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Tech Bytes: Microsoft at E3: Halo 3, Rock Band, a new controller for Xbox 360
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Microsoft at E3: Halo 3, Rock Band, a new controller for Xbox 360

by Erin Bell, special to CBCNews.ca

Although rumours of an Xbox 360 price-drop announcement proved to be unfounded, Microsoft still had plenty of interesting announcements to make at its E3 press conference, held Tuesday night in a surprisingly chilly open-air amphitheatre in Santa Monica, Calif.

Live music provided by a band of "Halo 3 fans" kicked off the conference, which then segued into even more music as the evening's host, corporate VP Peter Moore, strapped on a guitar controller to demo the game Rock Band. Developed by Massachusetts-based Harmonix, Rock Band lets up to four players play along with musical tracks together using special guitar, bass, drum, and microphone peripherals. Moore was backed by three Harmonix employees, including CEO Alex Rigopulos on drums, and played through the Hives' "Main Offender."

Xbox2Sized.jpg

From there, Microsoft trotted out various pie charts and bar graphs pointing out the fact that the Xbox 360 is the top-selling current-generation console to date, after which the conference settled into a rhythm of product demos and announcements.

Of particular interest to Canadians is the announcement that Microsoft will be rolling out its high-definition video store on Xbox Live Marketplace to Canada by the end of the year. The service already offers more than 2,350 hours of video content and 500 hours of HD content for download to U.S. customers.

Microsoft showcased an impressive roster of A-list titles and Xbox 360 exclusives, including Halo 3 (Sept. 25), Grand Theft Auto IV (Oct. 16) and Madden 2008, the trio of titles that, according to Moore, would anchor the 360's holiday line-up.

The Canadian contingent was well-represented by Edmonton-based BioWare's futuristic role-playing game Mass Effect, and a pair of games from Ubisoft Montreal: Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Conviction and Assassin's Creed.

High-powered titles like Project Gotham 4, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and Lost Odyssey amply showcased the Xbox 360's ability to handle graphically advanced games, but it was also nice to see Microsoft emphasizing its family-oriented and casual gaming strategy with new Xbox Live Arcade titles like Hexic 2, and the console title Viva Pinata: Party, a mini-game collection that looks to be trying to take a bite out of Nintendo's Mario Party series.

The interactive board game Scene It? will be making its console debut on the Xbox 360, and will ship with a new kind of simplified wand-shaped controller.

In the worst kept secret of the show, Moore announced that the top-selling Xbox 360 title Gears of War would be coming to PC as part of the expanded Games for Windows Live brand (along with Viva Pinata and other titles). The PC version of Gears offers five new single player chapters, a new multiplayer mode, new multiplayer arenas, and new achievements.

Towards the end of the conference, Moore announced that Microsoft would be releasing a special edition grey and red Xbox 360 and various themed accessories to commemorate the launch of Halo 3. The conference ended with what a Microsoft rep later told me was a "vignette" of footage shot so far for the Halo 3 movie produced by Peter Jackson.

Erin Bell is a Toronto-based freelance video game and technology journalist, and is reporting on her fourth E3.

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Comments

James

Vancouver

Halo 3 movie???.....The Halo movie is being directed by Neil Bootkamp(spelling wrong), and is being produced by Peter Jackson. It is in indefinite delay right now. The trailer is not for a movie but for promoting Halo 3 Game....and was directed by the Neil guy.

The games look great, extremely excited for the Halo 3 game.

Posted July 11, 2007 01:01 PM

Claudio

Windsor

The Halo movie is probably going to stay in limbo. It would have been perfect for such a movie to have released alongside Halo 3 this fall. Considering all the hoopla surrounding the launch of Halo 2, Halo 3 is certainly going to be same. Wasted opportunity. I hope it'll be a CG movie as opposed to being live action, or at the very least make the chief and the covenant CG.

Posted July 11, 2007 03:51 PM

Garet

Winnipeg

I don't think at this point MS really has any reason to lower the price.

Posted July 11, 2007 03:55 PM

James

Vancouver

Claudio
I think you are right, however perhaps they are waiting for the Halo 3 to be a huge success which it will be, and then they will attract big interest from a studios like Liongate, or Miramax(Disney Corp.), or maybe even New Line Cinema. I think the "limbo" will be over by October when Halo-mania is in full gear.

Posted July 11, 2007 04:15 PM

Claudio

Windsor

I see your point James, but it's already been quite a while since the idea of a Halo movie has been floating around. With the success of Halo and Halo2 especially, a studio couldn't ask for a better scenario.

I won't claim to be an expert on the patriculars of the Halo movie. It's possible that the movie is more or less completed and they're just waiting for Halo-mania to explode. I was under the impression that all work on it stopped a while back. I suppose it's also possible that the movie was meant to be a "part 4" of sorts, in which case I guess it makes no sense to release such a movie until a year or two when rabid fans are starving for more Halo.

Posted July 12, 2007 08:34 AM

Charles

Ontario

"The interactive board game Scene It? will be making its console debut on the Xbox 360, and will ship with a new kind of simplified wand-shaped controller."

...wand-shaped, eh? Well, if motion sensing and whatnot isn't going to benefit any other console, I suppose they shouldn't have a reason to emulate it, but they've begun the trend once more! Ack! Is this is going to be Duck Hunt all over again?

Also, I love the fact that Microsoft is basically turning its gaming console into a computer. Soon enough, you'll hear the tell-tale Welcome to Windows! theme when you turn it on. Seriously.

Posted July 12, 2007 10:31 AM

Carolyn

I wanna see a Legend of Zelda Movie!!

Posted July 12, 2007 10:34 AM

Monkey

Winnipeg

No kidding.. and of course Link gets older, Zelda gets older, Link beats the hell out of Gannondorf, and gets the princess, in more ways than one!

Rated R of course

Posted July 12, 2007 07:37 PM

Carolyn

I'd still want to see it... with the technology around today, a LoZ movie could be amazing, even if we all know how it ends.

Posted July 13, 2007 01:03 PM

Paul

Alberta

Carolyn I agree fully its about time they put a full lenght movie out about the LoZ. I am a all time lover of the game. I would be worth seeing how they picked the story line for the movie it would pretty well be the same thing as always but with a twist or two to throw people off abit.

Posted July 15, 2007 03:57 PM

Carolyn

I'm just wondering who they'd pick as Link and whether or not it would be a Japanese or an American release... personally, because of the wonderful costume actors in Japan, I'd love to see a Japanese production... But even if it wasn't, I'd want to see it simply because it's the Legend of Zelda!!

Posted July 16, 2007 11:23 AM

Monkey

Winnipeg

I think they should keep it as a cartoon or anime.... Having actual actors would make it.. awkward. "Hey listen" "Hey listen" "Hey listen" DAMN FAIRY SHUT THE HELL UP *smack!*

Posted July 18, 2007 05:21 PM

Carolyn

Having it 3D would be cool too.

Posted July 19, 2007 08:43 AM

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