Following on from the utterly bizarre scenes yesterday, where it was rumoured that Miyamoto would appear during Microsoft's E3 presentation (spoiler: he didn't), the official Xbox Twitter account has now given a nod to Nintendo's Direct taking place tomorrow.
The tweet shows "where you need to be for #XboxE3" and lists all of Microsoft's events, as well as several other briefings from other companies. Third party briefings appear - such as Bethesda and Ubisoft who will (and already have) shown off games that will be present on Xbox - but Nintendo is also listed. Hmm...
Yep, right there at the very top of the Tuesday column is Nintendo's E3 briefing - the 40-minute Direct which will be airing tomorrow. We can only think of two possible reasons for this being shown in the graphic.
The first potential reason is that perhaps Microsoft is simply sharing a list of E3 events in general, using "#XboxE3" to simply mean "E3". The second is that it wants Xbox players to watch Nintendo's show or, at the very least, is hinting that something Xbox-related will be discussed.
If fans do indeed "need to be" at the Nintendo Direct for Xbox content, what could that involve? Will Xbox Game Pass be available on Switch, just like how Xbox achievements have made their way to Nintendo's platform? Will Halo's Master Chief be revealed as the promised second Smash Bros. Ultimate DLC character as previously speculated? Or will absolutely nothing happen, with the graphic tweeted above not meaning anything at all?
At this point, your guess is as good as ours. We guess we'll find out for definite tomorrow!
Looking back on last night’s Xbox E3 2019 Briefing, I can’t help but feel that Microsoft did what they had to, but little else. There were a few surprises, a few steps in a slightly different direction compared to their main competitors, but once again, those not already invested in the Xbox ecosystem will have seen little to encourage them to get involved.
The big problem is that, while Microsoft played host to 60 games on their stage, for PlayStation owners, they know that all of the biggest and most highly anticipated games from third parties will also be coming to their console. Yes, Microsoft had a list of 30 games that would be heading into the increasingly good value Xbox Game Pass and 14 first party and exclusive games, but how many of those would convince the unconvinced to join Xbox this year? Is Ninja Theory’s 4v4 multiplayer combat game really what people expected to come after Hellblade? Is Gears 5 going to draw in the punters when Gears 4 felt slick and polished, but is so rooted as a series in the last generation?
Even the biggest surprise of the night is going to have more people cursing at Microsoft than praising them. Double Fine are a truly cherished independent game developer, sometimes having had to survive in the face of failure, but doing so while producing games big and small with a natural creative spark. Being acquired by Microsoft won’t change anything in the next year or two – Psychonauts 2 will still be coming to PlayStation 4, for example – but what about after then? Gradually their games will surely become Xbox and PC exclusive, and fans will always worry about the possibility of Microsoft interfering and the culture at the studio changing. Those are fears that should be unfounded under the current leadership, but you never know what the future holds.
But showing off loads of games was only one part of what Microsoft needed to accomplish at E3 this year. While not quite as ridiculous as Clint Eastwood telling off an empty chair, they still had to stand up to their absent competitors, and on two fronts. On a certain level, Microsoft believe that streaming is the future of gaming, whether that’s five years from now or ten, and that puts them in direct competition with both Google Stadia’s emerging platform and PlayStation Now’s established one.
This was perhaps the main area where Microsoft failed to really say anything of note. Google have announced Stadia’s launch month, its pricing and its availability, but in response Microsoft simply stated that those in attendance at E3 could try Project xCloud out. One interesting development is that you’ll be able to stream from your Xbox One to other devices, as a part of this infrastructure. You’ve been able to stream from Xbox One to Windows 10 for a few years now, but console streaming will expand this to all the devices that Microsoft intend to bring xCloud to later this year. Sure, Sony did it first with Remote Play, but this certainly doesn’t hurt to let you take your own games on the go.
Of course, the shadow looming over this entire year of console gaming is the fact that we’re coming to the end of this console generation and that everyone is gearing up and getting ready for whatever’s coming next. Here, even though not in attendance, Sony were able to outwit Microsoft and discussed some of the technical details of their console a couple months ago. It made Microsoft’s aspirational introductory video for Project Scarlett feel like an echo of Sony’s own announcement.
AMD Zen 2, Navi graphics, GDDR6, an SSD for super-fast loading, ray-tracing, 8K and 120fps; we’ve heard it all already. Microsoft did step half an inch further than that, stating that Scarlett has four times more raw processing power than the Xbox One X, that the SSD acts as virtual RAM, and, of course, confirmed the widely held expectation that the next generation will start in the run up to Christmas 2020.
