The Microsoft Conference

--Sorry Sony Fans--

First, lets kick things off with a bomb shell announcement!



First off I'm pretty sure that a bunch of Sony fans are pretty peeved but I don't think they should be mad, yet. It's not like their beloved "Metal Gear Solid 4" has jumped ship. Secondly, this confirms all of those rumors about a Metal Gear game in which you play as Raiden. Finally I have a feeling that the Metal Gear franchise might go through a brand split of sorts. Similar to what World Wrestling Entertainment does with their "RAW", "E.C.W." and "SmackDown" brands. Let me explain. If you take notice of the MGS4 (short for Metal Gear Solid 4) box art or, the box art of previous Metal gear games, these games are always referred to as "Tactical Espionage Action" games. In short they're games where the play focus is on sneaking around to survive. Now go back and look at the logo for "Metal Gear Rising". You can clearly see that the game is referred to as, "Lightning Bolt Action". X-Box gamers have always been known to be into fast paced shooters. We might actually see a situation where the PlayStation brand of "Metal Gear" games get the "traditional" sneaking treatment while the X-Box brand will receive more of a action game. Something of a interesting trade off if you ask me.

--Twitter and Facebook, Are you Kidding Me?!--

Good ol' Micro$oft, you can always count on them to add a bit of, good ol' American consumerism to the gaming world. Microsoft is adding Facebook and Twitter to their system menu. That would be great, if I wasn't able to use Twitter and Facebook on a Wii, DSi, PSP and PS3, like, YESTERDAY! Seriously, I do not understand why Micro$oft fails to give the X-box 360 a web browser. Sorry 360 owners, but the browser in the X-Box 360 media center feature does not count.



--On the Multimedia Side of Things--

As for more feature updates, Micro$oft is also changing the way that 360 owners will access their Netflix movies. From now on, movies will be available in full 1080p resolution. along with better resolution, movies will no longer be downloaded to your system. Instead, your movies will be streamed, allowing for quick access of your purchase. Microsoft will also be bumping up the number of countries with 360 Netflix usage from 8 to 18, as well as bringing a music store to the console.



--Its WAR Suckas!!!--

Thats right! Micro$oft just fired the first nuke in motion controlled gaming. It wasn't really much of a war with the Wii dominating the space and the PlayStation 3, barely using their motion controlling feature. With Project Natal Micro$oft really believes that they can capture, some of that casual gaming audience that Nintendo, has done a great job of catering to with the Wii. Personally, as a Nintendo fan I will not lie and say that I am happy about this move. As a geek, I am more than interested in some of Natal's features such as the vocal recognition, face mapping and the ability to bring characters and players together is a more personal way. The first video below is the promotional video of Natal's feature. The second is the video that really has me interested. Its a video showing off the progress made by Lionhead Studios with Natal.

Project Natal Promotional Video



Lionhead Studio's Work With Project Natal




--In Conclusion--

Aside from fact that hardly anyone clapped at the conference (regardless of what you hear in some of these videos) I would say that this presser was something of a success. I'm not a huge fan of the X-Box brand but I have to admit that when it comes to getting their point out, Micro$oft did a good job. I honestly cant wait for Nintendo and Sony conferences tomorrow! You have no idea how excited I am about Nintendo's event. Until then, I'm headed to bed. Good night everyone!