E3 is a-comin'. Next week, great gaming companies will take to the stage to show off all kinds of games and make all kinds of promises, as they did in the past. Like last year, for example.
Let's look at what Microsoft told us at their 2013 briefing. After the somewhat unfocused reveal of the Xbox One in '13 May, Microsoft opted to focus on just games. And so they did—for both the 360 and the then-upcoming Xbox One, with a few select announcements thrown in for Xbox Live.
Xbox 360
The Promise: A "sleeker" Xbox 360 model will be made available on the day of the briefing, on June 10, 2013.
True? Yep! The Xbox 360 E indeed launched on June 10. This is what it looked like on the inside.
The Promise: The 360 will receive "literally hundreds of games" in the "next several years." They went on to mention seven games by name which would release in the following 12 months, including Grand Theft Auto V, which would launch in September, and the free-to-play World of Tanks, made available to Xbox Live Gold subscribers that Summer.
True? Apart from one small detail, yes. Every game mentioned by name managed to launch since the day of the briefing:
- Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist on August 20, 2013
- Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII on February 11, 2014
- Batman: Arkham Origins on October 25, 2013
- Max: The Curse of Brotherhood on April 9, 2014
- Dark Souls 2 on March 11, 2014
Grand Theft Auto V also met its promised release window on September 17, 2013. As for World of Tanks, while the game did launch in late June, it was an invitation-only Beta, which later became an open Beta in December, only to end in February of 2014, when the full game was officially released.
Xbox One
The Promise: The Xbox One will launch in November 2013 in 21 markets around the world. The price point was set at $499 in the US, €499 in Europe, and £429 in the UK.
True? Yes, but not for every market. In August, the number of markets the XB1 would launch in got trimmed down to 13, where the console indeed launched on November 22, 2013. The Xbox One is currently slated to come to 26 more markets, including Japan, this Fall. Microsoft has also partnered with China-based BesTV to help bring the console to the country.
You can have a gander at our recently updated review for a closer look at the console itself.
The Promise: Hideo Kojima's Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain will come to the Xbox One.
True? Not yet, though the game's prologue was released in the form of Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes on March 18, 2014. Phantom Pain itself currently has no release date.
The Promise: The exclusive 300-esque Ryse: Son of Rome will launch on the same day as the Xbox One.
True? Yes, Ryse arrived with the console on November 22, 2013. You can check out our review here.
The Promise: Double Helix will develop a new Killer Instinct game exclusively for the Xbox One.
True? Yep, Killer Instinct launched with the Xbox One. This is what we thought of it.
The Promise: A rather colorful open-world game by Insomniac called Sunset Overdrive will come exclusively to Xbox One.
True? Not yet, and there's currently no known release date—though we do have impressions of the game.
The Promise: Turn Ten Studios is developing a fifth Forza Motorsport game which will launch alongside the Xbox One.
True? Indeed. Forza Motorsport 5 landed on November 22, 2013, complete with microtransactions which caused headaches for quite a few people.
The Promise: Minecraft is coming to the Xbox One.
True? Not yet, but soon. The PlayStation 4, PS Vita, and Xbox One versions of Minecraft will be released in August.
The Promise: Remedy showcased their new adventure game Quantum Break, noting that it will come exclusively to Xbox One.
True? Not yet. Quantum Break is currently slated to come out at some point in 2015.
The Promise: Swery is bringing D4, an episodic, cel-shaded murder mystery, to the Xbox One.
True? Not yet. No release date is currently known.
The Promise: Part game part game-maker Project Spark will come to Xbox One and Windows 8.
True? Not yet, though a PC Beta has been underway since December, along with an Xbox One Beta since March.
The Promise: A new game from the creator of Panzer Dragoon, called Crimson Dragon, will come exclusively to Xbox One.
True? Yep, it launched with the console on November 22, 2013. You can find our review right here.
The Promise: A new Dead Rising game will come to Xbox One in the 2013 holiday season.
True? Yes. Dead Rising 3 was a launch title, released on November 22, 2013. You can read our review here.
The Promise: CD Projekt Red's new RPG, The Witcher 3, will come to the Xbox One with exclusive Kinect and Smartglass functionality.
True? Not yet. In fact, The Witcher 3 has since been delayed to 2015 February.
The Promise: The next Battlefield will be on the Xbox One, and its Second Assault map pack will launch on the Xbox One first.
True? Yes—the Xbox One version of Battlefield 4 was released on November 22, 2013, along with the Second Assault pack, which only made its way to other platforms in 2014. Here's what we thought of the game.
The Promise: Capybara games is developing a new roguelike called Below which will come to Xbox One.
True? Not yet. No release date has been announced so far, though the game has been confirmed to be coming to PC as well. Below was also playable at PAX East; you can check out our footage here.
The Promise: Vancouver-based Black Tusk Studios is developing a "brand new, triple-A exclusive game" for the Xbox One.
True? No. Microsoft's Phil Spencer confirmed to Polygon that the teaser shown at E3 was "a concept piece," and not an actual game that was in development. Black Tusk is currently working on the next Gears of War game.
The Promise: The fifth main Halo game will come exclusively to the Xbox One.
True? Not yet. Halo 5: Guardians is set to arrive in 2015.
The Promise: Mecha-shooting multiplayer game Titanfall will come "exclusively to Xbox" in 2014 Spring.
True? Yes, though it landed on PC too. Titanfall came out on March 11 on Xbox One and PC, and on April 8 on the 360. We have a review for you right here.
Xbox Live & Twitch
The Promise: Hassle-free game streaming will be part of Xbox One in the form of Twitch integration.
True? Yes, but not at launch. The feature was officially announced in 2014 February as part of the following month's March system update.
The Promise: Xbox Live Gold members will start getting two free games per month for their 360s, which are theirs to keep forever, starting July 1, 2013. These games will include Assassin's Creed II and Halo 3 in "the next several months."
True? Yep.. The first free game made available on July 1 was tower defense title Defense Grid: The Awakening, though Fable III was also free to grab until the end of June 2013. Assassin's Creed II was the July 2013's second free game, while Halo 3 was made free for two weeks in October 2013.
It's a bit different for the Xbox One—free games will only be available as long as you remain a Gold subscriber. More details on Microsoft's recently-revealed policy here.
The Promise: You'll be able to share "many" of your Xbox Live Gold benefits with "anyone in your house."
True? Yes, Xbox Live Gold sharing indeed became a thing. Basically, multiple people can use the same subscription to play games on the Xbox One—you can read about how it works here.
The Promise: Xbox Live memberships will carry over to Xbox One.
True? Yes, Xbox Live memberships are valid on both the 360 and the Xbox One, as stated here.
The Promise: Xbox Live's 100 friend limit will be removed.
True? Technically no, but practically yes. The limit stayed, but it was increased to a more reasonable 1000.
The Promise: Microsoft points will be removed, with local currency taking their place on Xbox Live.
True? Yes, this was implemented on August 26, 2013.
That's all for Microsoft. Stay tuned for a similar analysis of Sony's 2013 briefing tomorrow.
Top Photo: AP Images
Questions? Comments? Contact the author of this post at andras-AT-kotaku-DOT-com.