'The big M' divulges game-changing plans, 'Halo' offspring
The annual Electronics Entertainment Expo (E3) kicked off from the Los Angeles Convention Center on Monday, with Microsoft making several surprise announcements during its press conference, including an all-new prequel to the Halo franchise titled, "Halo: Reach."
This stunning revelation came after attendees caught their first glimpse of another game from the Halo universe called "Halo: ODST (Orbital Drop Ship Trooper)."
Due in stores this September, "Halo: ODST" puts players in control of a new character simply known as "rookie," a few weeks before the events that take place in "Halo 3."
Unfortunately, this also means that there won't be much interaction with the franchise's iconic protagonist, the Master Chief, in this game.
However with "Halo: OSDT" due later this year and "Halo: Reach" slated to follow in 2010, fans should have as much of the Halo universe as they can handle.
Nevertheless, Halo wasn't the only dish Microsoft was serving up during its time on stage.
The big M also pulled back the curtain on several other surprises including a new motion-sensing camera accessory for the Xbox 360, as well as debuting "Metal Gear Solid" and "Final Fantasy XIII" for the Xbox 360.
Motion-sensitive camera input is certainly not a new concept.
For example, Playstation has the Eye Toy for the PS3; however the difference, according to Microsoft, is that its version will feature "full-motion body capture" and that this accessory, code-named "Project Natal," will be as big of a game changer as Nintendo's Wii-mote.
The bad news is that given the dubious history of this technology, it has only received a lukewarm response from many in the industry.
Fortunately, Microsoft has been able to attach some big names to the project, including Peter Molyneux and his team from Lionhead Studios, as well as Hollywood director Steven Spielberg, who took the stage to talk about his aspirations for Natal.
Among the many ideas the legendary director envisions, his biggest hope is that he will be able to make "interactive entertainment as accessible as books or music" while offering "core gamers a level of control never imaginable before."
Spielberg is joined in this vision by Molyneux, who sees the Natal as being a way to finally breach the barrier separating gamers from the world of designers.
During his demonstration of an interactive program dubbed "Milo" for Natal, Molyneux also showed off the camera's ability to detect emotions from a player's face.
Next up, Nintendo and Sony take the stage on Tuesday. As to what each of these electronics giants has in store is still anyone's guess. However, with speculations coming in almost hourly, I think it's best to just wait and see. Stay tuned for my wrap up of this week's event and a rundown of the show's winners and losers.
