away to a commercial. Back to the internet feed.

12:30am – Games for Windows montage – Gears of War, Universe at War, Blacksite: Area 51, Crysis, BioShock, World in Conflict, Age of Conan, Spider-Man: Friend or Foe, Lost Planet, Kane & Lynch: Dead Men, Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts, Zoo Tycoon 2: Extinct Animals, Juiced 2 & Viva Pinata.

12:32am – Call of Duty 4 trailer is shown. (One we’ve all alreay seen) – oh look, G4 is still in a commercial break.

12:33am – Some folks from Infinity Ward are coming to the stage to show off Call of Duty 4. New gameplay footage!

12:35am – I think they also showed Earth Defense force in that last montage as JG from Gamer’s Lounge just mentioned it in an IM to me. See what you miss when you watch the G4 feed and switch back and forth?

12:36am – The sniper mission being shown in CoD4 seems to be pretty cool, but it doesn’t seem very free-form. One of those “you have to do this, then that, then that other thing” kind of feeling.

12:39am – Then again, I’d assume that’s what being a sniper is really all about.

12:39am – Damn, no one in this place ever claps.

12:40am – Multilplayer Xbox 360 beta for CoD4 coming. Check www.charlieoscardelta.com for more details!

12:41am – Splinter Cell: Conviction mentioned shortly as an Xbox 360 exclusive.

12:41am – Grand Theft Auto IV trailer plays. According to Moore, both GTA4 trailers were made with the Xbox 360 version.

12:42am – Yeah, it’s official. No one in the audience knows how to clap.

12:43am – Moore confirms two exclusive episodes for GTA4 will be on the 360 by Spring ’08.

12:44am – Ace Combat 6 and Eternal Sonata will be 360 exclusives.

12:45am – Moore is about to show a game that WILL NOT be available on the 360 this year – he figures he can break his promise for this one…. it’s Resident Evil 5.

12:46am – Hey, it got applause!

12:46am – Jade Raymond & company come out to show off Assassin’s Creed.

12:47am – Okay, the jump from a very high building into a cart of hay that they just showed looks like crap. Beyond that, it’s looking very good – especially the crowd interactions.

12:50am – Combat looks good, but the multiple enemy fights seem to fall into the “only one or two guys will attack you at a time” trap.

12:52am – Jade Raymond. I’d hit it. I’d hit it like the fist of an angry god.

12:54am – Halo 3 time…

12:54am – Halo 3 video shown. No new game footage, just an “arm ’em up” scene with the USNC marines.

12:56am – New model Xbox 360 – Halo 3 Special Edition console (no specific details) and accessories.

12:57am – Moore seems to be wrapping this up. He’s talking about the strength of the 360 lineup again.

12:58am – Are we going to see a new tattoo?

12:58am – Looks like there won’t be a bombshell announcement – but they are showing a new Halo 3 trailer – with gameplay footage!

12:59am – Of course, on G4 – Adam Sessler interrupts it AND they cut away in the middle to a commercial. Yes, you heard me, they cut away to a commercial DURING the Halo 3 trailer…

1:00am – And that, as they say, is that.

1:10am – Fixed some typos.

E3 OUTSIDER: LIVEBLOGGING THE E3 2007 MICROSOFT PRESS BRIEFING

As usual, Microsoft kicks off E3 with it’s traditional pre-E3 press briefing, and this year I’m going to be liveblogging it for those of you who can’t or don’t want to watch the whole thing.

Because the standard format of this website is not conducive to a rapidly updating format (as you should know from my frequent griping about the subject), I’m going to open up the still unfinished blog based version of the site for one night via E3Outsider.com, so if you’re up to it, head on over around 11:30pm EST and join in the fun – after all, the comment system should work just fine.

On a somewhat sadder note, this will probably be the only live blog of the big three’s press conferences that we’ll be doing. Unfortunately, both Nintendo & Sony will be holding their talks tomorrow morning – a time when I’ll be sitting behind my desk out in the desert of the real. (a place also called my “real” job – you know, the one that pays the bills.) Don’t worry though, I’ll be sure to post anything of interest from those two events just as soon as possible. See? It’s not the end of the world.

I’ve got some last minute details to take care of, so I’ll sign off right now. It’s E3 2007… can you feel the excitement?

• E3Outsider.com – Home of the nylatenite.com liveblog of the Microsoft E3 2007 press conference.
• Microsoft E3 2007 Press Conference  liveblog – E3outsider.com