So I survived the first major press conference of 2008. Earlier today Microsoft took an hour and a half to fill us in on all of their most anticipated games. Well, maybe not ALL of the most anticipated games. This was a great show for people wanting to see more Resident Evil, Final Fantasy and Gears of War, but not so much if you wanted to see Alan Wake. I've decided to take a look at eight things that were completely absent from Microsoft's press conference.
The Motion Sensing Control
Okay, so Microsoft did unveil a new motion-sensing microphone … but that's definitely not the control people were talking about. Instead people were looking for something more along the lines of the Wii remote, something where you batted your hand around and stuff happened on the screen. The good news is that you can still bat your hand around, but sadly it won't do anything significant on screen. However, if you still want that Wii experience then I suggest you take your Xbox 360 control and throw it at your TV.
Metal Gear Solid 4
Konami still hasn't had their conference, but you have to figure that if Metal Gear Solid 4 was going to be ported to the Xbox 360 we would have seen something about it at Microsoft's event. Oh well, I guess despite my predictions, Metal Gear Solid 4 is going to stay a Sony exclusive … for now, at least.
Alan Wake
Let's face it, this project is dead. When was the last time you saw a new screen shot? How about a new video? Where's the information about this game? At last year's E3 Microsoft had the logo on the screen suggesting it would be a 2008 game. But since then we've heard nothing. I suppose that doesn't mean all is doomed, but it might as well. Sorry adventure game fans, Alan Wake is apparently dead.
Halo Wars
Considering that Halo Wars is one of Microsoft's biggest games of 2008 it seems odd that they wouldn't feature it front and center at the press conference. Outside of touting the popularity of Halo 3, Microsoft didn't mention anything about this real-time strategy game. Could that mean that the project is about to be delayed? I guess I'll find out when I spend some time with it on Wednesday. Either way, Halo Wars was completely missing in action.
That New Bungie Game
Speaking of Halo, wasn't Bungie supposed to announce a new game today? Yet there was no word of it at the Microsoft event, which leads me to believe that it may actually be a game on another console. Could we see some sort of announcement at Sony or Nintendo's conference tomorrow? Or is this one of those announcements that isn't going to be made at E3? Who knows, but I was definitely looking forward to Pimps At Sea.
Games For Windows
By my count the words "Games For Windows" was only mentioned twice - once by a Microsoft employee and once by Yoichi Wada when talking about The Last Remnant. Last year Microsoft spent a good ten minutes trying to convince people that Games For Windows was the future, with games like Viva Pinata and Gears of War. But this year was different; nobody seems to care about the PC any more. I may not be a big PC gamer, but it does seem odd that Microsoft would spend no time talking about Games For Windows.
X-COM
Microsoft also spent next to no time talking about the Xbox Live Arcade. To be fair, they did talk about four upcoming titles (including a new Galaga, Geometry Wars 2 and Portal: Still Alive). But that's only four games, which is just a sample of what we should expect in the next few months. The biggest disappointment has to be X-COM, which is one of my favorite games. I was definitely looking forward to hearing something about this title, especially since it has been rumored for months now. Oh well, just because they didn't mention it doesn't mean it isn't going to happen eventually.
Too Human
It could be because it sucks and Microsoft is trying to distance themselves away from the train wreck that is Dennis Dyack.
Comments
I was surfing the net yesterday and I found many new E3 trailers and screenshots of Halo Wars. I don't want to argue because I'm not there but there it doesn't seem like Halo Wars is completly absent. Also, I played the Too Human demo that was put up on XBL and thought it was really good so i don't see a reason that Microsoft should distance away from it.
@ ATM BuTcH3R
Keep in mind that this article was about the Microsoft Press Conference and ONLY the Microsoft Press Conference. The show floor doesn't open until today. I'm not saying that Microsoft won't have Too Human and Halo Wars, but they didn't mention them even once at the press conference. That was my only point.
@ Bladeex1
The "E3 in October" is E For All ... and it sucks. Hard. It's not an E3 event or anything like that, it's basically just a show for non-industry people to play games a couple weeks before their release. Don't confuse the two, they are very, very different events. Microsoft won't announce anything at E For All, mostly because the press won't be there. Let's not forget that in October the media is going to have their hands filled with actually reviewing all of these games they are showing off to the public. It's bad timing and not a very worthwhile show. If they are going to announce something it would probably be at PAX. But even then, it looks like some of this stuff just wasn't ready to be announced.
I did wonder about E3 for All so thanks for clearing that up. I didn't have plans on going but want to try and make Pax which should be a blast. I'll have to check out that Too Human demo and hopfully if it's ready we may here something about Halo Wars soon.
Also what did you think about Final Fantasy coming over to the Xbox 360?