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From Halo 4 to an Xbox 360-, tablet- and smartphone-augmenting technologydubbed "Project SmartGlass" to a barrage of franchisesequels, Microsoft ‘s E3 2012 show brought few surprises and expended most ofits 90-minute presentation on core gamer products. That's notnecessarily a bad thing — after all, E3 is a core gamer show. The company launched with clearly Xbox 360-quality footage of Halo 4 , as Master Chief witnessed something crash, something else fly offinto the distance, then poked around in a jungle, initially takingout familiar Covenant aliens. And then the obligatory new alienswe've been expecting since Halo 4 was first announced appeared: "…some kind of defenseA.I. — definitely not Convenant," said series sidekickCortana, as a flaming skull-faced variant pounced like GhostRider's head on the body of one of Metroid Prime ‘s enemies. Cue creepy insect-like robots swarming tree limbsand a spoiler that the series may turn Cortana into a villain. Sofar, so still-very-much- Halo (would we have it any other way?). ( MORE: Microsoft Says Xbox 360 Defying Gravity at 67M Sold (This IsWhy No New Xbox at E3) ) Next up, we got a look at a new Splinter Cell game from Ubisoft — Splinter Cell: Blacklist — which showed series protagonist Sam Fisher somewhere alongthe Iran/Iraq border, working to capture and interrogate aterrorist leader to thwart attacks against U.S. interests. Ubisoftclaims that once you've mastered Sam's abilities,movement through the environment is more fluid. There's alsoa new Kinect angle, with classic Splinter Cell moves enhanced by voice recognition, i.e. calling out to distractenemies, as well as the ability to call in team actions. Ubisoftsaid the game will support single-player, co-op, spy vs.mercenaries multiplayer, and that it'll ship next spring. EA Sports' honcho Andrew Wilson took the stage to talk aboutKinect's impact on Madden NFL and FIFA. With FIFA 13 , he explained that we'll be able to use Kinect to changetactics and formations on the fly — no need to bother withmenus or pausing. We'll also be able t0 give A.I. teammatesclear commands on attack and defense, and (amusingly) refereefeedback will keep track of how players react to referee decisions,including penalty flags for offensive language. Turning to Madden NFL (and trotting out football legend Joe Montana to demonstrate), Wilson said next year's versionrepresents the "biggest investment in the franchise'shistory." Montana then demonstrated how you could voicepre-snap calls, call out individual players, set hot routes or runaudibles without tapping a button. When: We'll see it August28, according to Wilson. As usual, Microsoft spent much of the show rolling sizzle footageto fill up time between presentations. We saw a trailer for Fable: The Journey (shipping this holiday) depicting an ordinary gamer conjuring andtossing spells at enemies. Gears of War: Judgment put in a brief sub-minute showing with its pre-rendered debuttrailer that cut between fire, chainsaws, fire, a large enemy andmore fire. We had a look at Resident Evil 6 with the usual zombie-shooting sequences augmented by newjujitsu-style moves and timed-action triggers. And Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 rounded out the presser with typically apocalyptic gameplayfootage that made me think this series ought to be re-dubbed Call of Ridiculous . Also on tap: Forza Horizon (ships October 23) which could almost be Forza: Need for Speed given the off-course angle; new Tomb Raider footage, which looked wonderful but showed Lara doing ridiculouslyover-the-top things (Crystal Dynamics has apparently learnednothing from Naughty Dog); Wreckateer , which has you motion-controlling projectiles at castles viaKinect; Dance Central 3 , i.e. more Kinect-style dancing (plus an unexpected, franklyunnecessary performance after the reveal by Usher); South Park: The Stick of Truth (an honest-to-goodness South Park action game); and brief clips of Ascend: New Gods (a monster hack-and-slash), Lococycle (who knows?) and Matter (looks like a stylish puzzle game). The highlights were twofold: Microsoft says it's bringthe NBA and NHL to Xbox, as well as full, unmitigated access toESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3 and ESPNU this fall. And the company rolled outwhat it calls "Project SmartGlass," which isessentially a meta-interface that lets you drill on supporteditems, in-game or out, to summon or manipulate contextualinformation — think of it like augmented reality where"reality" equals what's transpiring on-screen (asopposed to around you, though I imagine that's next). XboxLIVE president Mark Whitten noted it works with "devices youalready own and love," e.g. smartphones and tablets,including iPhones and Android devices. Whitten also demonstrated how SmartGlass might let you craft yourown football plays in a game on the fly, sketching the individualpositions and vectors on a tablet before executing the play, or todrill on waypoint information in a game like Halo 4 before shifting seamlessly from single-player to multiplayerwithout having to first quit your single-player game. He alsorevealed that Internet Explorer would finally hit the Xbox 360 thisyear, showing how both Kinect and SmartGlass together would let youoperate a "Webhub" of bookmarks to visit websites, playmovie trailers or scroll through content using a tablet or phone,pinching and zooming or clicking links to control informationthat's actually displayed on your television. Whitten said toexpect SmartGlass this fall. The best part of the show? Everything worked, which is probablyworth a 100-point Xbox LIVE achievement alone. (Oh yeah, and aboutthat whole "next Xbox" rumor: told you so !) MORE: Nintendo s Provocative Pre-E3 Wii U Reveal: A Tweaked Controllerand New Social Network. We are high quality suppliers, our products such as Sintered NdFeB Magnets Manufacturer , Linear Motor Assembly for oversee buyer. To know more, please visits Bonded NdFeB Magnet.
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