Viva Piñata becomes the focus, as is the family friendly nature. Game play is explained as a demonstration is given. It's unique in how you grow the world. Extras will be downloadable from the Marketplace, and you'll have the ability to trade piñatas with friends. This is another holiday release. Lego Star Wars II is mentioned along with the new Sonic the Hedgehog.
Moore begins to run down stats for the Xbox Live Marketplace, including the 18 million downloads they've had so far, and 1,000 items will be up as of tonight. All publishers have content up now in the Marketplace. He says this changes the way people play games, and used the jump in pre-orders for Fight Night Round 3 as proof. The games sales jumped by over five times a week after it debuted. A docu-drama on Gears of War will soon be up, and a MTV special will air next week.
The Xbox 360 HD-DVD player was shown. He says the stand-alone HD-DVD players are out of stock in stores everywhere as are the movies. The player will be available this holiday, but no price was given.
In a replay of a classic E3 moment, Moore pulls off his jacket, rolls up sleeve, and reveals a tattoo. He says, "Some guys do rubber ducks, some guys do tattoos." That tattoo reveals Grand Theft Auto IV, and he announces it will be on the Xbox 360 first on Oct. 16, 2007 for US audiences, and the 19th for Europe. The game will feature episodic content of the game on Live.
The focus now shifts to Windows, and they say Vista will be the most game friendly OS ever. The Crysis developer shows off their demo running on XP, followed by a Windows Vista games montage. "Vista is built to run games," says Moore. Its easier installation, family settings, and games accessible from start menu add to that user-friendly nature. Bethesda started a merging of 360 and Windows with Elder Scrolls, and that will continue with FASA's Shadowrun. The trailer shows game play and he says it's only on MS systems, to coincide with the Vista launch. This is followed by a brief Alan Wake trailer.
Bill Gates is brought on stage, and he says to be a big fan of Project Gotham Racing 3, while his family loves the Arcade. He says games should be available on all platforms, including mobile phones. He reassures steady stock levels, and says before the competition enters the market, they'll have a 10 million-user base. Live will keep expanding, and they have ideas to keep this moving. He hints but does not elaborate on MSN Messenger integration.
Article comments
1 - Jeff
Nice summary...