Engadget & Joystiq live from Microsoft's E3 2009 keynote
By Christopher Grant 
posted June 1st 2009 1:34PM
posted June 1st 2009 1:34PM
We've teamed up with Joystiq for live coverage of E3, and Microsoft's keynote is kicking things off. The event is scheduled to start at around 1:25PM ET / 10:25 PT.
9:48AM PT: We're lined up outside USC's Galen Center, mingling with the rest of the riff-raff (read: media), being herded through a labyrinth of stanchions and fences. Hey, remember that "very special addition"? A PR person just walked into the crowd and called for anyone from "Apple, MTV, or EMI?" So, a Beatles appearance then?
And the standard disclaimer – no flash photography, no running onstage to hug Don Matrick. The usual. But we can hardly resist those boyish good looks. "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to teh 2009 Xbox 360 Media Briefing
10:20PM PT: The announcer just let us know this party's getting started in just about 5 minutes. They better make good use of that extra five minutes they asked for – practically ruined our entire schedule. Okay, so maybe not "ruined" but we could've used that time for a second coffee stop.
And the standard disclaimer – no flash photography, no running onstage to hug Don Matrick. The usual. But we can hardly resist those boyish good looks. "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to teh 2009 Xbox 360 Media Briefing
10:28PM PT: We're seeing a great animated tour of their career, with a backdrop of Beatles classics
And we've transitioned to the 60s, and so have the visuals. Want to know what a video for "I Am the Walrus" looks like? It's ... trippy. But, yeah – the visuals look incredible. This isn't your Dad's guitar simulator.
10:29PM PT: On stage: Alex Rigopolous and Van Toffler.
10:32PM PT: "In fact the video you just saw is the opening cinematic for the game."
"They launched the tech revolution" launching in black & white into psychedelic color. "They were always always innovating." Rigopoulos is on drums, he's really good, obviously.
10:35PM PT: The infamous Giles Martin on stage (son of George Martin, Beatles producer). They've remastered all the tracks to "give gamers the best experience." The game has "never before" heard studio chat with the entire band.
1) I Saw Her Standing There
2) I Want to Hold Your Hand
3) I Feel Fine
4) Day Tripper
5) Taxman
6) I Am The Walrus
7) Back in the USSR
Octopus's Garden
9) Here Comes The Sun
10) Get Back
10:38PM PT: "Please acknowledge Danny Harrison" – a fan of Beatles, and Harmonix, and a key person in getting this game made. "We were incredibly lucky to have the support, enthusiasm" from these next two individuals. "Yoko Ono Lennon & Olivia Harrison" Oh snap!
10:39PM PT: "All You Need is Love" will be available exclusively through Xbox Live. All proceeds will go to Doctors Without Borders.
10:40PM PT: "Their music will undoubtedly endure long after they're all here." "It's a privilege to introduce Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr"
Wow, the audience is out of their seats!
10:41PM PT: "What do you think of the game?" Ringo asks Paul. "I love it"
"The game is good. The graphics are very good! We look great." -- Ringo
10:42PM PT: Paul: "Who'd have thought we wouldn't end up looking like androids."
They send the audience their best and they're off. So, no Beatles performance then? We'll live I think. SOMEHOW.
10:43PM PT: Mr. Jonn Schappert takes the stage. "We're honored to support the work Doctors Without Borders is doing."
"Good morning and welcome to E3!" Hey, he wants to thank everyone out there watching live or reading this here liveblog. So, that's you. Take a bow.
10:44PM PT: "Today, we're going to deliver even more" NXE functionality. "You're not going to see charts and graphs" but "you are going to see 10 world premiers of games that have never before been seen." "Entirely new ways to connect with your friends." Tony saunters on stage with the skate peripheral in his hand.
10:47PM PT: New Modern Warfare 2 trailer!
10:51PM PT: Jason West and Vinve Zampella from Infinity Ward take the stage. Gameplay time!
-Civilians running through the streets
-Explosions, hostages, South American setting?
-Snowmobile controllable
-Scuba sections?
-Ends by a lone soldier being dragged from an exploding crater as a helicopter takes him into the sky.
-Arctic setting, a jet flies overhead as a soldier tosses his cigarette butt. They shimmy over a giant icy canyon's edge.
-Soap McTavish and player scale the side of the chasm with ice climbing gear.
-A jet flies overhead, nearly sending Soap to his death.
No shooting in MW2 confirmed?
10:59PM PT: Yoshinori Kitase and Motomu Toriyama from Square Enix, working on Final Fantasy XIII.
11:00PM PT: "It has been over 20 years since the first Final Fantasy was released in 1987. Over the last 20 years, Final Fantasy has grown to be one of the most loved RPG series worldwide" – yeah, you could say that.
11:02PM PT: "From this point on" every game they show off will be available "only" on Xbox 360.
11:03PM PT: Epic games: Donald Mustard from Chair Entertainment and Cliff "Young Clifford" Bleszinski. Exclusives!
11:04PM PT: Shadow Complex is a 2D/3D action game. The game map looks like something right out of Metroid. Later in the game now, main character has power armor, triple jump, hookshot, everything.
11:05PM PT: "The game is called Joyride and it comes to you from ... BigPark" the newest member of the Microsoft Game Studios family. "You can see that Joyride brings a new social experience" to the kart racer. "It will be free to download and free to play so everyone can enjoy it" "you can guy cars" and more to customize the game. Coming "this winter" to Xbox Live.
