Negaview

I make no bones about it. So far this console generation, the xbox 360 is my favorite console. However, up until now there has been very little information coming out of Microsoft. Meanwhile the Playstation 3 has announced or released several high caliber games like god of war 3, inFamous, and Killzone2.  So it was with quite a bit of curiosity that i watched Microsofts e3 press conference.

The main question up until now has been, what games would Microsoft bring to the table to combat the slew of hefty first party titles from Sony?  They finally answered this question.  Crackdown 2, Left 4 Dead 2, ODST, Reach, Forza3 and Alan Wake.  Of these games i’m most interested in Crackdown 2 and L4D2.  I’m just not much of a Halo fanboy.  Alan Wake isn’t coming out until spring of 2010.  So that’s a pretty respectable lineup of first party games.  What else did microsoft announce?

Well, they made it quite a big deal that they’re releasing the next Metal Gear Solid game on the 360.  Let me be frank.  I’ve played all the metal gear games except for 3.  With each successive game i’ve gotten more and more disappointed in Konami and Hideo Kojima.  That mother fucker needs an editor bad.  Yeah, his games are great…. when you actually get to play.  Which is maybe 10 minutes out of every hour.  That’s all I have to say about that.  I think my disdain for Metal Gear is pretty obvious.  It’s not necessary for the 360, and really just serves to be a black eye to Sony.  So what else did they announce?

Well…. they announced their social networking tools.  Facebook, twitter, and last.fm apps for xbox live.  I realize that facebook and twitter are insanely popular… however, they mean absolutely nothing to me.  This might be because i choose to interact only with REAL friends, and not tertiary acquaintances.  However, i’m assured these inclusions to xbox live are a big deal.  I must admit i’m a bit interested in the next option which is 1080p HD video instantly.  I’m not quite sure how they can make this happen.  The truth is, however, that i’ll probably never find out.  I refuse to pay for videos because i already pay monthly for Netflix.  FINALLY Microsoft announces the ability to change your ‘watch it now’ que on the fly as well as browse videos and watch them on the fly without use of a computer.  This alone is worth it for me.

Finally Microsoft announced Natal.  This is something i’m torn about.  Natal is MS’s motion ‘control’.  I don’t mean motion control like the Wii.  Natal is a full body motion control where the input is your body and a video camera.  This means that a video camera watches what you do and uses this to control avatars or interfaces.  Essentially it’s like the Wii without a wand controller.  Honestly i thought it was a horrible idea when Microsoft introduced avatars, and i thought it was a horrible idea when i heard the rumor that they were working on motion control.  However, Natal actually looks somewhat interesting.  The proof will be in the actual use.  After all i thought the Wii sounded cool when i first heard about it (until i actually used the piece of shit).

So that’s the quick down and dirty reprise of what Microsoft is up to until 2010.  I must admit being somewhat surprised at what Microsoft announced.  Mostly i’m surprised by Natal as it has quite a bit of potential.  Especially as a porn simulator :-p.  Ha!  I’m just kidding…. or am i :-o.  Now, lets see if Nintendo and Sony and one-up Microsoft.