The Microsoft Conference Unveiled

Say what you will, Microsoft has an upper hand when it comes to the next gen market. Not only have they launched early, but they have also signed some major titles, including the next Grand Theft Auto, to appear on their shiny iPod-like system. The XBOX 360 has sold relatively well in the market, and virtually every XBOX fan has their hands on one by now- which means it's time for Microsoft to change gears from “Look at our new system” to “Look what we are going to deliver”. That's awfully hard, considering even the original XBOX had issues with third parties not really caring. So when the Microsoft press conference started, I was a little skeptical- what could they deliver that was worth my time and money?

Gears of War

Opening with a movie-like cut of Gears of War, Microsoft made sure to exploit every last bit of the XBOX 360, showing off the system to make sure that they did not get lost in the back when compared to such hard hitters as the Playstation 3. Announced to be launched “Emergence Day” in 2006, the press conference finally started with one single person- Cliff Bleszinski. Ironically the same guy who blasts the Playstation 3, “CliffyB” proceeded to pimp Gears of War by playing it himself on a clearly visible XBOX 360 system. Running at a full 60 frames per second, no level of quality was spared to show how good Gears of War could look on the XBOX 360 system. Bullets flew past heads and the enemies that the main player fought blew up in revolting gore as Bleszinski made his way through what appeared to be a post-apocalyptic town of sorts.

One of the more interesting thing about the Gears of War video was how well the XBOX 360 handled what many presumed to be a Playstation 3 title. All of the graphics were exceedingly well done, the sound was spot on, and everything about it spelled Playstation 3- though, to be fair, I did notice some slight lag, be it simply because this was a demo version, or hardware limitations. In any case, in true Unreal Tournament fashion, Gears of War was super violent and exceedingly hardcore, and would be one of those games that would sell nowhere but good old America. With choppers flying overheads and blood flying just as high, everything about Gears of War was hardcore, intense, and somewhat nauseatingly fast. This is the kind of excitement I would imagine if I was really in the world of Gears of War, and it really showed off some powerful 360 hardware.

Peter Moore emerges

Nicknamed the “Zen master of Gaming” by Bleszinski (Which is absolute bullcrap, he was part of the Dreamcast project for christ sakes), Peter Moore took the stage, clad in a green shirt and a black suit. As Peter Moore called it the “Second generation of Next Generation of gaming”, Moore talked about Microsoft's vision for gaming, which generally involves connectivity- “your lifestyle taking center stage”. Referring to the insane lack of 360s on the market, he jokingly noted they were not hiding consoles in Nevada, and that the system is the fastest moving in console history, and thus why you have to fight three thugs with brass knuckles to actually purchase one.

Putting it into more perspective, Moore also explained that three of the top 10 games of last March- that is, about two months ago- were on the XBOX 360 (Please note, however, that he did not say they WERE the XBOX 360 renditions, as the games were “Fight Night Round Three”, “The Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion”, and “Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter”, all three of which on other consoles, which may explain that statistic). Regardless, that's impressive- and Moore made no bones about it, that the XBOX 360 is not only powerful, but the market power of the system at this very moment is a lot more than any gamer may want to admit.

XBOX Live

All Peter Moore needed to say was XBOX Live to bring out Microsoft's trump card. With millions of members registered already, XBOX Live is by far the biggest and baddest online “hub” system on the market, even giving Valve's phenomenal STEAM platform a run for it's money. Saying that soon the system would reach 6 million members, it was almost like Moore was throwing a punch directly at every single Nintendo and Sony fan in the room. Calling it a “True Entertainment Network”, Moore noted that XBOX Live was not about just games- it was about media, music, video, and just about everything available.

One of the newest additions to XBOX Live is XBOX Live Arcade, in which Moore calls a place to revive our “Misspent Youths”. Well, that being said, we can do so with the following new games to be available on the platform:


Pac-Man
Mrs. Pac-Man
Rally X
Dig-Dug
Contra
Super Contra
Track and Field
Paperboy
Root beer Tapper
Frogger
Galaga
Sonic the Hedgehog
Defender
Street Fighter 2 Hyper Fighting
Time Pilot
Ultra Mortal Kombat 3
Scramble

That's a pretty sizable list, and there are some serious powerhouses in there, especially Contra, which I love like a little idiot. With contracts with Konami, Namco, Midway, and Sega, Microsoft has spent some serious cash to get the best of the best on the XBOX Live platform, so all of you with accounts on the system can now play these games- for a small fee.

One surprising new addition that Moore pulled out of his hat was Lumines Live, a XBOX version of the smash hit Playstation Portable game. With poppy music going on in the background, the player yet again will feel the extreme trouble of getting those damn blocks moving- except on a real console. And, the best part of all is that Microsoft, specifically for Lumines Live, has signed a contract with Warner Music Group to provide music from artists such as Madonna while you play Lumines. Some call that overkill, but at least Microsoft is making a firm stand in that market.

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