As we wind down this generation, they’ve found themselves with no arch rival to be compared with, no competition for third parties to grace their stage, and the entire future of gaming to discuss. In that vacuum, Microsoft delivered a slickly produced show full of games, and yet one that was also largely unsurprising and unexciting.
For more news from Microsoft’s E3 2019 show and all the others at E3 this year, make sure to keep tabs on our E3 hub.
Microsoft's E3 2019 press conference doesn't start for another few minutes, but several pieces of information have already emerged regarding its various on its subscription services. A page on the company's website, seemingly live before it was scheduled to go public, has revealed the price of Xbox Game Pass for PC.
A month's subscription will cost $5 / £4 / AU $5, the page says, while there is currently no option to subscribe for a year. That puts the monthly price for the PC subscription at approximately half that of the Xbox One version of Game Pass, which is $10 / £8 / AU $11.
Although it shares a name with the Xbox One version, Microsoft has stated the PC Game Pass library will be curated separately. The company calls it "a new experience that we are building together with the PC community." More details will be shared during Microsoft's E3 2019press conference, where we might also hear about a next-gen Xbox.
Beyond this, Microsoft has also expanded Game Pass Ultimate to everyone. Previously only available to a select group of testers, this is a premium subscription that combines Xbox Live Gold with the Xbox One and PC versions of Game Pass for one monthly fee of $15 in the US. You can transition your existing subscriptions into this, allowing you to stack existing months toward your new Ultimate subscription. The first month is available for $1.
When Game Pass for PC was announced last month, Microsoft said it will give subscribers access to a curated library of more than 100 PC games on Windows 10, representing publishers like Bethesda, Deep Silver, Devolver Digital, Paradox Interactive, and Sega. The company also committed to including new releases from Xbox Game Studios on the PC version of Game Pass on the day of release, just like the Xbox One service. The library will add new games every month. Game Pass members can also permanently purchase the games at up to a 20% discount in the Microsoft Store, and 10% off DLC.
Microsoft's E3 2019 press conference doesn't start for another few hours, but several pieces of information have already emerged regarding its various on its subscription services. A page on the company's website, seemingly live before it was scheduled to go public, has revealed the price of Xbox Game Pass for PC.
A month's subscription will cost $5 / £4 / AU $5, the page says, while there is currently no option to subscribe for a year. That puts the monthly price for the PC subscription at approximately half that of the Xbox One version of Game Pass, which is $10 / £8 / AU $11.
Although it shares a name with the Xbox One version, Microsoft has stated the PC Game Pass library will be curated separately. The company calls it "a new experience that we are building together with the PC community." More details will be shared during Microsoft's E3 2019press conference, where we might also hear about a next-gen Xbox.
Beyond this, Microsoft has also expanded Game Pass Ultimate to everyone. Previously only available to a select group of testers, this is a premium subscription that combines Xbox Live Gold with the Xbox One and PC versions of Game Pass for one monthly fee of $15 in the US. You can transition your existing subscriptions into this, allowing you to stack existing months toward your new Ultimate subscription. The first month is available for $1.
When Game Pass for PC was announced last month, Microsoft said it will give subscribers access to a curated library of more than 100 PC games on Windows 10, representing publishers like Bethesda, Deep Silver, Devolver Digital, Paradox Interactive, and Sega. The company also committed to including new releases from Xbox Game Studios on the PC version of Game Pass on the day of release, just like the Xbox One service. The library will add new games every month. Game Pass members can also permanently purchase the games at up to a 20% discount in the Microsoft Store, and 10% off DLC.
Microsoft's E3 2019 press conference doesn't start for another few hours, but several pieces of information have already emerged regarding its various on its subscription services. A page on the company's website, seemingly live before it was scheduled to go public, has revealed the price of Xbox Game Pass for PC.
A month's subscription will cost $5 / £4 / AU $5, the page says, while there is currently no option to subscribe for a year. That puts the monthly price for the PC subscription at approximately half that of the Xbox One version of Game Pass, which is $10 / £8 / AU $11.
Although it shares a name with the Xbox One version, Microsoft has stated the PC Game Pass library will be curated separately. The company calls it "a new experience that we are building together with the PC community." More details will be shared during Microsoft's E3 2019press conference, where we might also hear about a next-gen Xbox.
