13:00:
The conference ends with a Halo 3 trailer. The master Chief appears. "This is the way the world ends". Halo 3. Finish the fight in 2007.
12:55:
Apparantly it wil be possible to edit things on your mobile phone and them over, for example you can edit a car boost design on Vista and sent it to the 360. Peter Moore is invited back on to the stage.
12:53:
We've moved on to mobile gaming now. The Motorola Q phone is shown with Windows Mobile. It's possible to play Zuma, which is unlocked for your gamertag on 360, Mobile and PC.
12:52:
You can view the profile on the Vista Invite. You can compare achievements across platforms. Real time voice chat is possible cross platform too.
12:51:
Scott's gamercard is displayed, "one gamertag no matter what the platform is". Seems a bit like Australia's smart card.
12:50:
Scott Henson shows the basics of logging on and bringing up your friends list in Xbox Live. He sends Major Nelson a cross-platform game invite.
12:48:
Scott Henson comes out to demonstrate Xbox Live anywhere.
12:47:
Microsoft is moving from Live to Live anywhere. "Microsoft is probably the only company that could pull this off". This idea actually has some merit.
12:45:
Some phones are now available that are the equivalent to what a PC had 3-4 years ago (not to sure about this Bill).
12:44:
One user interface, one identity, one friends lis, one yadda yadda. One whole interface in other words.
12:43:
Bill talks a little more about digital distribution and the amount of Xbox Live subscribers, wasn't he listening to Moore? Here we are, some numbers. Apparantly the most dramatic thing about taking Xbox Live to the next level is connecting 230 million MSN users, 150 million windows gamers and 1 billion game ready cell phones.
12:42:
Apparantly the biggest problem with the launch of the Xbox 360 was keeping the consoles in stock. Before any competition enters the market the Xbox 360 would have already sold 10,000,000 units.
12:39:
Bill is talking about the fact he is a heavy Xbox 360 user. Apparantly his family likes Xbox Live Arcade, which is good to know. Eight new countries will be added to Xbox Live, and the overall aim is a connected Xbox Live, so MSN and hotmail could soon connect to Xbox Live.
12:38:
Bill Gates steps onto the stage, sp now would be the perfect time for a Halo 3 announcement.
12:37:
Next we have Alan Wake, which was a huge hit at E3 last year. The game is a psychological action thriller from the team at Remedy. The game will be exclusive to the Xbox 360 and the PC again.
12:34:
Shadowrun is now being shown, it's all computer generated but looks bloody great. It will be only on the Xbox 360 and the PC .
12:33:
The demo is over. Hopefully for good. Moore re-iterates that Vista is built for games. Oblivion sold 1.7 million copies in three weeks.
12:32:
We're back to Crysis again. It does admittedly look good, especially considering it's a while away, but we've probably had enough of it now.
12:31:
Peter Moore returns on the stage. Apparantly the key is Direct X 10. An Age of Conan trailer appears, then Flight Sim X.
12:30:
The demo of Crysis is still going. There were a few frame rate issues at one stage but this is likely to be rectified in future versions of the game. The monster that was being killed in the demo is dead. The demo is over.
12:26:
We've now moved onto Windows Vista. Apparantly the most games friendly OS in the history of Windows. Chris Donahue is brought in to show off [/i]Crysis[/i]. The demo of Crysis looks great, there is a lot of detail in the game.
12:25:
Peter Moore has just announced Grand Theft Auto IV. The game will be available from DAY ONE on the Xbox 360 (this likely means there is no exclusivity deal with Rockstar for Sony).
12:24:
The Xbox 360 HD-DVD attachment will be available by Christmas, no price announced.
12:23:
Now we move onto HD. Peter Moore appear to be fantastic at linking things together. He picks up a HD-DVD player.
12:22:
Tonight, it's now possible to download high definition TV content. Gears of War: Road to E3 is a docu-drama starts tonight and finishes next week on MTV.
12:21:
Xbox Live will also contain exclusive content including music videos, movie trailers and exclusive content from Paramount, Touchstone, Disney, Epic Records, Lionsgate and Fox.
12:20:
Talk now turns to the Xbox Live marketplace. There have been over 18,000,000 downloads from the marketplace and over 1000 pieces of content are on the service as of this evening. Peter Moore mentions that with the Fight Night Round 3 demo, pre-orders increased by over 5 times after the demo was released.
12:18:
Viva Pinata is set for release before the end of the year. He mentions Sonic and Lego Star Wars: The Original Trilogy as well.
