The Xbox E3 2015 media briefing showed off a solid line-up of games, but its biggest successes were a HoloLens demonstration and an announcement of backwards compatibility.
Since the unveiling of new-generation consoles the Xbox One and PlayStation 4, gamers have been crying out for the ability to play older generation games on the new machines.
Despite previously indicating it was impossible, Xbox today answered those cries with an answer - Xbox 360 games will now be playable on Xbox One consoles, an announcement that drew a bigger audience response than new looks at flagship franchises like Halo, Forza and Gears of War.
It's a funny world we live in where the phrase "you don't have to buy games you already own" can draw huge cheers, but it's the one we live in.
I've attended around a dozen E3 media briefings and the demonstration today of an upcoming HoloLens edition of Minecraft is the most impressive tech display I've seen at any of them.
Wearing a headset and playing the game employs augmented reality technology to deliver an experience akin to playing with actual holograms. The guy demonstrating this on stage used his own voice and eyesight direction to play Minecraft. The result was incredible.
Playing multiplayer along with someone using a tablet, it was a real thrill to see him zooming in and out of the virtual hologram as the other player moved about within it.
I've seen how my nephews delight in just the standard Minecraft we already have available, and I can see this new version of the game blowing young minds in a truly remarkable way.
Xbox also announced a partnership with Valve VR, which, following their recently announced partnership with Oculus, shows a commitment to dominating the oncoming virtual reality market.
A few brand new games were debuted at this morning's showcase, including a Keiji Inafune title called Recore, cutesy looking pirate game Sea of Thieves from Rare and a new game from Kiwi developer Dean Hall, the man behind DayZ.
Hall appeared in person to announce his new game Ion, just a few minutes after another New Zealander had taken the stage to announce indie title Ashen. We got a glimpse of horror game Phantasmal, also being developed in New Zealand, in the Xbox indie showcase.
This segment also teased dinosaur open-world survival title Ark: Survival Evolved, something adorably gorgeous called Beyond Eyes, ode to classic cartoons Cuphead and Tacoma, the new one from the studio behind Gone Home.
After the HoloLens demonstration, the event's most dazzling moment was when a Ford GT supercar was lowered from the ceiling as none other than Henry Ford III came out on stage to talk briefly about Forza 6.
Gears of War 4 was announced with some cool-looking gameplay, along with a remastered version of the original Gears of War. We were also given a new look at Halo 5: Guardians - also cool, but certainly not amazing.
Those stalwart Xbox shooters were both expected and didn't show anything new or impressive enough to be all that memorable.
From third-party studios, we had new looks at Rise of the Tomb Raider, Dark Souls III, Fallout 4 and The Divison, all of which had exciting videos.
My pick of the bunch was the Tomb Raider sequel. We saw a stunning segment of Lara Croft climbing a snowy mountain, battling avalanches and falls and so on.
After the intensely grim and violent start to the last Tomb Raider, this was a great, refreshing look at the new one. In a montage we saw snippets of the game's combat, but the one-woman-against-nature segment was really thrilling and I can't wait to play it myself.
The Xbox One controller is my favourite gaming controller ever and it was great to get a glimpse of a new, improved version Microsoft is releasing soon. It's customisable, with switches to alter the trigger sensitivity and all sorts of goodies that will add improvements to a product already at the top of its game.
Overall, it was the HoloLens display that was the biggest moment of the event. Being in the audience and hearing the wonder and awe coming out of everyone was fantastic; one of those special E3 moments that keeps us coming back every year.
It was the sort of moment that Xbox competitors will be envying.
And if PlayStation doesn't announce backward compatibility at their own media briefing later today, that feature is most certainly a victory for Microsoft in the ongoing war between the two console giants.
3 News
source: newshub archive
