E3 Predictions: Microsoft

I don’t even know where to start with Microsoft.  They’re getting a pasting in the whole “console war” thing, we have to guesstimate a bit but it is believed they are being outsold on the Xbox One by the PS4 2/1.  Which is a lot to be fair, they’re killing it as well with the Xbox One outselling the Xbox 360 at this time in its respected life cycle.

Before we go into predictions, I’m gonna take you back to e3 2013.  Microsoft had the world in the palm of their hands all they had to do was announce a decent price and announce a load of cool games… What did they do?  The exact opposite, they announce a price of $499/£429, focus all their energy on TV integration, “You’ll be able to watch the NFL on it and all these films” they were sending a message to people that would never watch E3 in a million years and that was a fuckin disaster and to top it all off, they announce some DRM bullshit which Sony schooled em with if I’m honest (be arsed put a link here just YouTube “PS4 used games”).  Now considering this major fuck up from Microsoft they aren’t doing too badly… It’s just Sony are killing it and Nintendo are sat in the corner sniffing the glue.

Anyway, prediction time.

Predictions

• The Scorpio (Xbox 1.5) is teased with the “More info coming soon” tag at the end

  I DO believe this is real, however I also believe that it isn’t as far along as the NEO.  Similar to the NX, it’ll get its own event next year.  I don’t care if Phil Spencer is denying it, he’s relatable and I do like the guy but he’s corporate and corporate people like politicians are expert liars (I use liar in the nicest way possible).  There will be an Xbox One price drop, but that’ll be announced at a later date and NOT at e3.

• Holo Lens is shown off again

  Again Microsoft will show off this bit of tech, which will still be nowhere near completion.  I’m doubt if this thing will ever be released at retail, especially anytime soon.  It has potential but this has gimmick written all over it and it’s a party trick at best.

Hololens on stage at e3 2015

• Oculus is coming to Xbox One

  With VR generating massive hype over the past couple of years, VR units like PSVR, Vive and Oculus (even Nintendo with the rumour NX was delayed to incorporate VR) are released soon and it’s going to be interesting to see how these will sell.  That being said, Microsoft haven’t got a dedicated VR unit to use with the Xbox One and with the Oculus being bundled with a Xbox One controller, this is a pretty safe bet in my opinion.  It will have a release date of October 2017.

• Gears of War 4 will have a playable demo at the show AND a limited edition Gears of War 4 Xbox One will be announced

  This demo is a definite, it was announced today on Facebook.  However, Microsoft likes itself a limited edition console and I believe Gears of War 4 will be no acceptation.  Gears being Microsoft’s second biggest franchise and with not much else in the pipeline for the fall of this year (exclusively, I mean) they are going to have to push this release.

A still of the Gears of War 4 footage shown at e3 2015

• Crackdown 3 will get a BETA

  When Crackdown 3 was shown last year, I was impressed.  The idea of using the cloud to pump more power into the console is really interesting and the results even though they were in the early stages of development look good.  However, in order to test this out they will give some bollocks about “In order to provide the best experience possible for players” blah blah blah “And it’s available RIGHT AFTER THIS PRESENTATION” and everybody gets excited and the servers will go down or something.  It’s gonna kick off.

Final Summation

There you go, I could go on but I like only doing five predictions (I’ll do Sony’s tomorrow).  I could of mentioned Halo Wars 2, which will probably have a demo and a 2017 release date, Sea of Thieves which looks like it could be a tremendous game from Rare but I believe all the talent Rare ever had have moved on to make Yooka-Laylee which is a shame because I love Pirates and all that nonsense, that being said I am optimistic.  There will probably be another indie showcase this year, showing off games like Cuphead which looks fantastic and I really hope it gets a release date.  Have they got another IP in development all together, it’s possible but if they have I’m not sure who they’ve got making it.  Anyway, there’s only one way to find out….

WJ xoxo

A still from the upcoming indie hit, Cuphead