Microsoft E3 2011 Media Briefing - Press Releases

>> From the press release:

Today, on the eve of the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), Microsoft Corp. premiered a spectacular lineup of new games, demonstrating that Xbox 360 continues to deliver the biggest hits and blockbuster experiences bar none. This year, Microsoft showcased a host of new groundbreaking exclusive titles on Xbox 360, including Gears of War 3, Forza Motorsport 4 and the world premiere trailer for Halo 4. In addition, Microsoft debuted the next installment of the famed Fable franchise with Fable: The Journey, a game imagined from the ground up for Kinect on Xbox 360 by famed developer Peter Molyneux. Fans were also treated to a preview of the Kinect-powered historical epic, Ryse, created by acclaimed developer Crytek GmbH. Finally, Microsoft revealed that this winter, Minecraft, the independent PC game phenomenon, is making its console debut exclusively on Xbox 360.

In 2010, the controller-free magic and instant fun of Kinect for Xbox 360 captivated consumers all over the world, making it the fastest-selling consumer electronics device in history. This year, millions of Kinect owners will use their entire body to experience the worlds most iconic entertainment brands through Kinect: Disneyland Adventures, Kinect Star Wars and Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster. Fans will also get their bodies in motion while playing the successors to the platforms best-selling titles, Dance Central 2 and Kinect Sports: Season Two.

In addition, Kinect Fun Labs, a new hub showcasing the latest Kinect innovations, was unveiled and is available to all Xbox LIVE members starting today. Create magical moments with never before seen Kinect technology, including player capture, object scanning and finger tracking. Kinect Fun Labs will launch with four Gadgets: Kinect Me, Bobble Head, Build A Buddy and Kinect Googly Eyes. More experiences will begin arriving in July, including Avatar Kinect and Kinect Sparkler.

With Kinect and Xbox LIVE, Third-Party Blockbuster Games Are Best on Xbox 360

The industrys best creators and publishers demonstrated their commitment to immerse Xbox fans even deeper in the action. On Microsofts E3 stage, Ubisoft announced that all future Tom Clancy games will be Kinect-enhanced including Tom Clancys Ghost Recon Future Soldier. Microsoft further delighted audiences with the first public demonstration of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and reminded them that in 2011 and again in 2012, all Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 add-on content will launch first on Xbox 360.

EA SPORTS announced Kinect support for several of its blockbuster titles in 2012, including Tiger Woods PGA TOUR, Madden NFL and FIFA. In the next 12 months, EA also has several additional titles that will feature Kinect, including The Sims 3 Pets, Family Game Night 4 and what is sure to be one of the biggest games of 2012, Mass Effect 3.

For Xbox, games have always been at the heart of who we are: the worlds biggest blockbusters, enduring stories from the worlds best storytellers and innovative entertainment experiences that you cant find anywhere else, said Phil Spencer, corporate vice president of Microsoft Studios. Whether its Kinect games like Kinect Star Wars and Kinect: Disneyland Adventures, or the latest installments of our most acclaimed and anticipated exclusive franchises like Gears of War 3 and Halo 4, our existing fans, and new ones alike, will find something here to delight them and their families.

Ultimate Fighting Championship Comes to Xbox 360 and Xbox LIVE

In addition to all the best titles on Xbox 360, Microsoft also announced new blockbuster entertainment, teaming up with UFC. Starting this fall, Xbox LIVE Gold Members can subscribe to UFC to access live pay-per-view matches, classic fights, interviews and exclusive behind-the-scenes looks into the lives of the worlds greatest fighters; its access to the octagon in an all-new interactive way.

