Microsoft got things going Monday morning by showcasing 90 minutes of game trailers. This was a significant turnaround for them when you consider their strategy from last year leading into the Xbox One launch. They had wanted it to be an “all-in-one” entertainment console that would play games AND integrate with other entertainment services. This press briefing served to reject that premise in favor of a gamers first strategy.
Below are five things that family-focused gamers learned from the briefing.
1. The Kinect may as well be dead.
Microsoft may have put the first nail in the coffin recently when they started selling the Xbox One without the Kinect sensor bundled together with it. They nailed the rest of them in today. They did not even USE the word Kinect at any point in their briefing. They didn’t even mention it when they were talking about Kinect enabled games like Dance Central and Fantasia: Music Evolved.
Some of us way disagree with the Kinect and its value as a part of the “Xbox experience,” but that doesn’t really matter too much anymore. We probably won’t be seeing much of it over the course of the Xbox One’s lifespan. This is disappointing because some of the better family oriented games of the last generation were Kinect enabled (Once Upon a Monster anyone?) We can only hope that developers will keep generating good content even without being able to focus on the sensor and remain financially viable.
2. Fable Legends looks phenomenal!
I have always been a huge fan of the Fable series and Fable Legends brings the franchise into the modern era with multiplayer and the option to play as the villain and run the dungeons and control enemies.
Some of the Fable games have ventured into somewhat mature themes, but the dungeon experiences here seemed to be fine for most kids. (Only time will truly tell!) At the very least I know I will be playing this one! (What about you?)
3. Project Spark was awesome!
Minecraft has taken over the world by empowering players to create their own worlds and to craft their own experiences. Microsoft is hoping to capitalize on that movement here.
Project Spark looks like a great experience for budding little game designers. I’ve got two of them in my house so we’ll be picking this up day one!
4. Cup Head
No. Seriously. There is going to be a game called Cup Head. What’s even better than the name? Just watch this trailer. See what I mean? This might be the most charming game I have seen in… ever.
5. Ori and the Blind Forest
Microsoft made a point during their press event to show off a lot of smaller titles that would be coming to their platform in the next year. Ori and the Blind Forest was one of those titles and it was captivating to watch. Take a look at the trailer here. We don;t know a huge amount the game itself and how it will play, but it sure is pretty. We’ll be keeping an eye out for it.
What do you think about what you saw? Sound off in the comments!
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[…] Microsoft kicked everything off, but Electronic Arts followed shortly after. Their press conference has been widely regarded as “weak” compared to the other events held during the day, but they made a number of announcements that are relevant to families. […]
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