E3 Preview – Microsoft
Techpedition may not be attending E3 this year, but we will definitely be there in spirit. There are a lot of knowns and unknowns coming out of the press conferences and one of the big three is sure to trot out the show stopper. With software publishers also having a lot of games to show, this year’s E3 could be one for the ages. Microsoft has been pretty quiet this year, maybe they have big things to talk about at E3.
Not too much is known about what Microsoft is doing. Sure there’s Gears 3 and Forza 4, but that’s a known quantity. They don’t have a hardware launch that’s been announced and their first party teams have been quite hush hush. With the success of Kinect, expect it to have a large presence at the press conference. Halo news is all but guaranteed, but most fans will be watching the show not knowing what to expect.
Here are the projections and conjectures on what might go down:
Truly the dark horse this year, Microsoft’s announcements are the ones most clouded in secrecy. The craziest thing they could possibly do is unveil a new console. That is highly unlikely and probably a foolish endeavor, but its possible. They’ve had huge success out of the Kinect Sensor, so expect them to leverage that success with a big numbers presentation and numerous first and 3rd party software announcements. Microsoft has always been good at selling Xbox Live as a platform for media and expect that to continue this year.
You may even hear about how “secure” the Xbox Live network is, as a way of throwing a jab at Sony without actually saying the word Sony. Notable probables are Kinect Sports 2, Dance Central 2 and a large focus on the success they’ve had digitally with XBLA. As mentioned before, Halo will probably come up, and if I were a betting man I would say that it will be in the form of a full-on remake of Halo: Combat Evolved. Something Project Gotham releated is possible and a new Perfect Dark would not surprise.
With their new partnership with Nokia other huge announcements could be looming, like a Window’s Phone 7 powered tablet or gaming device. They will talk about the adoption rate of the window phone and find a way to make it look great. That business unit still has a long way to go to become relevant, so expect something new and exciting to come out about the only Microsoft portable device. What do you expect out of the Microsoft Press Conference?
