Looking Back: Microsoft at E3 2011

With E3 2012 ONE MONTH AWAY and after re-watching last year’s press conferences (mostly to get them off my DVR), let’s recap the claims that were made by each of the Big Three companies and see how they did almost one year later! Up first is Microsoft at E3 2011, after the break!

CLAIM: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 will be out on November 8, 2011. DLC and map packs will be launching first on Xbox Live
RESULT: True! Despite how much everyone dislikes hearing the ten-year-olds that play on Xbox Live, that is.

CLAIM: Tomb Raider will be out in Fall 2012
RESULT: To be determined. Lara’s moans are still on track for later this year, so maybe we’ll see more of the Uncharted-esque gameplay at this year’s show.

CLAIM: The 2013 versions of Tiger Woods, Madden, FIFA, and one title to be named later will feature Kinect in 2012.
RESULT: To be determined. Tiger Woods held up its end of the bargain in awkward fashion upon release, but we haven’t heard much of the Kinect features in this year’s Madden and FIFA. Still odd that we never heard anything regarding that fourth game, though. So it’s hard to call at this point.

CLAIM: Mass Effect 3’s Kinect features will implement voice commands in new ways
RESULT: True! It did work quite well, but not well enough to have veteran players use it exclusively. Still, Bioware deserves the credit for its surprising functionality.

CLAIM: Ghost Recon: Future Soldier will have Gunsmith pave the way for Kinect. All future Tom Clancy titles on Xbox will feature Kinect.
RESULT: To be determined. The game comes out later this month and it’s difficult to tell how users and reviewers alike will respond to Gunsmith. It still looks ridiculous to fire in that mode, after all. As for the Tom Clancy future projection, one must wonder about Kinect’s future duration and implementation to make a call on that one.

CLAIM: You will be able to use Kinect to control your entertainment. Content will increase by a factor of ten, from the hundred-thousands to millions.
RESULT: True! The voice searching works surprisingly well and it will be interesting how future improvements will enhance this ability. Tying everything together across the platform with the search helps the content increase, as well.

CLAIM: YouTube and Bing will come to Xbox Live this fall
RESULT: True! These were delivered on time, to the excitement of those that were looking forward to it, anyway.

CLAIM: This is the year television comes to Xbox as the dashboard update launches this fall
RESULT: Shaky. Microsoft failed to mention that these would require either already-established subscriptions to cable TV providers or brand new subscriptions through their service. Kind of an empty claim, if you ask me.

CLAIM: UFC Live will launch this holiday to watch matches in a new way on Xbox Live
RESULT: True! Even though it did get pushed back to December 20th, that is technically still the holiday. Even though the launch was also plagued with a lot of glitches that made some users want to tap out.

CLAIM: Gears of War 3 will launch this fall as the biggest exclusive launch of the season
RESULT: True! That is, if we’re talking about sales numbers. Scary how much Just Dance 2 sold compared to Gears of War 3 though, for a game that launched in 2010.

CLAIM: Ryse (formerly known as Codename Kingdoms) will be a first-person hack-and-slash game developed by Crytek that uses Kinect. No word on a release date.
RESULT: To be determined. We got a tease in 2010 and 2011, which to be honest, is likely writing a check that the Kinect can’t cash. This is the year for more details on Crytek’s Ryse, if there ever was any.

CLAIM: Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary will be out on November 15, 2011
RESULT: True! Even if people were more excited for Assassin’s Creed Revelations and Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 on that release date.

CLAIM: Forza 4 will be out on October 11, 2011
RESULT: True! And honestly, I’m amazed this game has not been played by SwordHunter yet, by whatever means.

CLAIM: Fable: The Journey will be out in 2012
RESULT: To be determined. We have not heard anything about this “supposedly not” on-rails game since the show. Peter Molyneux leaving Lionhead after its release will make this rather interesting, though.

CLAIM: Minecraft hits this winter, with a console-exclusive version that supports Kinect
RESULT: WRONG! The game got delayed and will release in a few days on May 9th. Kinect support is still planned, but this got whacked with the Delay Stick pretty hard.

CLAIM: Kinect Disneyland Adventures will be out this holiday
RESULT: True! Dropped on November 15th in North America and kids everywhere were FIST-BUMPING as a result. Or, you know, maybe they weren’t.

CLAIM: Kinect Star Wars will allow players to use the force as if they were a Jedi. No word on a release date.[/b]
RESULT: Shaky. It’s a good thing a release date was not mentioned, as the game was delayed and ultimately released on April 3rd. Even then, the Kinect controls were spotty, at best. Although, they weren’t as questionable as a danceable Han Solo or anyone else who was “Blasterproof.”

CLAIM: Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster will be out this fall
RESULT: True! Dropped on October 11th. Since then, Schafer has made waves with the Kickstarter Double Fine Adventure.

CLAIM: Kinect Fun Labs is now available for all Xbox Live users to download. This includes community-made uses for Kinect, such as person capture in Kinect Me, finger tracking in Kinect Sparkler, and object capture in Googly Eyes
RESULT: True! Microsoft delivered on the day-one promise, even if the feature has not taken off as well with aspiring developers or potential players as they may have liked. Maybe Kudo Tsunoda is wondering what the bottom of a dollar bill looks like? WELL BAM.

CLAIM: Kinect Sports Season Two will be out this holiday with six all new sports
RESULT: True! Dropped on October 25th in North America. The guilty pleasure side of me wants to rent it so I can scream “BLUUUUUUE” just like the dude-bro at the conference.

CLAIM: Dance Central 2 will feature simultaneous two-player dance mode and be able to import all songs from Dance Central. No word on a release date.
RESULT: True! Dropped on October 25th in North America. All of the advertised features in the show made it into the final game, with strong reviews, to boot.

CLAIM: Xbox will go from the number one console in North America to the number one console worldwide
RESULT: True! Very surprising, I know. However, was this just a peak year or will this be a sign of sustained growth? It is the first time this has happened since 2006, after all…

CLAIM: With Halo 4, due holiday 2012, a new trilogy has begun
RESULT: To be determined. Master Chief is set to make his return on November 6th. And let’s be honest, 343 Industries looks like they know what they’re doing. But announcing a trilogy like that? That took a lot of guts, so we’ll see if it pans out.

CONCLUSION:

True: 14
To be determined: 6
Shaky: 2
Wrong: 1

Microsoft got a lot of things right at E3 2011, but only by playing things safe. Whether it was generic statements on release dates, broad projections on application hopes, or sneaky half-truths in their pitches, this conference rubbed a lot of people the wrong way. Kinect dominated the showing this year, but they more or less held up their end of the bargain on the claims front.

CLAIM GRADE: B