Microsoft kicked off their E3 2017 press conference by officially revealing their beefy new console, the $499 Xbox One X. WITNESS.
The new console may have been Microsoftâs big hardware announcement, but they actually didnât spend too much time talking about the device itself. With the announcement out of the way, their focus quickly shifted focus to games. So many games! They showed trailer after trailer, with a few longer demos breaking up the machine-gun pace.
Letâs run it all down.
They started with the Xbox One X, Coming November 7.
After months of hype, Microsoft opened by unveiling the Xbox One X, which I hope everyone begins abbreviating as âXOX.â We can pronounce it âZox.â
We already know a lot about the Xbox One Xâs specs, so the big news at E3 was the release date and price. Itâll be out on November 7, 2017, and will cost $499.
Backward Compatibility Will Soon Include Original Xbox Games
Microsoft also announced theyâre expanding their backward compatibility program to include Xbox games. Phil Spencer said that over half of Xbox One owners have played a backward compatible game. I wonder how many of those were Red Dead Redemption?
A Bunch Of Games Are Getting Xbox One X Updates
Near the end of the show Phil Spencer announced that Gears of War 4, Forza Horizon 3, Killer Instinct, Halo Wars 2 and Minecraft will get 4k updates for Xbox One X for free, along with 30 other titles thatâll get free Xbox One X updates including FFXV, RE7, Ghost Recon Wildlands, and Rocket League.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dokpy_KIuyA&list=PL0il2l-B_Wwa6GfRKWiQ_ARje9-QwB7Qc
Forza Motorsport 7 Will Run Pretty Well On Xbox One X
The first game Microsoft showed off was Forza Motorsport 7, which runs at native 4k resolution and a ârock solidâ 60fps. It looked more or less like a racing game, but having played Forza Horizon 3 at a higher frame rate on PC, itâs definitely nice that this oneâll also run at 60fps. Itâs out on October 3 on Xbox One and Windows PC, âHoliday 2017″ on Xbox One X.
Metro Exodus is coming out next year, looks good.
The next Metro game will be out on Xbox One X, and presumably on other systems as well. Just based on the demo, the new game looks like it could be open world, or at least semi open-world. Which should be interesting. Might be time to go replay the first two…
We Got Our First Look At Assassinâs Creed: Origins
Man, Iâm just looking forward to a new Assassinâs Creed game, whether or not it has giant Egyptian snakes. This game has been leaking for a while now, but now itâs confirmed: the next Assassinâs Creed will be set in ancient Egypt. Itâll launch on Xbox One, PS4 and PC on October 17.
In addition to the announcement trailer, Ubisoft showed a pretty good-looking demo of the game, which you can see above. (Ethan wrote a more detailed breakdown of the demo here.) It had sneaking, stabbing, and most important of all…
NO MINIMAP IN THE CORNER OF THE SCREEN. (!!!!!!)
Deep Rock Galactic looks like a first-person Starship Troopers.
Or more accurately, it looks sort of like a first-person Helldivers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0Tnp-3W3z4&list=PL0il2l-B_Wwa6GfRKWiQ_ARje9-QwB7Qc
PlayerUnknownâs Battlegrounds will be an Xbox One âconsole launch exclusive.â
The creator of the popular PC âItâs Basically Battle Royaleâ game Battlegrounds came out to announce that the game will be a console launch exclusive on Xbox One. Itâll arrive in late 2017.
State Of Decay 2 Is Coming Spring 2018.
The new trailer for State of Decay 2 doesnât indicate how the game will be different from the first one, beyond being bigger and better looking. However, the first game is really good, so thatâs not such a bad thing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nq_Q77bJ3H0
Minecraft is going fully multi-platform.
The folks at Mojang say Minecraft will soon have complete cross-play between âtablets, VR, Windows 10 PCs and consoles.â Thereâll also be a 4K version of the game for Xbox One X, which they showed off in the trailer above.
And Now For A Bunch Of Trailers They Ran Back To Back:
Dragon Ball FighterZ Is About What Youâd Expect.
Itâs a Dragon Ball Z fighting game. I know our Youtube thumbnail has a space before the Z, but I really want this game to be called Dragon Ball Fighterz.
The Darwin Project looks like a cartoonish competitive survival game.
Black Desert is coming to Xbox One.
The MMO Black Desert Online will make its console debut on Xbox One. I still probably wonât play it, but I will continue to appreciate how amazing all the characters look.
The Last Night looks good as hell.
Yep, I will 100% play this. What even is this game? Yes, please.
The Artful Escape looks nifty, pink.
