Phil Spencer speaks at E3. Image: Microsoft
Microsoft had a totally different message at this year’s Xbox press briefing.
While it has generally spent its time at E3 splitting its attention between games and the other media functionality of Xbox hardware (Zune music! Skype!), it got a big round of applause from the Xbox fans in attendance at the Galen Center on Monday morning when it said it would focus its entire presentation on games.
New head of Xbox Phil Spencer kicked off the show by acknowledging the fact that Xbox One hasn’t been particularly well-received by gamers, and the numerous changes that Microsoft has had to make to its strategy, and to the fundamental nature of the Xbox One itself, since last year’s show where it pushed an always-online, DRM-heavy, mandatory-Kinect box, all of which it has since rolled back on.
“You are shaping the future of Xbox, and we are better for it,” said Spencer to raucous applause.
For some of the Xbox faithful, the most exciting announcement was four games they’ve already played — Halo: The Master Chief Collection will bring together the first four Halo games, plus a beta of Halo 5, this holiday season. Microsoft got huge applause when it said that over 100 different multiplayer levels — everything, it says, from the Halos one through four — would be included with the game.
The other big announcements were Scalebound, a new action game from Platinum Games (Bayonetta), and the return of the Xbox 360 hit Crackdown — by a new team led by the game’s original creator David Jones.
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