Microsoft E3 2016 conference live report
Pirates! Cars! Phil Spencer! Live from 5.30pm BST.
Updated on
The first big platform holder show of E3 2016 promises to be a good one, with Microsoft sure to come out swinging with a handful of big announcements. Oh, and probably some less exciting stuff about Windows 10. Catch it here from 5.30pm BST.
Our live coverage of this event has finished.
Hi everyone! Much of Microsoft's news has leaked already - and you can now add to that considerable list the existence of Forza Horizon 3. The headlines: September, Xbox One and Windows 10, Australian setting.
Mr_Writer85: Surely MS are not daft enough to release a slim model then a more powerful model... If they don't bring out a more powerful model then how do the answer the Neo? Unless their plan is to release a slim version, then a year later a more powerful version?
According to Kotaku's credible report from a few weeks back, that is exactly the plan, yep.
Other notable leaks: new Xbox One S console with 2TB drive and 4K video support; Dead Rising 4 and State of Decay 2; ReCore out in September.
Is there anything left for Microsoft to reveal? Lots, actually. Personally I'm hoping for Sea of Thieves gameplay.
Leaker adds that Xbox One S price starts at $299. A rumour for now.
Did you know it's completely acceptable to buy doughnuts for breakfast over here? I shan't be coming back.
Sorry, I was feeling left out.
I'll raise you your doughnuts with my cup of tea and an almond and apricot cereal bar, Chris.
23 minutes to go. 23 MINUTES TO GO!
It looks like the script has mostly leaked, but there's still room for surprise.
Mainly, what t-shirt will Phil be wearing?
Or will he go topless and air those nipples?
Right, I think I'm done.
Done? Or spent?
MARTIN WHAT ARE YOU DOING
Donlan: "If Phil Spencer comes out wearing a LinkedIn T-shirt I will be team Xbox for life."
The leaks suggest that on top of the official announcement of the slim Xbox One S we may also get news on Microsoft's new, all-powerful Xbox One upgrade the Scorpio.
Just sat down, catching up, seeing the late nights have finally got to Martin.
Can't wait. Though, seriously, it'd be a weird time for them to do it if they've another flavour of Xbox One to sell.
Hello from Wes and myself at the Galen Centre in downtown LA. As last year, media are sat upstairs and a specially invited hype-crowd is in the stalls. They are whooping at Major Nelson right now.
Also like last year, we have a great view of the autocue, so we can leak what has already been leaked mere seconds before Phil actually says it.
cen4pgb: Wait why are we being told a GMT time is anyone on GMT atm?
Just people in Greenwich. We're on BST here in England.
There's a camera going up and down the lines of whoopers. Can only imagine the close-ups you're seeing at home right now.
cen4pgb: Now have an image of having to change my watch every time I go to the cinema (take the cable car across to Greenwich as that's my closes cinema) thanks Martin...
You're one of the 50 people who use that cable car! I'm genuinely fascinated by it.
MrTomFTW: Which exec's pokey nipples will we see this evening I wonder?
It's an arms race as far as nipples go right now. Phil Spencer will reveal he's got three, like Scaramanga.
Bertie: Can't wait to see Project Natal!
This just in: it's Natal it's cracked up to be.
If you put this music through a spectral analyser, something interesting happens.
You see this image.
No idea what it means.
"This programme includes titles rated M for Mature," we are told. Cue largest whoops of the morning so far.
Wes tells us that people are clapping to the music.
ONE MINUTE TO GO.
Spotlight on Phil Spencer in the crowd as the auditorium goes silent. We're taking a moment to remember the victims of Orlando.
G-Lord: Is Tom old enough?
He is, not sure about young Bratt though. We'll give him some toys and send him to the garden for a bit.
You could hear a pin drop here in the auditorium. Classy move.
A very tasteful opening from Phil Spencer addressing the recent tragedy in Orlando.
Boom. Xbox One S.
We're opening with the Xbox One S.
It's an Xbox One. It's slim. It's actually quite a good looking bit of kit, which is a refreshing change - this has been an ugly generation in terms of hardware design.
4K Blu-ray support, textured grip on the controller, HDR gaming.
$299. August.
And it's out in August.
Integrated power brick drew huge applause here.
The t-shirt - which is what we all really care about - is an OG Xbox one.
Gears of War 4 opens the show. And it's part of Xbox Play Anywhere.
A cross-buy initiative for PC and Xbox One - cross-saves, achievements, all at one price.
And crossplay is supported.
This is all good, good stuff.