Beyond this, Microsoft has also expanded Game Pass Ultimate to everyone. Previously only available to a select group of testers, this is a premium subscription that combines Xbox Live Gold with the Xbox One and PC versions of Game Pass for one monthly fee of $15 in the US. You can transition your existing subscriptions into this, allowing you to stack existing months toward your new Ultimate subscription. The first month is available for $1.
When Game Pass for PC was announced last month, Microsoft said it will give subscribers access to a curated library of more than 100 PC games on Windows 10, representing publishers like Bethesda, Deep Silver, Devolver Digital, Paradox Interactive, and Sega. The company also committed to including new releases from Xbox Game Studios on the PC version of Game Pass on the day of release, just like the Xbox One service. The library will add new games every month. Game Pass members can also permanently purchase the games at up to a 20% discount in the Microsoft Store, and 10% off DLC.
Microsoft’s E3 2019 press conference couldn’t be more important for the company. Since the launch of the Xbox One in the fall of 2013, and technically even before it because of the console’s rocky unveiling that summer, Microsoft has been playing catch-up with its primary competitor Sony. That could change this year.
Sony won’t be at E3 2019. The company is choosing to save its big reveals for next summer when it will likely announce the PlayStation 5 and deciding to give individual titles, like Hideo Kojima’s Death Stranding, individual live stream shows. That gives Microsoft the biggest and most prominent stage at this year’s conference to tell fans everything it has in store for the remainder of the Xbox One’s life cycle and to tease the future of its upcoming console. We don’t know if we’ll get the name of a new device or possibly even see it shown on-screen. But anything could happen, especially with Microsoft poised to own the conversation next week.
Just finishing our final E3 rehearsal here with the team in Redmond. Feel really good about the briefing. Lots to show. We have 14 Xbox Game Studios games in the show this year, more first party games than we've ever had in the show. Fun times. #XboxE3
Of course, there will be games. We’re expecting to hear a lot more about Halo Infinite, the final game in the franchise’s Reclaimer trilogy that could be both an Xbox One title and a launch game for the next-gen Xbox. There’s a chance we might get a release and some long-awaited gameplay footage for the title. Microsoft chief Phil Spencer says the company will have much more than Halo. He’s promising 14 Xbox Game Studios games (in other words, exclusives), thanks to Microsoft’s big game studio acquisition spree it announced at last year’s E3.
That’s a lot of potential news, so expect a long and jam-packed press conference from the Xbox team on Sunday. For those who want to watch it live, here are all the best ways to tune in.
I don't remember the last time a video game had me as hooked as Apex Legends does. And when I say "hooked," I mean that I'm staying up until 4 or 5AM playing on weekdays, which probably isn't the best idea for someone with a full-time job who has no aspirations to be a professional Twitch streamer. But, as much as I love Apex, my one complaint is that developer Respawn Entertainment doesn't keep the game feeling fresh. The last time we got a new character, for instance, was back in March with that speedy dude Octane. Thankfully, at E3 2019, Respawn revealed a new Legend named Natalie "Wattson" Paquette, who is part of the Season 2 Battle Pass that will launch on July 2nd.
I got to play a game with Wattson as my character during EA's Play event in Los Angeles and, if you enjoy defensive or support roles in Legends, chances are you're going to appreciate her attributes. Wattson, whose backstory deems her a savvy electrical engineer, has three main abilities: Perimeter Security, Spark of Genius and Interception Pylon. Not only can she set up energy fences to guard territories surrounding her (perfect for when you're in the bunker at Kings Canyon), but her Ultimate power will let you create electric towers that destroy any incoming objects. Additionally, Wattson's Ultimate Ability can repair damaged shields -- that is, until someone takes down the electrified pylons you place around you.
As an attack-minded Apex Legends player, I likely won't play with Wattson much; Octane is still the way to go for me. But I can see how she could be come a strong asset for any squad, especially for players who master her abilities, which will come in super handy to protect and support your team. More importantly, though, I'm just glad to see that we'll soon have a new face in Apex Legends, along with the daily and weekly challenges that Respawn has promised for Battle Pass Season 2. I only wish my fellow Apex Legends players didn't have to wait until July 2nd to play with Wattson.
Aside from the new character, I'm also looking forward to Respawn making the Mozambique shotgun a useful weapon, which the developer hinted at during today's EA Play event. It's unclear what the plans are, exactly, but let's just hope the changes at least make it more powerful than just punching someone. Because, seriously, while the Mozambique is great meme fodder, that gun may as well not even exist in the game right now.
Catch up on all the latest news from E3 2019 here!