11:13PM PT: Here's Ubisoft's chance to apologize for the beard thing. Sam Fisher just disarms a thug's gun, takes it apart, breaks his arm and is now shoving him around while choking him. The info that Sam is asking for is projected on the wall like a movie screen.
11:15PM PT: "Driven by his emotions, Sam is now the ultimate predator. And nothing shows this off better than his newest ability: the Mark and Execute." Each environment is a sandbox. Sam is much more nimble than he used to be. The controls don't look nearly as awkward.
11:17PM PT: That was just a small sample of everything you can expect from Splinter Cell: Conviction, Fall 2009, exclusively on Xbox 360.
11:21PM PT: Forza 3 confirmed! "Game director Dan Greenawalt
"forza Motorsport is inspired by all things cars." "It's this love of cars that drove my team to create the definitive racing game of this generation." And, again, he repeated "the definitive racing game of this generation." Don't argue with the man!
11:32PM PT: Halo Reach Falls 2010 (not "FALL" but "FALLS") Halo Reach falls 2010, but for those of you who can't wait that long, you'll get an invitation to the 'Reach' Xbox LIve multiplayer beta.
11:37PM PT: Big horde of monsters, it looks like to much for Wake to handle. He runs to a nearby generator and starts it up. Creating a safe zone of light. Bullet time mode, Wake kills a monster with a flare gun. Big explosion. nice pyrotechnics.
11:49PM PST: Don Mattrick takes the stage and ... OMGS4!!
11:50PM PST: Metal Gear Solid! "It's my honor to introduce the creator of Metal Gear Solid, Hideo Kojima"
11:55PM PST: People ask me, can you add a motion controller? I tell them, of course we can. Indeed, controllers will continue to evolve, as we've seen with guitars, wands, and nunchucks." For many people, the controller is a barrier. "Can we go beyond the controller?" "Can we make you the controller?"
12:03PM PST: Yes, the controller is very daunting. Now give us Boom Blox!
Looks like we might get an actual demo after all! The avatar moves the same way Kudo does. It's actually very reactive, though it is a little stilted.
12:06PM PST: Kudo's talking smack on Wii: "This isn't the kind of game you end up on the sofa using some kind of preset waggle commands." Ooooh! Burn!
12:12PM PST: Peter Molyneux, folks! "We've been playing around with it at Lionhead for a few months now."
All this is nice, but I've always been a PC gamer, and whenever I think of buying one, I remind myself that the graphics card is about as powerful as an X1800(?). It can't even play Halo 3 at 720p!!!
wait wait wait stop the presses! What is that BIG thing on top of the black Xbox elite in the AI demo? Big hard drive?
I noticed that! It looked like twice or three times the height of the hard drive unit.
that's just a developers xbox 360 unit. No need to panic...
Yea thats just a dev kit. Pictures of those have been around for a while.
Oh sh!t I should have been following this blog with my fly open. I just ripped a hole in my pants with that Halo: Reach announcement.
if they are going to allow for a bigger hard drive (3rd party or otherwise) just come out and say it!
Reverse chrono order please...
Jeez!
They're both annoying.
Separate article and comment sections pls.
And make the article "stream" instead of making us F5.
i think xbox just killed the wii
And Hideo Kojima might have just stabbed the PS3 in the back :'(
MGR is a 360 exclusive, right?
Where is the Zune news??? Didn't balmer say "more to come at E3"?
Holy crap. I was expecting a boring unveiling of mediocre products.
Instead, they drop the bomb with Crackdown 2 (Crackdown was amazingly addictive), Forza 3 (we knew it was coming... but I love seeing new media for it), Alan Wake (which I thought turned into vaporware), and a kick ass motion control system (that's about $80 out of my budget).
MGS5 and FFXIII are just icing on the cake.
Sony... you better have something kick ass up your sleeve.
I want Last.fm to work with my Zune profle!!!! come on!
"Not in the US? They're bringing Sky to the UK."
Great, but how about the other 5 and a half BILLION!!! of us who live outside the US and UK?
NO, snake going to 360!
That treacherous...snake...dameda!
omg it is time for sony and nintendo to bring there A game
My question is will the motion control thing actually work in your house? I could never get the PS2 Eye Toy to work even remotely well because it couldn't distinguish between me and the background well enough. Probably if I put a black curtain behind me, or whatever color would make it be able to see me well, it would have worked well, but that was impractical. I suspect the technology is much better now, though. Still, I've got to see how this actually works in the real world.
Ok, I don't get it, what is spielbergs role in all of this? what is project Natal and why the name (and person..) dropping??
This is amazing, Project Natal shows you what you couldn't have done with previous consoles (and I'm guessing with the Wii) and what that is, is providing a major new feature without upgrading the original console hardware. Natal will change the way some new games for the console will be played. Sure there's extra hardware to buy, but the original/core console hardware remains unchanged, its all software updates that are allowing this the extra hardware to add such extra functionality to the console. I like that Microsoft are really making the 360 a unique console, first with the interface update, now all of these new features, both software (Sky, Facebook etc) and Project Natal, really making the 360 that much more value added.
where do i go to watch this whole thing online?
goes to g4.com it has live steam.
Holy mother of god!!! Left 4 Dead 2, Metal Gear Solid, Forza MS 3, and more! This is insane!
I wish the live blog was a little more in depth
The xbox360 just pwned the ps3.