12:17:
The demo is over, Peter Moore comes back on to the stage.
12:15:
It will be possible to get accessories over Xbox Live. Apparantly you can tame angry pinatas too. Yay.
12:14:
Talk now shifts to Viva Pinata. Jim Veevaart from Rare comes on to the stage and talks about how the Pinata is the centre of the party. A video is displayed and everything "can have an impact in terms of the type of pinata you attract".
12:13:
A trailer is played for Double Agent, which looks like an impressive title. There looks to be a lot of mission variety which should be good. Apparantly the game is set for release in September.
12:12
Peter Moore talks about Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball 2. A trailer will be available on Live this week.
12:11
A video plays and Blue Dragon in particular looks pretty impressive.
12:10:
Talk now moves to Microsoft in Japan. Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi is highlighted in the crowd. Moore says that Lost Odyssey and Blue Dragon will be good, are you sure?
12:08:
New Xbox 360 accessories are announced. A steering wheel will be available with force feedback. A new wireless headset and an Xbox Live vision camera will also be available. Apparantly you can look your opponant in the eye in the World Series of Poker. Fair enough.
12:07:
More footage of Forza is still being shown. There is a lot of detail in the cars and this demonstration certainly blows away the footage that was shown of Gran Turismo HD yesterday. There are over 300 cars in the game and up to eleven other players can be played against on live. It will be available THIS Christmas.
12:05:
Forza Motorsport 2 is announced. Microsoft are really wasting no time. Apparantly they're shifting Forza into "5th gear". Some footage is shown of the game. The footage of Forza looks fantastic and very promising.
12:03:
Fable 2 is announced. Every choice leads to a different ending, etc. Most of the footage looks cinematic, but we're not sure.
12:02:
A formal announcement for a Lionhead game is being made...
12:01:
Apparantly, the only place to play next generation Madden will be on the Xbox 360, very cryptic. We're not sure what to make of it.
12:00:
Demo reel is still going and contains more trailers for titles such as Ninety Nine Nights, Gears of War, Test Drive Unlimited, NCAA Football 07, Dead Rising, DDR Universe, WWE Smackdown Vs RAW 2007 and Saint's Row.
11:59:
The trailer reel contains excerpts from Lost Planet, Table Tennis, Brothers in Arms: Hells Highway, Mass Effect, NHL 2K7, F.E.A.R, Too Human, Viva Pinata, Moto GP '06, Battle for Middle Earth II, Sonic the Hedgehog, Madden.
11:58:
"Live arcade is just the appetiser". Cue the trailer.
11:57:
Lumines Live has just been confirmed. Warner Music Group Partnership will mean exclusive music content, like Madonna in [/i]Lumines Live.
11:56:
More games: Dig Dug, New Rally-X, Ms Pac-Man. Some of these games will even include high definition, multiplayer and leaderboards.
11:54:
There is a 57% attach rate with Xbox Live. There is a trailer reel about to begin with new Xbox Live Arcade titles unveiled, which are: Pac-Man, Contra, Frogger, Galaga, Sonic the Hedgehog, Defender, Street Fighter II Hyper Fighting, Time Pilot, Ultra Mortal Kombat 3, Scramble.
11:53:
Peter Moore thinks that in the next year (by next E3) Xbox Live will surpass 6,000,000 members. That's a lot of connected people.
11:52:
Peter Moore is talking about how Microsoft is at the head of changing gaming. Ironically enough we heard a similar statement just a few hours ago.
11:50:
The demonstration is over. Peter Moore steps onto the stage and proclaims there have been 5,000,000 Xbox 360 consoles sold in eight months. This is better than the iPod and every other console before it.
11:46:
Cliff is still playing Gears of War, and it's amazingly detailed. The screen will shake as you run and many things are happening in the background. It's very easy to get immersed.
11:43:
Certain parts of the game are being shown off and it looks very very impressive. There is a lot going on at once and meanwhile this is being played by Cliff, so it's all in game footage.
11:42:
Cliff Bleszinksy from Epic Games comes out onto the stage. He is a designer for Gears of War.
11:40:
A Gears of War trailer is played first. It is immediately clear that this is the game Microsoft want to hype. "Billions Dead. Humans denied their enemy control by destroying their own civilisation". Seems cheery.
11:39:
The conference has begun. The room looks significantly busier than Nintendo's conference, but we could just be getting tired.
Loading...
