Microsoft E3 Conference Impressions

Going into the Microsoft E3 Press Conference I had some idea of what to expect but I was hoping that Microsoft would pull something out of its hat that would really blow me and the industry away. Well their conference was a hit and miss. Lets breakdown their conference shall we.

The Microsoft Conference opened with the return of Master Chief and the first ever single player gameplay. The opening screen shows just how much of a bump in graphics this game has; Master Chief has never looked better and the same applies to Cortana. New enemies, news weapons and new gameplay elements are in store for gamers when Halo 4 is released later this years.


The show them jumps into the world premiere of Splinter Cell: Blacklist bring back Sam Fisher who seems more brutal with his takedowns. What was more impressive was the fact that the game incorporates Kinect to let you use specific voice commands.


Here's where the Microsoft Conference takes a bit of a dive with holding my attention and probably yours too. Forza Horizon and Gears of War: Judgement trailers roll across the screen and then they go into their entertainment portion. Upgrades to the Kinect including multi-language recognition and its integration into Fifa and Madden 13. What I'd say was something a lot of people wanted was a browser for Xbox 360 and they delivered on that.

What I consider a hit and miss with Microsoft Conference is Xbox Smart Glass which lets you incorporate your tablet, phone and Xbox into a tool that allows for a greater immersive experience and functionality with your games and media (More on this in another post).


With the conference winding to a close; the South Park: The Stick of Truth trailer was quite funny and then Microsoft revealed Dance Central 3 followed by a performance from Usher, showed new gameplay from Resident Evil 6 and closed with gameplay from Call of Duty Black Ops II.


Were you expecting more? Well so was I. Microsoft did not impress me at all, granted there was more stuff that I didn't mention but believe me when I say there was nothing that really stood out. Honestly I was surprised to see another iteration of Dance Central so soon. You can check out the full conference and some of the trailers that they showed under the E3 2012 playlist. We'll have to see if Nintendo and Sony can do any better with their conferences.