Microsoft kicked off E3 in suitably glitzy fashion, announcing Halo 4 and positioning its Kinect motion sensing device as an entertainment hub for all the family. The cotnference opened with an atmospheric glimpse of Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3, as a group of underwater saboteurs swam through the depths to attach a bomb to a sub, before surfacing into all out war across a cityscape in flames. It was a smart, strong opening, utilising the biggest game in the world to ram home Microsoft’s reputation as the hardcore gamer’s console of choice. Though Xbox head honcho Don Mattrick’s assertion that games such as the eigth Call of Duty were revolutionising the industry came off as rather wide of the mark.
The blockbuster opening continued with a fantastic demo of the new Tomb Raider. Beginning with two multi-platform titles may have been a risky move, but it came across as confidence in the Xbox as a platform for playing the very best games. It wasn’t long until magic camera Kinect moved to the fore, however, with EA Sports boss Peter Moore announcing a slew of Kinect enabled sports games. Kinect has tailed off after a strong start, and Microsoft are clearly keen on making it an important part of all types of games. Mass Effect 3 will feature voice recognition in dialogue exchanges, which came across as a little gimmicky, but there will undoubtedly be a geeky thrill to talking to characters throughout the game. French publisher Ubisoft also announced that all their future Tom Clancy games will use Kinect, such as Ghost Recon which showed off Kinect enabled gun customisation and gameplay.
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