Microsoft has unveiled new singing, trivia
and camera-based games, as well as online games shows with prizes, in an effort
to widen the audience for their "boy's toy" console, the Xbox 360.
Microsoft's press conference in Los Angeles
this morning was the first official event of the Electronic Entertainment Expo
(E3).
Microsoft has had great success attracting
hardcore gamers to the Xbox using the likes of Halo and Gears of War, but has
struggled to attract the wide audience that the PlayStation 2 and Wii consoles enjoy.
Unfortunately, many of the new weapons unveiled by Microsoft today in its
battle for next-generation dominance were simply reworked versions of games already
popular on other formats, including PlayStation's EyeToy, SingStar and Buzz
franchises.
Microsoft has also borrowed the concept of personalised "Mii" avatars from Nintendo, which will be part of a dramatic new update of the Xbox
360 dashboard interface later this year. The change will help make it much easier for consumers to navigate
the console's rapidly growing content.
Microsoft's answer to SingStar is called
Lips and features wireless microphones and the chance to sing along to tracks
from your own music collection directly from your iPod.
Lips certainly looked a lot more fun than an insipid EyeToy-inspired
camera game from Codemasters called You're in the Movies that lets you create
"short, campy B-movies where you friends are the stars".
Microsoft's Christmas arsenal also includes
Scene It? Box Office Smash, developed by Australia's Krome Studios. The quiz
game features new content, puzzles, downloadable questions, online play and
will be one of the first games available to use Microsoft's new customisable avatars.
In a similar vein, an interesting new Xbox
Live "Primetime" channel will seek to continue the exodus of
television viewers via massively multiplayer game shows with avatars and real
prizes, and "regularly scheduled programming".
Microsoft has partnered with Big Brother
creators Endemol to deliver programs like 1 Vs 100 in what was described as "a
combination of the best of television and the best of games" and "the
next frontier in social entertainment".
While the "social games" unveiled
at today's event are unlikely to encourage many newcomers to buy an Xbox 360, the
console's hardcore appeal was further bolstered by the announcement that Final
Fantasy XIII is coming to the platform, joining other blockbusters like Fallout
3, Resident Evil 5, Gears of War 2, Rock Band 2, Fable 2 and Guitar Hero World
Tour, which all looked fantastic.
Highlighting the popularity of music games,
representatives of both Guitar Hero: World Tour and Rock Band 2 were invited onto the stage during the press conference.
Kai Huang from Red Octane announced Van
Halen and The Eagles would be exclusive to Guitar Hero, and World Tour will
feature 85 songs on the disc and new downloadable tracks from Metallica.
Guitar Hero World Tour also includes new
wireless drum kits with cymbals, a touch-slide guitar, an online band-based
career mode, and eight-player battle-of-the-bands multiplayer competition.
Rock Band 2 will be available first on the
Xbox 360 in the US from September, but as Australia still does not yet have a
release date for the original version, a local release is uncertain.
Harmonix revealed the entire 84-song
soundtrack for Rock Band 2. All songs are original masters, including tracks
from Bob Dylan, AC-DC (Let There Be Rock!) and a new Guns 'N Roses song.
All downloaded tracks from the original
will be "seamlessly integrated" into Rock Band 2, with users able to
download over 500 songs by Christmas.
A strong line-up of new Xbox Live Arcade
titles was also unveiled, including Uno Rush, Geometry Wars 2 Retro Evolved, a
new South Park game, new levels for Portal, the original Banjo Kazooie from the Nintendo 64, and Galaga
Legions, a sequel to the classic arcade shooter from the makers of Pac-Man Championship Edition at Namco.