Microsoft Expectation @ E3

Microsoft have been hit a bit heavily following their Xbox One announcement. They have announced a larger than usual set of exclusive console titles but the lack of hard proof and ambitious design choices away from gaming have led many to criticise their hardware - even pushing some towards the arms of Sony.

It’s the time to react and E3 is the place to do it. Microsoft’s debut of the Xbox 360 went well but the market transition stepped in too slowly for their early release to impact as much as expected. The 10 days will be absolutely vital to challenging people’s opinions. The goal, as ever, is to win E3 but they need to start showing off some software. While Forza, Quantum Break and Call of Duty are all good titles they hardly represent the future of gaming.

The speculation growing is that the E3 Media Briefing will be 90 straight minutes of software but the big M are still trying to make people care. Of course, we’re going to see our fair share of corporate name dropping and key word usage but apparently we, as customers, are the focus for them.

Microsoft really needs to come out with a bang, so I wouldn’t expect to be as disappointed as most people felt during their direct broadcast of the Xbox One announcement. The future of the console rests on the 15 exclusive titles that have already been mentioned – which of course you can expect to see on the stage tomorrow. Expectation points to Black Tusk Studios, the Vancouver-based first-party developer, who are due to lead the charge with the ‘Next Big Thing’ for Xbox One – no doubt some sort of Halo rival that Microsoft will push to the high-heavens. There is also a focus on Lionhead’s Fable MMO and the standard offerings in the form of Forza, Ryse and Rare’s next game. Oh, and don't forget the family-friendly Kinect party games with (potentially) a hardcore title dropped in there too.

There have been a lot of worries about the Xbox One infrastructure; with the always online connection, used game policy and Kinect functions but Microsoft have tried their best to quell any incorrect assumptions.

Clarity, even above games, is the most important thing at stake. If left unexplained on the press conference stage, the positive vibes will be buried by lingering uncertainty – and whatever Sony has up its sleeve could push Microsoft away from the public eye.

Xbox One’s lack of backward compatibility means we won’t be getting rid of our Xbox 360 anytime soon, and Microsoft will absolutely be taking advantage of that. It is almost a given that something shown off at the panel will be a current generation opportunity, because Microsoft will want to keep hold of you until you decide to upgrade. There is such a large install space for the 360 that you just can’t see Microsoft pulling the plug until a few months after the launch of the Xbox One.

Their focus for the whole 90 minutes will have to be on the 360 audience and the ways in which they keep retain ownership rates.

If Microsoft truly wants to create the all-in-one box, it starts and stops with Xbox Live, where all of that content lives. It’s strange to think that this area hasn’t been addressed yet considering the whole console is resting on a large online community. We have no idea who Xbox Live Gold will work on the next console or how Microsoft will change the system to make the whole thing easier to use. Obviously we can expect Microsoft Points to be dropped in favour of real world values but beyond that it’s hard to speculate. Perhaps the ‘Arcade’ name will be dropped completely in favour of a full ‘Games Marketplace’ while you can expect Kinect integration to ensure swift navigation.

And as Microsoft moves more toward entertainment, you can count on some sort of Xbox TV service – something, perhaps, that gets rolled up into your fancy new Gold subscription – that features original programming (and if we’re lucky, unifies the five different logins we have for various video streaming services.)

Because Microsoft pushed the entertainment system boundaries at their direct conference you can expect this week to be all about how the video game system is also a great reason to own the console. If they really want to spice things up then they need to get on board with a developer or two that would completely change the dynamics of the exclusive titles range. They will have noticed Naughty Dog helping out Sony and wondered who or how they can recreate the same partnership on their new hardware.