Two weeks. There are less than two weeks until Microsoft wakes us up bright and early on that fateful Monday morning to the sounds of excited crowds, eager fans, and the eyes of hundreds of thousands of very critical online viewers. Last year Microsoft came into the show with quite a to-do list, but between controversial policies, mixed PR, and a competitor who wasn’t afraid to get a little dirty, that was a battle they simply could not win.
However, after a healthy dose of humility, a much-needed changing of heads, a new SKU, and a new price point, Microsoft is adjusting its focus from the general-entertainment-oriented consumer, to you and me – the hardcore gamer. The recent appointment of Phil Spencer as Head of Xbox and the unbundling of Kinect were the first steps towards this new direction for the Xbox brand, and E3 will be the stage for Microsoft to make this new vision a reality.
There’s a lot on the line, from both consumer opinion and the future of the Xbox brand, and the appropriately-titled conference will focus, seemingly solely, on what it is that made me and the other 5 million early-adopters pick up the Day One Edition of Microsoft’s Xbox One – games.
Xbox: Game On
Be it the mascot of the console, a reboot of a classic exclusive, or the viewing of a third-party multiplat, Microsoft has one thing on their to-do list this year: Convince everyone watching that Xbox is the best place to play, and that it has the best lineup of both first-party and second-party exclusives. With the preemptive announcement of 2015′s Halo 5: Guardians, Microsoft has already ensured us that we will be seeing more Halo at the show, and that our “Halo journey” will begin later this year. Additionally, it has been confirmed that Fable: Legends will be making an appearance, but in what form we do not yet know.
Other first-party and second-party titles that we can expect to make an appearance, if only for a brief moment, are Insomniac’s Sunset Overdrive, Remedy’s Quantum Break, and most likely a teaser trailer from Black Tusk’s early work on their Gears of War project. 4J Studio’s Minecraft: Xbox One Edition will likely make a brief appearance, as well as Sledgehammer’s Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare. And after EA and Microsoft’s partnership from last year, the extent of which is still largely unknown, I would also expect to see some upcoming titles from some of either BioWare, DICE, or Visceral, preferably Mass Effect 4, the Star Wars Battlefront reboot, or the next installment within the Mirror’s Edge franchise.
If rumor is to be believed, we can also expect a Fallout 4 reveal on Microsoft’s stage, as well as the the reveal of reboots from a few classic Rare franchises. Additionally, Ryse 2 is supposedly scheduled for a teaser appearance, and Forza Horizon 2 will bring the much-loved arcade-racer to the 8th generation. Finally Epic is rumored to be there to unveil their new game base on the Samaritan demo from 2012. This is set to be an Xbox One exclusive, with Microsoft as the publisher.
Delivering More Choices for Fans
Despite the main focus of the event being solely software-oriented, the brief mention of hardware and policy changes are bound to make an appearance. Microsoft may have already announced Kinect’s unbundling, and the new price-point that comes along with it, but seeing as how the new hardware will be available on the day of the event, it’s unthinkable that this subject won’t be discussed, if only as a reminder on their way off the stage.
Furthermore, along side the new hardware will be a slew of policy changes and program advancements. No longer will apps such as Netflix and Hulu Plus be locked behind an Xbox Live Gold membership subscription. Additionally, Games With Gold will also be launching that same day, so it will be safe to expect either a demonstration or at least a brief description of how the service will function on Xbox One.
Entering New Markets
It has already been announced that it will be coming to at least 26 new markets later this September, with China, India, and Russia being three of the largest. Microsoft has reaffirmed its commitment to Japan several times over the course of the past year, and whether or not the system will actually succeed in the market, it isn’t a target that anyone can afford to miss, if for no reason other than simply for competition’s sake.
With the console making its way to these new markets, expect at least some specifically-oriented software to be shown, if only in montage form. Japan will be a hard nut to crack, so Microsoft can’t fool around with this one. It’s time to go hard, or go home. Japan isn’t going to put up with your shit for another decade, so you better bring your A-game.
Coming Soon to a Screen Near You
Starting this June, Microsoft will be rolling out the first wave of content from the minds and talent behind Xbox Originals. To keep the “TV talk” to a minimum, this section will be brief… Very brief. Expect a brief reminder of some of the projects that are in the works – 2015′s Halo TV show, the Halo “digital feature”, the ET documentary, etc. – but nothing more than a reminder. That lesson was learned the hard way.
Xbox One Daily’s Coverage
It is with great pleasure that I am finally able to announce that I, as well as a few of my colleagues from Wii U Daily and PS4 Daily, will be making the trip to Los Angeles to bring you as much news as I can from both the show floor and from whatever interviews we can schedule. The ability to attend and cover E3 is every gamer and gaming journalist’s dream, and it is thanks to you, the readers, that I am able to represent this site at E3. Over the past few weeks I’ve seen a revival within the XOD community, and that only encourages me to push harder to get these stories out and to dig deeper into any rumors I come across.
In every way that we can, the team that we’ve assembled will be bringing you all the biggest headlines and as many hands-on impressions as we can. Our team is fairly small, so I can’t promise that we’ll be able to pump out content like the IGNs and Gamespots of the industry, but we will do our best to bring you every scrap of coverage that we can muster. It’s a great privilege to be able to cover this event for you all, and I can’t think of any community I’d rather be representing.
In the coming days there will be opportunities for you all to express what you would like to see the most coverage of. You are why we are going to this event, and as such, I’m making what you want to see covered most my chief priority.
Hopes and Dreams
The weeks and months leading up to E3 are a guessing game, and the hype leading up to the event is half what is so great about it. Freaking out about every new Halo 2 Anniversary rumor with bluSPECTRE, TomDobo, Jackassassin, and everyone else have been some of the best times I’ve had on this site over the 6 months of my authorship, and I am very much looking forward to seeing the climax of that cumulative hype-train. Not every rumor that we’ve discussed will come to fruition, I know that, but whatever it is that we’re graced with come that glorious Monday morning, you can bet your ass that we’ll all be freaking out together.
As far as what I am most excited about seeing week after next, first and foremost is Halo 2 Anniversary, or The Master Chief Collection – whichever it is. After that, Halo 5: Guardians and Star Wars Battlefront will be battling it out, with Mass Effect 4 and The Division taking up the 4th and 5th slots. Over in the indie-corner we have Below and No Man’s Sky, and hopefully we’ll see several more titles emerge out of the ID@Xbox program. Of course there’s always room for new IPs, but I’m going to have to wait to see these properties before I can be excited about them.
Phil Spencer and the Xbox Team have a few surprises tucked away for us no doubt, but even if they didn’t? The current line-up already has me giddy with anticipation, so I can only imagine what lies in store. This will be my first time both attending and covering E3, and I’m so glad I get to experience it with you all.
Join the Conversation
Now that I’ve put myself out here and laid out my predictions for Microsoft’s E3 2014 presentation, I’d love to hear from you. Do you agree with my forecast, or did I completely miss the mark? Be sure to share your E3 predictions and conspiracy theories via the comments below!
