Microsoft Press Conference At E3 2016 Recap And Opinions

The 3rd E3 conference featured the industry titan Microsoft, and boy was it a big one.

After the underwhelming EA Press conference, I was expecting more of the competition, but not nearly this much. My team and I were scrambling in order to cover all of the reveals, teasers, and announcements. I can safely say we were not left wanting in terms of Microsoft reveals.

The first big standout was the fact that almost all of the titles discussed are going to be available on PC via Windows 10 as well as Xbox One. I am more of a console gamer myself, but now more people who have been left out on the PC side will get to enjoy games like Halo Wars 2 or multiple indie titles. Halo Wars is especially going to be well received for PC, being a RTS after all, a genre that works well with mouse and keyboard controls. In addition to multiple games being available on Windows 10, you also get the corresponding console or PC game for free, allowing someone to enjoy a title on both their PC and Xbox One. These titles are also going to be able to be played anywhere, meaning that you can save your game on Xbox One, and resume it on your Windows 10 PC.

The game I was most looking forward to seeing was Scalebound, and the gameplay trailer did not disappoint. The trailer showed a 4 way co-op battle against a crab spider alien monster beast boss (Say that five times fast.). Not only can you team up with friends, but even their dragons as well. The combat looks epic, with insane moves ranging from hanging from the back of your dragon hurling fireballs, to shooting arrows at weak points, to slashing the vulnerable eyes. This is by far my most anticipated upcoming release followed closely by Mass Effect and Pokemon.

Our full recap is as follows:

• Phil Spencer addresses the Orlando shooting.
• Xbox One S officially announced. Will support HDR recording and 4K video streaming. Xbox One S Controller will ship alongside the console and will support Bluetooth connectivity.
• Gears Of War 4 gameplay trailer shown. Every game mode in the upcoming Gears of War 4 will support cross-platform play. Horde Mode 3.0 was also announced.
• Xbox Elite Controller: Gears of War 4 Revealed.
• Rukari Austin reveals Killer Instinct adding General Raam to the roster who can be played for free this week only
• Forza Horizon 3 trailer and announcement followed by Forza game play demo on both Xbox and PC depicting the different racing maps and styles. Microsoft exclusive.
• New gameplay trailer for Recore shown.
• Final Fantasy XV gameplay demo depicting the fluid battle system. Will be launching Sept 30th, 2016 for current-generation platforms.
• The Division Underground expansion announced with trailer. Coming first to Xbox One.
• EA’s Battlefield 1 trailer shown off (again). Launches Oct 21st and 13th on Xbox One through EA access
• Mike Ybarra discussed more multiple online improvements and features launching such as: More live servers closer to gamers, cross network play, more Xbox backwards compatibility, background music, language preference, Cortana assistance, clubs on live, mmo-style looking for group system on live, and finally, arena modes on live
• Minecraft cross platform play revealed, dubbed Realms, with dedicated servers. A gameplay demo of cross platform friends joining was shown, as well as Minecraft VR. New texture packs and add ons were announced to be coming this fall. You can try Realms for free, along with more surprises at Minecon this September.
• Custom color scheme elite controller revealed, boasting 8 million combinations.
• The makers of Limbo showed a trailer for the game Inside launching June 29th, 2016. Limbo will also be available for free on Xbox to all Gold subscribers today.
• We Happy Few trailer was shown, with a release date of July 26th, 2016.
• Full Witcher card game called Gwent was revealed through a trailer, along with gameplay.
• Tekken 7 trailer shown, followed by brief gameplay with an early 2017 release window. Tekken Tag Tourney 2 is now free to all Gold subscribers.
• Dead Rising 4 trailer shown and announced for Holiday 2016 release. Will be a Microsoft exclusive.
• Hideki Kamiya shows a Scalebound co-op boss battle. Scalebound will be a “Play Anywhere” title and a Microsoft exclusive.
• Sea Of Thieves trailer, followed by game play of community members playing blind.
• State Of Decay 2 trailer shown off.
• New Halo Wars 2 trailer shown, being developed by 343 Industries. Will be released on February 21st, 2017 for Xbox One and Windows 10 PC. The Beta launches June 13th-20th.
• Project Scorpio officially announced, coming 2017. The trailer focuses on 4K gaming, high fidelity virtual reality, and will be compatible with all Xbox One products.

This is going to be a hard act to follow. There were a few games though, such as Final Fantasy XV that I didn’t feel really needed to be there, and I’m sure all of us would have liked to see more of Scalebound. Phil Spencer really seems to be a man passionate about gaming. He clearly cares about giving us gamers a higher value with our experience, and because of that I am glad to see him at the head of the Microsoft gaming fleet. Check back with us later today to see what Sony can counter with.