Xbox One and Windows 10 will be the mantra for this show, I think.
It's lovely to see a proper gameplay demo after the two conferences yesterday that were quite light on this kind of stuff.
Gears of War 4 looks like a Gears game - it's all guns and graphics and that's all perfectly fine by me.
And we've got a new disc-spewing gun that can be used to rebound projectiles across the map. Lovely.
Someone's just raised the very interesting point whether this is running on PC or Xbox One.
Or on the Xbox One Granada or whatever it's called.
Finally, there's a branded Xbox One Elite controller.
Next up is Killer Instinct.
Killer Instinct is the most played fighting game on Xbox One but I can't think of many other fighting games on Xbox One.
And now onto Forza Horizon 3, which is set in Australia.
As was leaked earlier. It features the new Lambo as the cover star. And a mournful cover version on the soundtrack.
And the trend of slowed down music covers in trailers continues.
On the plus side! There are buggies and a lot of off-roading - I'm almost getting Motorstorm vibes from it.
And a bit of Baja-esque off-road too. Remember that a lot of the Forza Horizon team worked on Dirt and Dirt 2 - they've got considerable pedigree in this department.
Ralph Fulton's nipples are covered by a quite stylish jumper.
We're getting a look at cross-platform, cross-terrain play.
This all looks so much like Dirt. Again, I think that's a good thing.
New to the series is four player campaign co-op.
September 27th.
I would not take that Lamborghini off-road.
Well, actually I would. I'd love to wreck a Lambo. But not if I'd paid for it.
Mazzle: Fort-Za but you are right
Ferrr-tzoooo. I think.
That was Forza Horizon 3. And this is Recore.
Kejii Inafune's track record has been might spotty recently, so I'm not sold on this just yet.
Recore is, once again, Play Anywhere. I think pretty much every exclusive we're seeing here today is.
Cor, do you remember the fuss that was made when Final Fantasy 13 was announced for Xbox 360?
I'm sure most people kind of wish it wasn't.
(I didn't mind Final Fantasy 13, but then I do have awful taste in most things).
It's nice to hear you say it, Martin.
Hajime Tabata, whose name I can't help but sing along to the tune of hakuna matata, is now on-stage to show us Final Fantasy 15 running on Xbox One for the first time.
The rule of Final Fantasy, in my head, suggests that 15 should be amazing.
So simple maths point to 15 being ace.
I'm going to be grateful for a Japanese voice track in Final Fantasy 15, mind.
rudderless: And 6, Martin.
Er, yes, I meant to say 6 too!
Because 3, 6, 9 and 12 were the best ones so far.
And now The Division's Underground expansion.
The running order so far suggests the leak earlier was spot-on.
EA Access players will, once again, get to play the game well ahead of others - October 13th for this one.
This is the same Battlefield 1 trailer from yesterday's EA press conference. I'm getting flashbacks.
Yup, that was the same old trailer.
Here's Mike Ybarra with hopefully something a bit fresher to share.
Coming to Xbox One this summer - background music.
Language region independence.....? And Cortana.
Plus!
Clubs on Xbox Live, and Looking for Group that allows you to find other players.
That's actually quite a sweet deal.
Finally, Arena on Xbox Live is a new tournament platform.
Korpers: Did they say if BF1 would be cross play?
They didn't, but I really doubt that it would be.
Looking for group really is an awesome feature, especially for games like The Division and Destiny.
Microsoft Surface mention klaxon!
Does that Surface mention mean we have to neck a drink?
This Minecraft news has led to a great Carmack cameo - he's playing Minecraft via Gear VR.
John Carmack, sadly, has returned to his mad scientist lair.
I'm way too old to know what's going on right now.
That, many of you will be pleased to know, is the end of the Minecraft segment. It's the most popular game in the world, but those that do really care probably aren't watching this right now.
Now it's the new customisable Xbox One controller, that's giving me serious Swatch vibes.
Now, it's Inside - the new game from Playdead.
I say new. I've forgotten how long ago this was actually announced.
Release date for that is June 29th. So very soon.
Limbo is free on Xbox One today.
Well, *starting* today.
jiveguy: Tobias Funke
Can't unsee that now. Ever. Thanks, I guess.
Do we drink for indie montages too?
Indie showreel ime - Outlast's sequel, Cuphead, Flinthook, Far, Slime Rancher, For teh King, Beacon, Stardew Valley, Below. And, you know, plenty more.
Largest cheers here for Stardew Valley, Yooka-Laylee and, of course, Cuphead.
In amidst that was Raiders, Mercury Steam's new game (them wot did Castlevania).
