E3 2009 Microsoft Media Briefing Rundown

Here we go!

The Beatles Rockband is shown with a rather lengthy trailer, followed by a performance by Harmonix employees playing the game (Alex Rigopolis is included). An in-game trailer is then played featuring ‘I saw her standing there’, ‘I am the Walrus’, ‘Octopus's Garden’, ‘Here comes the sun’, ‘Get back’. The Beatles Rockband will have full album downloads starting with the entire ‘Abby Road’ album that will be made available as DLC shortly after launch. The song ’All you need is love’ will be made available exclusively through Xbox Live. Proceeds from the song will be donated to ‘Doctors without borders’.

Yoko Ono Lennon and Olivia Harrison are brought on stage. Following this up are Paul McCartney and Ringo Star. A few jokes ensue.

John Shappert takes the stage. The usual charts and graphs aren’t present as Shappert happily acknowledges aren’t “fun”.

Tony Hawk Ride is next up as Tony Hawk himself comes on stage to talk about the game with the final design of the skate board peripheral.

A trailer of Tony Hawk Ride is then played with people playing an talking about the game.

Two Infinity Ward employees demo Modern Warfare 2. Climbing an icy mountain side, radar attached to the hip of your gun, and piloting a snow mobile while still shooting with a gun in your left hand.

Next up on stage is Final Fantasy IIIX, running on Xbox 360. The game will make a spring 2010 release.

Coming from Epic Owned Chair Entertainment is the premiere of Shadow Complex. The campaign is said to be over ten hours long (And of course a bug in the game is in full display because of course it’s a live demo). The game will hit Xbox Live Arcade summer 2009.

Joy Ride is premiered. A racer where your avatars take center stage as drivers in the game. “Drive your avatar wild”. Sharing of tracks will be possible whether your friend has purchased the game or not. Additionally, the game will be made available for free this winter.

Crackdown 2 is creped in with the very familiar “orb chime” followed by a cinematic with yet again a familiar narrator. As speculated previously, Ruffian is indeed developing the game.

Next up is a somber tune with narration by another familiar voice to some with the eventual sighting of zombies. Left 4 Dead 2 is coming exclusively to Xbox 360 and PC on November 17th, 2009.

The next video starts out with yet another narration followed by a man sitting at a piano. Yes, it’s Sam Fischer. Splinter Cell: Conviction is given the new trailer treatment. The first time the game has been seen in any form outside of a website tease in a very long time.

The game is now demo for the first time. The “mark and execute” is highlighted, followed by the EMP grenade. The game will be released this fall.

Next from Turn 10 is Forza Motorsport 3. It is revealed that the game will be shipping in October of this year almost immediately, then a video is shown of the game. Following the short video is a Turn 10 rep walking on stage behind an actual car that is also on stage. Another look at the game is next where in a in car cockpit view is shown (which was not in Forza 2). Cars can now also be flipped. The game is declared to run at 60fps with an all new graphics engine. “The best looking racing game on any console”.

Community features are then highlighted. Creation and uploading of HD video is also mentioned. The video editor in the game is highlighted.

Next up is Halo 3: ODST. “Buckle up and prepare to drop”. The game is demoed for the first time. It’s revealed that the game will be released on 9-22-09. Oh snap! Up next is what another team at Bungie have been working on.

Halo: Reach is revealed and shown for the first time with a short cinematic. 2010 is the expected time frame. Additionally, it is to be known that when you buy Halo 3: ODST you’ll get an invitation to the Xbox LIVE beta of the Halo: Reach multiplayer.

Up next is another “Oh snap” moment as team members from Remedy take the stage. Yes, it’s Alan Wake finally! The game is demoed for the first time ever. At the end of the demo it is revealed the the game will “see the light of day” in spring 2010.

An exclusive partnership with Last.fm is detailed and shown. It will be made available on LIVE around the world later this year at no additional charge.

Next is NetFlix. You’ll be able to browse through and add content to your queue directly from the console (which is currently not possible).

Zune Video is detailed as replace the current Video Marketplace. The HD video library will be upgraded to full 1080p. All movies and television shows can be viewed instantly. The video store will be expanding from just 8 countries to 18.

A partnership with Facebook is announced. It is then demoed by ‘The Guild’s’ Felicia Day. Browsing your friends on Facebook and Xbox LIVE is possible at the same time. Facebook Connect is then highlighted but not to over shadowed by Twitter making its way to Xbox LIVE. Both Facebook and Twitter will be coming to LIVE this fall.

Mattrick is soon followed up on by Hideo Kojima as it’s revealed that Metal Gear will be making it’s way to the Xbox 360 in the form of Metal Gear Solid: Rising. A very short trailer is played.

Moving on, Don Mattrick segway’s into motion control. “You are the controller”. A video montage of some possibilities is shown. At the end of the video a tight shot of the peripheral needed is shown. The codename for this is “Project Natal”.

Steven Spielberg takes the stage. Yes, Steven Spielberg, to talk about control and intimidation with control.

“Project Natal” Creative Director Kudo Tsunoda takes the stage. A series of prototype demos are shown. First with the Dashboard. Navigating the menu and some fun with an avatar is had. Next is Ricohet, an avatar based breakout type game. Multiple people will be possible as well. Paint Party is next. A “app” where you can virtually paint on a canvas with your body.

Lionhead's Peter Molyneux takes the stage to further the vision of “Project Natal”. A video is played showing an interaction with a virtual boy that can talk back and interact with you. A tent pole in gaming. Maybe.