Gamertell

Microsoft Press Conference - 8:30 pm (PT), Tuesday, July 10, 2007

8:30 pm Alright folks, looks like we’re getting some live feed via 1up.com. Funky techno beats and what looks like a panorama shot of the Microsoft screens. The feed is pretty choppy so bear with me.

8:33 Looks like they’re starting off with some Halo stuff. There’s a starry sky and stormy nebulae on the main screen.

8:35 I believe they have a live band playing the Halo theme, and quite a pretty violinist as well. Screenshots of the game intermixed with shots of the band playing live. Pretty stunning.

8:38 More screen shots of the game. The band finishes. Then they start again. Peter Moore takes the stage.

8:40 Moore takes the stage and moves through the pleasantries. “Greatest Holiday lineup ever…”

8:41 Rock Band demo starts. Similar in presentation to guitar hero but with four different instruments including drum set and vocals. (Editor’s Note: Moore played along side the band. It was pretty damn funny).

8:43 Second of accidental pauses by Moore. Poor guy.

8:44 Rock Band is Xbox live compatible and you can create bands through Xbox Live.

8:45 New Viva Piñata that looks like fusion frenzy

8:46 Mass Effect demo. Some recycled footage, Looks like a much more cinematic Halo type story. Game play looks pretty smooth with lots of cool explosions.

8:48 Moore goes into some business presentation stuff. 360s are selling more games than anyone else, more than Sony and Nintendo combined.

8:50 Some additional crushing business numbers 2.4 billion in retail, more than the other two combined. Moore makes a great joke about tattoos.

8:52 Perfect storm of GTAIV, Madden, and Halo 3 echoes Holiday 2004.

8:53 Montage of upcoming games including Katamari, The Simpson’s Game, Bioshock, Madden, Tony Hawk, Crash Bandicoot, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Rock Band, and a lot of other games. There must be something like twenty titles.

8:56Jeff Bell takes the stage and talks some family gaming. Opens with SceneIt? as a family oriented game. Debuts a buzzer-like controller that nods to regression gaming. 

8:58 Naruto, Rise of a Ninja. Cell shaded action game based on a TV show on cartoon network. Heavy on fighting. Looks like the new Dragonball Z.

9:00 EA saber-rattling and an impending montage of sports related games. Claiming they will now run twice as fast on the 360. Reggie Bush comes out onto stage. He plays Jeff Bell. Gain of six. Reggie tears into the left side and scores on Jeff. Embarrassing. 

9:03 XboxLive numbers, 7 million members. New member every eight seconds. Claiming to cross ten million by next year.

9:04 XboxLive Arcade. Over 100 titles by the end of the year. Bomberman Live, Hexic 2, Sonic the Hedgehog, War World, Wing Commander Arena, Track and Field, Chess, Golden Axe, Switchball, Boku Suduko, and many others.

9:07 Xbox Live movies, 125 million dollars spent on downloadable content since launch. Disney goes to Xbox live: Tarzan, Hercules, Atlantis, Emperor’s New Groove, Sky High, The Waterboy, Unbreakable, The Brothers Grimm, The Queen, and others.

9:10All movies previewed will be available tonight for download in HD. Future Disney movies will be available.

9:11 Shane Kim takes the stage. Talks about partnering with great third parties, standard of Microsoft joining with great developers.

9:13 Brian Woodhouse and Craig Howard take audience through PGR4. Bikes are to be included in the new game, some impressive footage of a rain-swept course at night. They show the latest trailer. Lots of sweet racing shots of PGR4. Lots of new cars and phat techno beats.

9:18 Alan Wake, Too Human, Fable 2, and Halo Wars. Announcement of Halo movie with Peter Jackson.

9:19 Lost Odyssey demo, sweeping RPG that looks like it might give Final Fantasy a run for its money. Blue Dragon, Mass Effect, Lost Odyssey as trio of holiday RPGs.

9:20 Gears of War for Windows with new content, a game editor, and other “big surprises.”

9:21 Cliffy B takes the stage. #1 game on platform and xbox live. Five new single player chapters, new multiplayer and other stuff. Cliffy fights the giant with a cannon strapped to its back. I think he’s playing it on easy cause he’s just getting hammered.

9:25 Moore takes the stage again and talks about Games for Windows Live. More than a dozen Live Enabled titles that will be cross PC XBox. Lots of talk about Games for Windows and their exciting new titles. Flight simulator X, Thrillvile, Bee Movie Game (again) Hellgate London, Age of Empires III, Stranglehold, Gears of War, Bioshock, Crysis, Universe at War, Blacksite Area 51, World in Conflict, Age of Conan, Lost Planet, Kane and Lynch, Company of Heroes, Zoo Tycoon, Viva Pinata and others.

9:30 Call of Duty 4. Trailer is all game play footage. Ukraine as the battlefield, looks like re-imagining of soviet conflicts. I think I caught a nuclear explosion in there. Definitely some nukes in there and some smart-bomb type things.

9:33 Call of Duty 4 developers come out and give the old ‘one two how do you do.’ Jason West shows some more cutscenes and in game footage. Players start in a radiation infested field. A player in cameo appears to come out of the ground in front. Scope and held breath footage looks pretty neat. The soundtrack is sad strings, and the game has a Ghost Recon feel but looks a little more stylish. The terrain graphics look amazing. Visit charlieoscardelta.com for details about Call of Duty 4 beta.

9:39 GTAIV trailer #2. This has been available for a while on Xbox Live. Exclusive episodes will be released for Xbox360 in Spring 2008.

9:42 Resident Evil 5 will launch for the 360 sometime next year. July 26, 2007, full trailer available.

9:43 Assassins Creed developers come out and demo the game. Ubisoft Montreal Studio shows Jerusalem from the very top of a cathedral when the character jumps down and lands in a cart of hay. The game looks pretty slick. The fight physics really look amazing as well. The main character chases the bad guy and performs some neat acrobatics. That one was a jaw dropper.

9:50 Here comes the Halo stuff. Looks like a live action short. Lots of heavy drums and footage of troopers gearing up for battle. Announcement of Halo 3 merchandise.

9:55 Moore makes closing remarks and ends with a new Halo 3 trailer. Looks like New footage, burning earth and the Master Chief looking particularly stoic. Another montage of Halo 3 footage. We can see some giant gamers in there and Cortana in obvious distress.

Well, that looks like the end of it. Thanks for joining us, and happy E3!