E3 REVIEW MICROSOFT
XBOX FORGETS KINECT AND BANKS ON BLOCKBUSTERS FOR ITS E3 COMEBACK
Banishing the memories of last year’s E3, Microsoft rolled into LA with a surplus of
big game announcements and trailers. But what about Kinect, SmartGlass and 360? Christopher Dring speaks to Xbox studios boss Matt Booty
M
icrosoft could not have a repeat of E3 2013. It was, and it’s no
exaggeration, a momentum- sapping disaster. Xbox left E3 with consumers challenging almost every aspect of its new console – the Kinect, the price, the business models and the overall strategy. PlayStation pounced and we all know what happened next. Microsoft has spent the last 12 months changing pretty much all of its Xbox One plans in an effort to put it on equal footing with PS4. The UK’s No.1 platform holder had been humbled, and it was this humility that came across when Xbox boss Phil Spencer took to the stage at E3. He praised his ‘friends’ over at PlayStation and Nintendo, and he thanked the fans profusely. “The last year has really been a journey for us,” recalls general manager for Microsoft studios Matt Booty. “We’ve been listening a lot
and really taking in feedback from fans and developers. We are all humbly appreciative that these people have been on board with us from day one. And at the same time we’re confident about what we are bringing out in the holiday this year. Think about what we have in terms of exclusives and blockbusters, great indie games, great variety of games. Then in combination with a new price option in terms of how you get on board. Xbox is the best place for gaming going into this holiday.”
June 20th 2014
FESTIVE FIGHT Former CEO at Midway, Booty is adept at spinning a potentially negative question into a positive, but he’s right to talk up Microsoft’s strong Q4 line-up. Sunset Overdrive, Halo, Project Spark and Forza Horizon 2 are amongst the Xbox One exclusives this year. By contrast, Sony and Nintendo only have a handful of titles. Surely this gives Microsoft a big chance to close the gap on PS4? “Hats off to Sony,” continues
Booty. “It has a huge amount of momentum and we are really focussed on delivering the games that we’ve got this year and for this holiday. “To answer your question, we
feel like we’ve got a great line-up for exclusives, blockbusters and indie games. We really made a point of saying these games are here right now and you’ll be able to play them between now and the holiday.” As Booty suggests, it’s not just about the exclusives this
Christmas. There are a huge
number of triple-A
It’s not just the exclusives; it’s about what’s good for the fans.
Matt Booty, Microsoft
multiplatform launches and, of course, a swathe of indie titles. Indies had another good showing at E3. Sony dedicated almost half its conference to independent projects, while ID@Xbox received plenty of attention during Xbox’s show, too. “It’s not just the exclusives; it’s
about what’s good for the fans,” adds Booty. “It’s about some of the blockbusters, like Call of Duty and Assassin’s Creed and Destiny. But the ID@Xbox Program is going to bring a huge variety of vibrant games. “It’s also important to see Ori
and the Blind Forest as part of our Q4 line-up. That art style is like an animated film. “What’s the thing we’re behind?
We’re behind all three of those. Personally I am excited about Sunset Overdrive. It’s got some really cool things that highlight and showcase the power of Xbox One.”
MIA It was a decent press conference from Xbox, but also a safe one. Microsoft was on a mission to please fans and avoid 2013’s issues. As a result there was no mention of Kinect, which has had a mixed response. Booty says: “We
remain committed to Kinect. It is part of
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