E3 2008 Round-Up



Xbox 360 Games:

*The Gears of War 2 release date is November 7, 2008. From the intensity of the campaign demo and the beauty of this screenshot, I expect a lot of people to skip work that day.



*Final Fantasy XIII - Youichi Wada, president of Square Enix, pulled a "oh, and one last thing" and revealed FFXIII would join Devil May Cry and Resident Evil in releasing on both the PS3 and Xbox 360. Between now and FFXIII, three other JRPGs from Square Enix will come to 360: Infinite Undiscovery, The Last Remnant, and Star Ocean: The Last Hope.



*Lips - The Xboxs answer to SingStar, Lips will provide karaoke fun for 2 players using motion sensing microphones.

*Youre in the Movies - Finally, a justification for the Vision camera! The game will ask you to do crazy motions related to even crazier mini games. It will then take this footage and create a B-Movie that you can edit and share with friends.

*Rock Band 2 - Almost all of the original Rock Band set list will be exportable to Rock Band 2, and ALL downloadable content for the first game will be forwards compatible with the second. Using that, Harmonix boasts that Rock Band 2 will have over 500 songs by the end of 2008. Several of those songs will be from Bob Dylan (Tangled Up in Blue) and ACDC (Let There Be Rock), both exclusive artists to Rock Band 2.

*Guitar Hero: World Tour - Van Halen, Aerosmith, Jimi Hendrix, and the Eagles will be exclusive to the game. The Guitar Hero drum set will be compatible with the first and second Rock Band games.

*Halo Wars - When the game arrives in the first half of 2009, it will feature a cooperative campaign where you and two friends can wage war against the covenant and a six-player versus mode over Xbox Live.



Xbox Live Arcade:

*Geometry Wars 2 - This sequel will feature 1080p support and 4 player co-op over Xbox Live and presumable through split screen. The game will be 800 Microsoft Points and will be available in August.



*New South Park game - A small clip of the title sequence was shown with a voice over by Cartman. Other details were sparse, but South Park Studios has confirmed that the game will be a brand new work (not a port of the N64 game) and will release in 2009.

*Portal: Still Alive - This downloadable version of the hit game will feature new levels and achievements. Heres hoping for a triumphant return of the companion cube... albeit a little charred.

*Uno Rush - Pretty much the same game as the original Xbox Live Arcade version, but with the incorporation of the Miis Avatars and additional modes of play.



Announcements:

*The New Xbox Experience - In a system update this Fall, the 360 dashboard will be getting a major overhaul. The new interface will streamline information and new features. The old blade-interface will be taking the place of the guide blade. Also, dont worry about your Themes, as they will become the wallpaper in your new pseudo 3D dashboard. The new "Marketplace" will allow gamers to stream previews of XBLA games without having to download the demo. New VGA resolutions such as 1440x900 (finally!) will also be included. A game installation feature will also be optional for those who wish to speed up loading times by up to 30% and reduce noise.



*The update will also add a new identity system called Avatars. A gamer will be able to create their own Avatar and use them as a virtual representation in the Xbox world, much like the use of Gamerpics in Uno. The Avatars are being designed by Microsoft-subsidiary Rare.



*LiveParty - This persistent party feature will allow gamers to join their friends parties through the new Community section. Up to 8 players can join the group, and they will be able to voice chat and stick together throughout various Xbox Live activities.



*Primetime - Since casual gaming is basically the new SkyNet, Microsoft will be adding gameshows and other activities that are based around the Avatars and community involvement. This is in the same way that Nintendo has their WiiSports to make use of their Mii system. The game chosen to show off Primetime was 1 vs 100, but expect the wildly popular Deal or No Deal to show its face eventually. Gamers can also spectate these Primetime events in addition to participating.

*Netflix - The movie rental service will be available for Xbox Live Gold members who also have Netflix Instant Queue accounts. Simply queue up the movie on the Netflix website, then instantly stream it to your 360. Subscribers in your LiveParty will be able to watch from their 360s as well.

*In a very unaggressive move, Microsoft will be lowering the price of the Premium Xbox 360 to $299, only to get it off the shelves to make way for the 60GB Xbox 360 to be sold at $349. There was no word on a price cut for the Arcade or Elite version, so well see if this strategy makes a dent in hardware sales.

*Bungie-gate 08 - On the day of the Microsoft press conference, visitors to Bungie.net were greeted with a title screen bearing a countdown to Wednesday, July 16 at 7:07 am and messages such as "Please remain calm" and "Pardon our dust", but perhaps the most apt screen was "Expect Delays", as Microsoft axed the announcement for mysterious reasons. It is important to note that rumor of a UNSC ODST squad shooter version of Halo was reported on Gamespot the night before Microsofts press conference. My two cents: Squad shooter based on the events in Halo: Fall of Reach.





-Joseph Rush