After boasting that Xbox 360 will, without doubt, sell more than the PlayStation 3 in this console life cycle, Microsoft showed off its most important upcoming games, including Fallout 3, Fable 2, and – surprisingly- Final Fantasy XIII.
Microsoft kicked off its press conference at this year’s E3 with a healthy dose of irony. After telling us how the 360 is a perfect console for families, and that “games are for everyone,” Microsoft showcased some of its most important – and mature – upcoming games.
We got a too-quick glimpse of Fallout 3, with Bethesda’s Todd Howard demonstrated the VAT (Vault Assisted Targeting), the PipBoy (so swank), and a few weapons including a guaranteed crowd pleaser, the nuclear bomb launching Fat Boy.
Quick glimpses seemed to be the theme of the day, as we got a short look at Resident Evil 5’s online co-op play. Players will need to work together and use a bit of strategy in order to progress through the latest installment in the zombie-killing franchise. (Do want!)
If you blinked, you’d have missed Peter Molyneux’s time on stage talking about Fable 2’s co-op play. He emphasized how easy it was to hook up with your pals to play through the game’s multiplayer – just walk into one of the purple orbs you see scattered around Albion. Each orb represents one of your friends currently playing the game solo. He also wanted to let us all know that Fable 2 is finished and will be out in October.
CliffyB took a quick spin through the co-op campaign of Gears of War 2, which looks a lot like Gears of War, only brighter and easier to see. He also used a Locust as a human (erm…well, not human, but you know what I mean) shield to get through a particularly hairy firefight, which was rather awesome.
As fabulous as these games are, they weren’t exactly what you’d call surprises. The announcement from Square Enix’s Yoichi Wada that Final Fantasy XIII would be coming to the 360, on the other hand, sent many a jaw towards the floor. Don’t get too excited just yet, though – Wada said later in the day that Square Enix was going to completely finish the PlayStation 3 version before starting on the 360 version. Curiously, he also said there would be no delay in the 360 version’s release.
