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E3 2008, News

E3 2008: Microsoft Conference Stirs Excitement

By Michael J. Catania on Tuesday, July 15, 2008 at 4:00 PM EST  

Microsoft announced a plethora of newsworthy items at its E3 media briefing yesterday.

Microsoft’s success so far in this generation prompted Xbox 360 boss, Don Mattrick, to boldly proclaim during the gathering, “I’m willing to declare here today that Xbox 360 will sell more consoles worldwide this generation than PS3.” Some might call it hubris, but others might find it hard to ignore the stats.

Citing NPD Group data, Mattrick revealed that U.S. 360 sales are hovering around 10.3 million, which is “5 million-plus” more than the PS3, and that third-party game revenue on the 360 has already “outpaced the Wii and PS3 combined.” He also said that Xbox Live has 12 million members.

Microsoft also announced the Xbox Live dashboard will be getting a makeover this Fall, featuring an iTunes-style shuffle of “blades” (check out the title image, above); 3D characters called “Avatars;” and the addition an accessible Netflix movie rental service.

Here are some of the other highlights:

Halo Wars is on track to ship in the first half of 2009.

Banjo-Kazooie will be featured as an Xbox Live Arcade title sometime in the near future.

Square-Enix boss Yoichi Wada announced Final Fantasy will debut on the 360 later next year in the form of the franchise’s next installment, Final Fantasy XIII.

Cliffy B confirmed the November 2008 rumors for Gears of War 2. It will ship worldwide on November 7. Bleszinski played through a demo level, wooing conference-goers with an all new flamethrower, the Locust version of a human shield, and talks of a 5-player co-op mode called, ‘Horde.’

An expanded version of the popular Orange Box throw-in game, Portal will be coming to Xbox Live Arcade.

Peter Molyneux announced Fable 2 is completed and will launch sometime in October.

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