Microsoft could be set to announce 'Fable: The Journey' and 'Kinect Sports: Season 2' at its E3 press conference tomorrow, if just-registered internet domain names are anything to go by.
The domains, spotted by notorious trademark sleuth Superannuation, also include 'Dance Central 2', 'Kinect Fun Labs' and something called 'Xcommerce' , which hopefully is a bit more exciting than Microsoft Excel for Kinect.
Microsoft's E3 press conference kicks off at 5pm BST tomorrow. Hit the link for your full E3 diary - it's all you need to survive.
Comments
15 comments so far...
Windowlicker79 on 5 Jun '11 said:
OK, so now I want Excel for Kinect.
gmcb007 on 5 Jun '11 said:
Ah bugger, looks like MS are going to spend half their time on Kinect again.
360_Fan on 5 Jun '11 said:
Sequals already popping up on kinect??
Please don't let the show be dominated with the casual stuff
mogel94 on 5 Jun '11 said:
Expectations from Microsoft's conference: significantly lower
damoxuk on 5 Jun '11 said:
Wow Dance Central 3 and Kinect Sports 2 didn;t see that coming
MS time to show some proper games no 5 year old Wii casual s**t.
03b2wgm on 5 Jun '11 said:
Even though I preordered Kinect, I haven't actually got any other games for it yet. Even then I don't play it often (when I do it's fun). It would be nice if Microsoft put some decent Kinect games on Games on Demand, then I might consider purchasing Kinect Sports or something.
Padua on 5 Jun '11 said:
Kinect is likely going to be bigger than the XBox, especially once it starts getting shipped with PC's with good application support. I wouldn't be surprised if there is already a Kinect-enabled version of Windows 8 lurking around in a lab somewhere.
It would be fantastic for Microsoft Office - particularly Powerpoint demonstrations, Web TV and Skype.
Would love to see what is possible with good integration of Kinect AND the 360 controller in a game.
"You are the controller" is all lovely if your under 13 or over 60, but it just ludicrous for most core games.
simsc3 on 5 Jun '11 said:
Remember when kinect (natal) was first shown at E3 2 years ago. There was a girl going through some clothes and she got to try them on. I wonder if this is going to be part of Kinect soon. Shopping on my xbox could be fun! LOL
gmcb007 on 5 Jun '11 said:
Agreed. Its basically a cert that windows 8 is built with Kinect in mind. Most PCs now opt for things like wireless and touch screens and I wouldnt be suprised if motion control is going to be the next thing to implement. Its a lot more pratical for computing than games to use motion control IMO for example, doing a presentation is ideal with motion controls.
chunkysatsuma on 5 Jun '11 said:
The Witcher 2
Gears of War 3
Forza Motorsport
Crimson Alliance
(rumoured) Halo Remake
All are console exclusive non kinect games Microsoft are due to show tomorrow.
Ghost Recon
Star Wars
Gears of War Exile
Mass Effect 3
Steel Battalion <----- The kinect games expected to be unveiled
These new websites add a few more games, Codename Kingdoms will also be unveiled, so why are people moaning?
Rise_ofthe_Mike on 5 Jun '11 said:
@chunky
I don't think The Witcher 2 will remain exclusive. IGN did an interview where the guy's said that they pretty much want to work on the 360 version and get it out the door with the best possible quality they can..like they did with the PC version. Then they hinted at other consoles getting a port as well. I hope it stay's exclusive, i love exclusives and MS has been sucking pretty hard in that area. I just don't think it will.
chunkysatsuma on 5 Jun '11 said:
It boils down to what you like I guess, Sony have 1 exclusive this christmas that il get, UC3.
Microsoft has 3 or 4 I will be getting.
Ergo I am more interested in Microsofts E3, that said, they have a very strong line up now and if they do finish last then great, it means the other two conferences must be amazing which is a good thing
Rise_ofthe_Mike on 5 Jun '11 said:
@chunky
Also, according to the guy's at Epic...they'd love to bring the Gears Trilogy to the PS3. Not saying that's going to happen...but MS has lost a lot of exclusives and that just might be another one they end up losing.
Rise_ofthe_Mike on 5 Jun '11 said:
@chunky
Sorry, didn't see your message. Honestly, to me at least, that's not really the case. Regardless of what you or I like on one system or the other..the pure fact that Sony has dominated MS with their high quality exclusives while MS just loses theirs...is an issue in my mind. I'm not saying that MS doesn't have amazing exclusives, because they do...i'm saying they don't have enough of them.
And while I buy most of all the PS3/360 exclusives to come out...I have to say that it's disappointing that MS, when they started out so strong to begin with, barely has any exclusives left to call their own. Hell, look at the third party developers that were developing exclusively for MS...Valve puts out portal 2 and everything about it is better on PS3. Epic has started putting out a lot of PS3 games and has even discussed their want to bring Gears to the PS3. Bioware went multiplatform..bungie went multiplatform..Right there, that's every big developer that MS had under their belt. You might not see that as a problem...But I can't help but find it disturbing.
Especially when they barely utilize the first party dev's that they do have. Rare...they canceled the one good looking game that was coming from them in Kameo 2...Check out the concept art that from that, it's on CVG, it looked amazing. 343 Industries might be up to something good, but will they be as good as bungie? Time will tell...Turn 10 is doing a great job with Forza, for sure...I loved Forza 3...GT5 is still my favorite sim racer, but F3 came pretty close..i'm hoping F4 will take the throne for that. So yeah, i mean, i look at that and I see an issue. Because honestly, if the 360 loses all it's exclusives..there isn't a reason to own it. It's the same problem that Sony had when they first brought the console out..they didn't have anything worth owning the system for, outside of a couple of games, that were any good...or that you couldn't find on the 360. SO what was the point? There wasn't one for me until 2008. MS still have enough to make it worth the purchase and i love my 360...but if they lose Gears, if they lose L4D, and some of their other games...well, what's the point? Which is why i'm so adamant that they start picking up the exclusives.
chunkysatsuma on 5 Jun '11 said:
Microsoft dont tend to buy up studios they enter into contracts for exclusive games.
Epic said they would be interested in bringing the gears franchise to ps3 but Microsoft always gives compelling reasons to stay exclusive (ie money, not a bad thing in my book) but then Quantic Dream announced they wanted to bring their next game to the 360 only for sony to open the cheque book, it could just be clever ploys to get money.
Same with Codename Kingdoms, an xbox exclusive from Crytek.
Crimson Alliance is an xbox exclusive from a multiplatform studio.
Splinter Cell Conviction was the same, Ubisoft were adamant they wanted it only on xbox.
Bioware have pretty much admitted it was EAs decision to bring Mass Effect 2 and 3 to PS3, I agree this is one area where Microsofts refusal to buy studios came back to bite them.
Be honest though, most multiplatform games seem to work better on the 360 from the PC companies (easier to programme for) and Microsoft continually pumps out exclusives even as people claim they are running out.
Last year saw Microsoft have an exclusive game launched each month, they outsold the PS3. This Christmas it has gone from Sony looking strong to them only having one exclusive people care about launching - all the others have released recently or been delayed.
This Christmas I will be buying UC3, Gears of War 3, Forza 4, Halo remake, Dance Central 2, Skyrim and The Witcher. Of those only two are availble on the PS3 and Bethesda have openly admitted they prefer working with the 360 so I will be getting Skyrim on that.
So yes, for me it will always be worth owning an Xbox, in my opinion their exclusives tend to be more memorable, Killzone 3 was shocking for what it was hyped to be. Infamous and Uncharted 1, Killzone 2 are the only PS3 exclusives that rapidly come to mind.