Cecilia wrote about this game a little while back, and it sounds cool.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPqruxQGHYA
Code Vein sure does have anime vampires.
Whether or not âAnime Vampiresâ sounds good or not to you remains to be seen. This game was already announced; more info here
Tacoma is coming out August 2.
This is the next game from the folks who made Gone Home
Cuphead is finally coming out on September 29.
More saxophones in game trailers, please!
ID @ Xbox Is Bringing A Ton Of Indie Games.
The ID @ Xbox sizzle reel showed off a ton of indie games: Osiris: New Dawn, Paladins: Champions of the Realm, Raiders of the Broken Planet, PlayerUnknownâs Battlegrounds, Unruly Heroes, Fortnite, Battlerite, Surviving Mars, Fable Fortune, Observer, Robocraft Infinity, Dunk Lords, Minion Masters, Brawlout, Ooblets, Dark and Light, Strange Brigade, Riverbond, Hello Neighbor, Shift, and Conan Exiles.
Ashen Looks Like A Somber, Ragdoll Dark Souls
Weâve written about this one before. Still looks good.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dj-2Q4nCMAw
Life Is Strange: Before The Storm Goes Back In Time
The three-part prequel, which leaked a little while back, begins on August 31. Wowsers, etc.
Super Luckyâs Tale Leaves VR Behind, Coming November 7
Iâm not sure if this game will be nearly as interesting without the VR wow factor, but you never know.
Sea of Thieves Looks Like A Lot Of Fun.
Microsoft slowed down for a minute to show off some neat looking gameplay from Sea of Thieves, Rareâs upcoming open-world online pirate game. In the demo, a team of players followed a map to hunt down some treasure, running into some trouble along the way. Looks great.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_9fG8hPCi0
Crackdown 3 Hopefully Features A Lot Of Terry Crews
The intro video for Crackdown 3 featured Terry Crews screaming energetically at the camera, which, I really hope heâs in the game a lot. Preferably yelling at Andy Samberg while holding a bunch of cute kittens. The game itself looks like multiplayer Crackdown, and will hopefully be better than Crackdown 2 was.
The Orcs in Shadow of War Look More Charming Than Ever.
Honestly, Iâm just psyched to watch orcs smack-talk one another. I would be cool with it if the entire game were just cutscenes of smacktalk. The game looks fun, but that big dumb orc stole the show. (Video via Golem.de.)
Ori And The Will Of The Wisps Looks Gorgeous
If youâre going to bring the composer onstage to play a gameâs soundtrack on piano, you could do worse than bringing Gareth Coker out to play music from a new Ori game. Come for the well designed Metroidvania, stay for the buckets of tears youâll cry within the first ten minutes.
The show closed with BioWareâs fantastic looking Anthem.
BioWare ended the show by showing off their new game Anthem running on an Xbox One. Itâs a multiplayer game where you define your combat role by the exosuit you wear. It looks gorgeous, with a massive open world. More or less a third-person Destiny with a much more ambitious open world and bestiary. Strong note to go out on.
Finally, hereâs a helpful list of all the games Microsoft showed at the event and which ones will be exclusive to Xbox One:
Anthem (Non-exclusive)
The Artful Escape of Francis Vendetti (Console launch exclusive)
Ashen (Console launch exclusive)
Assassinâs Creed: Origins (Non-exclusive)
Black Desert (Console launch exclusive)
Code Vein (Non-exclusive)
Crackdown 3 (Xbox One and Windows 10 exclusive)
Cuphead (Xbox One and Windows 10 exclusive)
The Darwin Experiment (Console launch exclusive)
Deep Rock Galactic (Console launch exclusive)
Dragon Ball Fighter Z (Non-exclusive)
Forza Motorsport 7 (Xbox One and Windows 10 exclusive)
The Last Night (Console launch exclusive)
Life Is Strange (Non-exclusive)
Metro Exodus (Non-exclusive)
Middle-Earth: Shadow of War (Non-exclusive)
Minecraft (Non-exclusive)
Ori and the Will of the Wisps (Xbox One and Windows 10 exclusive)
PlayerUnknownâs Battlegrounds (Console launch exclusive)
Sea of Thieves (Xbox One and Windows 10 exclusive)
State of Decay 2 (Xbox One and Windows 10 exclusive)
Super Luckyâs Tale (Xbox One and Windows 10 exclusive)
Tacoma (Console exclusive)
Phew! That does it for Microsoft. Hell of a lot of games, eh?
Weâll be back later tonight for Bethesdaâs press conference (full E3 press conference schedule here), and will be covering E3 all week with news, liveblogs, podcasts, videos, and spicy tweets. Stay tuned.
