Xbox 360 Game News, Reviews, and Columns - XboxFocus

The Finer Points

by Dick Ward July 14th 2008 8:09 PM CDT1 Comments

So by now you've read/watched/heard all the coverage of the Microsoft press conference. You know about Final Fantasy XIII, and you've seen the Fallout and Gears videos. I'm going to go ahead and break down some of the more overlooked points of the conference to try and offer a bit of insight as to why they matter..

The overall theme of the conference was one of "Something for Everyone", and Microsoft was quick to state that just because the casual audience is getting bigger doesn't mean that the hardcore crowd won't be satisfied too. The whole affair was constructed very well, and made sure not to alienate anyone. It's this kind of forethought that shows how much Microsoft's core demographic means to them. They started with the long awaited sequel Fallout 3, showing a lot of respect for gaming's traditional successes.

---

After a glut of explosive, gory and bird poo filled videos and demos, Microsoft turned the tide a bit. They showed off the new dashboard which was met with a bit of a mixed reaction. It's very mac like, which seems to be a theme for the company recently. Windows Vista, of course, displays many of the characteristics of Apple's operating system, and the Xbox 360 is following in its footsteps. It's different, to be sure, but there's a lot of good coming out of this.

This includes the new Primetime channel on LIVE. Letting people participate in gameshows from the comfort of their home and win real prizes seems like a brilliant move. Sure, it may not appeal to the Gears of War crowd, but they've got Gears of War. Take for example, my parents. They watch 1 vs 100, Deal or No Deal, and pretty much every other game show on prime time. The opportunity for them to play the game themselves, and actually get something for it, is truly revolutionary. This could be a really big deal.

Poral: Still Alive being announced for XBLA was huge. Portal is a game that's incredibly popluar, and is sold on it's own for PC. To get a game of this calibur for the Xbox LIVE Marketplace is huge. The South Park game could be big as well, though they have a pretty poor history. This seems to be Xbox's answer to Wii Ware. High quality games for download is something I think everyone can agree on.

Perhaps the biggest announcement, though certainly not the most talked about, is Microsoft's new partnership with Netflix. Allowing Netflix users to download movies directly to their Xbox makes the system a near essential product on every TV in the house. This means a lot of people buying the 360 for home theater purposes, just as they do with the PS3. This is a strong answer to Blu Ray and the Apple TV at the same time.

It looks like the bar has been set. Microsoft had an incredibly strong showing and it's up to Nintendo and Sony to answer back.

Thanks to everyone who checked out the live blog this morning! It was a lot of fun and a lot of work, but it worked out incredibly well. Our news team worked their asses off to make sure every peice of info got out. Don't forget to keep your browser set to Xbox Focus for the latest news, insights, and hands on impressions of the latest and greatest!