E3 2019: Highlights and announcements from Microsoft’s Xbox conference

With Sony out of the E3 2019 picture, Microsoft went all out to hog the big gaming console attention. Even Keanu Reeves came out to play! Check out the big reveals from their conference this morning. 

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The Outer Worlds

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5LaYTtIkag[/embed]

Obsidian Entertainment — the makers of RPG favs Fallout: New Vegas and Pillars of Eternity — showed off more footage of their upcoming title The Outer Worlds. It’s colourful, it’s filled with guns, and it’s a game where you can kill any NPC. Coming out on Xbox One, PS4, PC on October 25 this year.

Bleeding Edge

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_0M0ZraGMw[/embed]

The British game dev studio behind DmC: Devil May Cry have a new game, and it looks like a mashup of Overwatch and Borderlands. An all-melee 4 versus 4 combat online multiplayer game. Hard to imagine this is by the people who made the deeply dark and psychological Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice. 

Minecraft Dungeons

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0yh51p9P80[/embed]

More Minecraft! This time, it’s an 4-player co-op isometric dungeon crawler. Diablo for your kids. 

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wWkQXUMQYI[/embed]

An extended trailer for Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order with most things pretty much covered from EA’s reveal yesterday. New info: You can climb AT-ATs ala Shadow of the Colossus.

Blair Witch

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m50j3t52TtY[/embed]

Another one of those horror games where you have to rely on camcorders to see spooky stuff. Surprise! It’s Blair Witch, a new game related to the OG found footage film. 

Cyberpunk 2077

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LembwKDo1Dk[/embed]

Hell yes, even more footage of CD Projekt Red’s highly-anticipated game. A cinematic trailer, but we’ll take what we can. Spoiler alert: Your partner dies. But you'll have a new one, and he's KEANU REEVES. People absolutely lost it when the dude himself came onstage being an absolutely lovable goof. There's a release date too! April 16, 2020. 

Xbox Game Pass

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbxDn2AZgb8[/embed]

More Xbox Game Pass updates. Microsoft’s game subscription service is now on both Xbox and PC, with new games added including Halo’s Master Chief Collection. $14.99 a month to get it all in Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. It'll be $1 for the first month, which is pretty sweet. 

Battletoads

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOBBtc8Af3E[/embed]

Hah, remember that old 4chan prank? Welp, a new Battletoads beat-em-up game is here. 

Microsoft Flight Simulator

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReDDgFfWlS4[/embed]

Aviation geeks should love getting a new Flight Simulator next year. Graphics look solid. 

Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOgBVR21pWg[/embed]

A blast from the past. Age of Empires II — one of the best real-time strategy games of all time — is getting a remaster, and you can play it on Xbox? Cool. There’s a new campaign called The Last Khans too. 

Psychonauts 2

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xV3LGhgDQbc[/embed]

Microsoft has acquired Tim Schafer’s Double Fine Productions studio, and yes, Psychonauts 2 is coming. Expect more psychedelic adventures with Raz and friends. 

Dragon Ball Z Kakarot

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgHmPTQsmgA[/embed]

A new Dragon Ball Z game is coming, and it’s an action-RPG. Go Super Saiyan. 

12 Minutes

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kDOvEDhWzA[/embed]

A couple of indie game trailers were shown off, but the most intriguing one belonged to Annapurna Interactive’s 12 Minutes. It’s apparently an “interactive thriller” that involves time loop mechanics of some sort. 

Gears of War 5

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErqsgG0HRR8[/embed]

The new Gears is coming out September 10, but if you want to play five days earlier, you gotta be an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscriber. No gameplay footage, but there’s a trailer for a new mode called Escape — a 3-player co-op mode that involves planting a bomb in a Locust hive and fighting your way out. Also, a Terminator Dark Fate tie-in. 

Forza Horizon 4: LEGO Speed Champions

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cASCytz8o9g[/embed]

It won’t be an Xbox E3 conference without supercars. This time, it’s made out of Lego, because Forza Horizon 4 is getting an expansion called Lego Speed Champions. Honestly looks more awesome than it should have any right to be. 

Phantasy Star Online 2

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uO-2LOdQXg[/embed]

Apparently really popular in Japan, Phantasy Star Online 2 is getting a release out in the West through Xbox in spring next year. Sega promised to bring the free-to-play MMORPG to North America by 2013, but six years late is better than never, we suppose. 

The Elden Ring

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lls6Gdua_XY[/embed]

In a team-up we never knew we needed, George RR Martin and FromSoftware are collaborating on a new IP called The Elden Ring. Should be pretty epic (and difficult as hell). No release date for now. 

Project xCloud

With Console Streaming from your Xbox One you'll be able to:

✅ Turn your Xbox One into your own personal console server
✅ Stream your Xbox One library, including Xbox Game Pass, for free

Where you play is entirely your choice. Going into preview in October. #XboxE3 pic.twitter.com/TmszGgBk21

— Xbox ➡️ E3 (@Xbox) June 9, 2019

Microsoft takes on Google Stadia with its own cloud-streaming game service. Project xCloud arrives this October, and subscribers will be able to play console-quality games on any screen. According to Microsoft, the Xbox One will be turned into a personal console server, and your entire Xbox One library can be streamed. No price plans detailed, though. 

Project Scarlett

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ktN4bycj9s[/embed]

The next-gen Xbox console is called Project Scarlett (for now) and will be out late next year. Nothing material for now, though the promo video sure had a lot of buzzwords and phrases. 8K resolution, 120 frames per second, no loading times because of bespoke AMD processors and solid-state drives. 

Halo Infinite

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtgzKBrU1GY[/embed]

Surprise! The new Halo will be a Project Scarlett launch title — a hark back to when the first Halo became a killer app for the first Xbox. Master Chief gets juiced back to life in this trailer that’s apparently game engine footage on the next-gen console. Stunning.  

ilyas@asiaone.com