E3 2015: Microsoft's Presser Proves Packed

Steve Anderson : End Game
Steve Anderson
The Video Store Guy
| The video game industry has gone from a mole hill to a mountain in no time flat, Chris DiMarco is your Sherpa as you endeavor to scale Mount “Everquest”

E3 2015: Microsoft's Presser Proves Packed

I hate to say it like that, I really do--it's a bit too much editorializing for a headline--but seriously, Microsoft was cram-a-jam full of content from its press event. It's amazing, and this after I watched the Bethesda event in which Fallout 4 got a release date. So what's got me all a-twitter about the Microsoft press event? Well, there was a lot to catch the attention, so let's run down the biggest stuff.

First off, the games. The games were absolutely staggering. There was a new Plants Vs. Zombies on hand featuring zombies of a disturbingly technologically-savvy nature--I think at one point one actually called for a Titan drop--and what looked like a first person pirate game called Sea of Thieves. Impressive? Absolutely. But back that up with the first look at Mass Effect: Andromeda (sadly not coming out until the holiday season of 2016). But then, better yet, another look at Fallout 4 included some gameplay footage and a good old fashioned dust-up between a full-on Deathclaw and you armed with a Vertibird's minigun.

That's pretty awesome by itself, but it didn't stop there. Microsoft showed off its augmented reality system Hololens, and showed it off with the package of blocky joy that is Minecraft. Ever get as frustrated as I do not being able to tell where the strongholds are or where the minerals are, such that you end up drilling through huge piles of rock with nothing for your time but a pile of cobblestone? With Hololens, you can actually check out what's under the map's surface, and that should make an already interesting game even more fun.

Perhaps the biggest thrill of the day, though, is for those who were wondering about the fates of their old Xbox 360 games after picking up a new Xbox One. Well, good news; your purchases were not in vain. By the end of the year, Microsoft is reportedly planning to bring out better than 100 Xbox 360 titles now playable on the Xbox One, complete with broadcasting, game DVR features, and screenshots. All that needs to happen is that game developers need to give approval, and given that the opportunity to make money on old titles is there, well, that's tough to pass up. Those who bought games already, meanwhile, will be able to play said titles at no charge, making the Xbox One a better value now than ever.

All told, it was a huge, huge day for Microsoft. Clearly learning from the mistakes of the past, today was mostly about the games with just a bit of sidebar about the system itself. When you kick off with Bonnie Ross saying that this would be the greatest games lineup of all time, you've got to believe that they meant that. But with Halo 5, ReCore, and a host of new content in play, it wasn't hard to actually believe this the case.

Tomorrow, though, we're going to have a look at Sony's run, and get a better handle on just who "won" E3. At the rate we're going, though, I'm putting my bets on the same crew who won LAST year's E3: the gamers.


Featured Events