Ark is going to be a Xbox Play Anywhere game too.
Now a look at We Happy Few, which is coming to Xbox One preview next month.
I've spent a few hours playing this on PC and wasn't entirely convinced - this is from the team that did the also not 100 per cent convincing but very stylish Contrast.
As you've probably noticed, it's got a strong The Prisoner vibe.
This is coming to Xbox One on July 26th.
And now, Gwent - another game that leaked already.
Gwent will be a full multiplayer game, and cross-platform (on PC and XO, at least).
vert1go: This is really happening, isn't it? There really is a card game being demo'd on stage at an E3 press conference.
It's the second time in three conferences, too. Last time out, we just saw the opening cinematic for one.
Finally! Tekken 7!
Oh, excuse me.
This maybe isn't Tekken 7.
It definitely isn't a new Virtua Fighter, so it's already dead to me.
They're, *ahem* Tekken their time over this one.
Ah, so it is Tekken 7, and not Tekken vs Street Fighter.
I was going to say - I thought Tekken x Street Fighter would have died a death a long time ago.
Harada, however, is still cool as heck.
Tekken 7 will be early 2017. And now it's Dead Rising's turn to not quite surprise us.
Dead Rising 4 is set at Christmas, and it is now snowing in the auditorium.
It's a 2016 release. I think we saw more of it in the leaks beforehand than we did in that short segment.
Please, please, please let us see Sea of Thieves next.
All of the games we're about to see will be Windows 10 too.
KAMIYA HOOOOOOOO BOOOOOOY.
I think Scalebound looks ace, but I'm a hopeless Platinum fanboy so don't listen to me.
I think I upset Kamiya last year when I said the protagonist looked kind of annoying in this.
I still think he is kind of annoying. But he has a dragon for a friend so we're all good.
Scalebound is basically Kamiya nerding out and doing a Super Hydlide. I'm okay with that.
It's much more of an RPG than anything we've seen before from Platinum.
Giant enemy crabs with weak spots. Oooh, I'm getting all nostalgic.
The big news from this - not that it's too much of a surprise - is that Scalebound is now coming to PC.
SEA OF GODDAMN THIEVES.
Not exactly an in-depth look just yet, though Rare's Craig Duncan is taking to the stage to hopefully show us more.
That teaser went down very well here. Now lets see some gameplay.
And this is it in action. Microsoft has done a great job of delivering the goods today.
Basically, you and a team sail a ship. You can stop right there, I'm sold.
I think I want this more than anything right now.
Well, I quite want to take another slash, but that can wait for another 15 minutes or so.
This. Looks. Brilliant. Teams co-operating, bringing down masts and sailing the ship, nailing up holes in the hull to prevent the ship from going down.
State of Decay 2 is up next. It's got a tough act to follow.
The whole cover thing really has to go away now please. That Gears of War trailer was a decade ago. Just let it go.
Slowed down trailer covers. Please stop.
Anyway, here's a CG trailer for Halo Wars 2.
It reminds me of that brilliant diorama advert for Halo 3 years ago. We are, at least, going to see some gameplay too it seems.
I realise my nipple watch hasn't been on point so far during this, and for that I apologise.
February 21st launch date on both Xbox One and Windows 10.
I'm staring long and hard at Ayoub and I'm just not seeing anything. Maybe he's smooth like an action man underneath that neatly pressed shirt.
win543: Whats Nipple Watch?
E3 is nipple watch.
Is this the Xbox Sierra Cosworth announcement?
'A world beyond generations', says Spencer.
Here comes the bomb.
4K and VR support. And....
This is the console the Xbox One should have been. I think that's what they're saying?
I don't think it's the greatest message, to be honest.
The whoopers are struggling to hold it in...
Oh wow. 'These are the highest quality pixels anyone has ever seen'.
I think we've reached a new high watermark when it comes to bullshit.
Kudos to Microsoft, though, for getting out there and owning the message on this.
Project Capri.
Holiday 2017 - the most powerful console ever.
I wonder if Sony's rewriting its own script right now?
Tonight just got really interesting.
And that's it! Your move Sony.
funkstar: i just saw nipple through the jacket
His nipples are definitely standing to attention right now.
I think everyone's nipples are alert in that auditorium right now.
So, who wants to buy an Xbox One S now then?
That, I think, was a cracking show. Megatons, hardware announcements.
And Sea of Thieves is looking just outstanding.
In summary.
We have the PC gaming show coming up in a mere 30 minutes. Hopefully see you there!