Xbox event kicks off week of E3 with big announcements and some shots at the competition

By Michael Lafferty

Partnership with EA tops billing, release date for Halo 2 announced

LOS ANGELES – Microsoft brought out some of the biggest names in sports to highlight announcements centered on its aggressive strategy for the Xbox. And the tone was not one of merely throwing down the gauntlet where the competition with Sony (and the PlayStation 2) was concerned. No, no – Microsoft did more than that. It took off the gauntlet and repeatedly slapped at its biggest competitor with it.

Mohammed Ali joined a cast of sports stars – which included Marshall Faulk, Landon Donovan and Carmelo Anthony – to promote the announcement of a big partnership between Microsoft and Electronic Arts. EA Sports is bringing its top array of titles to the Xbox and Xbox Live, and Battlefields will even show up on the platform as well.

The event was held in the Shriner’s Auditorium in Los Angeles to kick off the week of E3 – the Electronic Entertainment Expo in the L.A. Convention Center, the videogame industry’s top show.

“Tonight we’ve given you a glimpse of the future,” stated Microsoft’s Robbie Bach. “It’s going to be a great year for all of us.”

“We entered the game, we played the game, we’re changing the game,” he said.

Bach, and fellow Xbox executive officers J. Allard and Peter Moore, reiterated time and again that the key to the continued growth of Xbox and Xbox Live will be the software.

“Xbox Live has become a new level in social entertainment,” Bach stated. “Software is how we’ve done it; software is how we will continue to lead.”

“Software is what makes us the innovative leader in this market,” said Allard.

Monday night’s presentation, in addition to announcing the partnership with EA, also contained other announcements. The date has been set for the release of Halo 2. Fans can now mark November 9 down as the date they have been waiting for to play the Bungie title. Multiplayer footage was demonstrated at the event, showing the impressive new features of the title.
 

Halo 2 Releasing November 9th 

Add to that the release of Dead or Alive Ultimate, the first three-dimensional fighter game to go online, and a brand new title Forza Motorsport, and you have the basis for a promising year for Microsoft.

“If it is not already apparent,” Moore said, “the Xbox pipeline is loaded with great titles.

“This is the most impressive lineup for the Xbox ever.”

Allard talked about pending new features for the console system, which includes adding video to the new voice-messaging system. Players will be able to see their friends in real time, and will be able to record messages that their friends can play back when they come online. Allard stated that in just three weeks of having the voicemail feature live, the Xbox Live membership has grown by approximately 450,000 new gamers. Now throw in the video messaging and “ultimately it is going to revolutionize social entertainment,” Allard said.

Not only that, but Xbox Live will soon feature downloadable classic arcade games from publishers like Popcap, Atari, Namco and Tecmo.

“This fall the arcade opens for business,” Allard said.

During the course of the event, references were made to the competition with Sony. Well, that’s not quite true. Instead of ‘references,’ Microsoft took off the gloves and launched a series of jabs and right hooks at Sony that would have done Fight Night proud. Allard trotted out a video called “The Novice,” a spoof of the Donald Trump reality television show, “The Apprentice.” In the video, the Xbox team was pitted against the Sony PlayStation 2 team with the challenge being to come up with a community friendly online experience.

Xbox team members approached gamers on the street, while Sony ‘officials’ talked about covering up their lack of an online presence by issuing more press releases. In the end, Trump (yes, The Donald himself was in the video) awarded Team Xbox the prize – an MMORPG based on his life.

Microsoft will be launching a MMORPG which will span both the PC platform and Xbox using the XNA technology. But more information about Vanguard will be forthcoming during the E3 event.

“The goal is not just to please gamers,” Moore said, “the goal is to blow them away.”

“We are focused on delivering games on an epic level,” Bach said.

“Xbox is changing the game,” Allard said, “and we have the mettle to prove it.”

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