With games and entertainment for every member of the household, Xbox 360 continues to bring the best in interactive entertainment to living rooms around the world with the following:
* Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (Infinity Ward, Sledgehammer Games).
* Dance Central 2 (Harmonix Music Systems Inc., Microsoft Studios).
* Fable: The Journey (Lionhead Studios, Microsoft Studios).
* Forza Motorsport 4 (Turn 10 Studios, Microsoft Studios).
* Gears of War 3 (Epic Games, Microsoft Studios). Gears of War 3 hits store shelves on Sept. 20, 2011, worldwide, except for Japan, where copies go on sale Sept. 22, 2011.
* Halo 4 (343 Industries, Microsoft Studios). A new trilogy begins when Halo 4 releases in 2012.
* Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary (343 Industries/Microsoft Studios, Saber Interactive, Certain Affinity). Releasing only on Xbox 360 on Nov. 15, 2011.
* Kinect Sports: Season Two (Rare, Big Park Games, Microsoft Studios).
* Kinect Star Wars (Terminal Reality, LucasArts/Microsoft Studios).
* Kinect: Disneyland Adventures (Frontier Developments Ltd., Microsoft Studios).
* Mass Effect 3 (BioWare, Electronic Arts).
* Minecraft (Mojang, Microsoft Studios).
* Ryse (Crytek, Microsoft Studios).
* Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster (Double Fine Productions, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment).
* Tom Clancys Ghost Recon Future Soldier (Ubisoft Paris, Ubisoft).
* Tomb Raider (Crystal Dynamics, Square Enix Europe).
* UFC

A 2nd press release about the new Kinect voice features:

What if you could find your favorite games, music, movies and TV shows, just with the sound of your voice? What if you could ask your TV to find Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and it did instantly? What if you wanted to listen to Coldplay and all you had to do was tell your TV and it responded by playing the Coldplay songs you love? Only on Xbox 360 is your entertainment together in one place and now you will be able to find it with your voice.

Microsoft Corp. today kicked off the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) by solving the challenge of finding the entertainment you want, quickly and easily. The solution: voice search with Bing on Xbox 360. Bing on Xbox searches Netflix, Hulu Plus and ESPN, as well as music, video and Xbox LIVE Marketplace to find exactly the entertainment you want to enjoy. With Bing on Xbox and Kinect for Xbox 360, you can effortlessly find the games, movies, TV shows, sports and music you want. You say it, Xbox finds it.

This is an incredible time of growth and innovation for our business leveraging technologies that see us, hear us and connect us all together, said Don Mattrick, president of the Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft. This year by bringing together the power of Kinect for Xbox 360 and the intelligence of Bing, we are transforming how people enjoy entertainment.

Over the past two years, Microsoft has joined with some of the worlds largest TV operators to bring live television to Xbox LIVE in the United Kingdom with Sky TV, in France with Canal+ and in Australia with FOXTEL. Now, Microsoft has announced its commitment to expand access to live television programming on Xbox 360 to more providers in the United States and around the world during the upcoming year. Consumers will enjoy news, sports and their favorite local channels, all just a voice command away, on Xbox 360. Also this year, Microsoft is teaming up with Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)* to bring the depth of the worlds best mixed martial arts programming to Xbox LIVE. Featuring live matches, classic fights, interviews and exclusive behind-the-scenes looks into the lives of the worlds greatest fighters, access the octagon in an all-new interactive way only through Xbox 360.

As well as adding more entertainment with UFC, Microsoft is building on its expansive catalog of tens of thousands of movies and TV shows available on demand from Hulu Plus, Netflix and Zune by bringing YouTube** to Xbox 360. You will gain access to great Web original content from around the world the latest videos, gaming tips and a universe of compelling content. And for the first time ever, you can control YouTube videos just by using your voice. A great way to experience YouTube is now on Xbox 360.

Did you miss The Social Network in the theater? You will be able to simply tell your television what you want to watch and choose from the multiple sources on Xbox 360 that may be offering it live or on demand. Want to play the latest viral videos from YouTube from the comfort of your couch? Xbox 360 and the magic of Kinect make it as easy as using your voice. Xbox 360 brings together the entertainment you want, whether its movies, TV shows, music, sports, or your favorite games, available instantly with the command of your voice through Bing on Xbox 360 and Kinect.

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Cloud Storage, New Dash, Beacons and more coming to Xbox LIVE

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Following the E3 Briefing earlier today, we also announced the following features coming to Xbox 360 and Xbox LIVE Members later this year:

* The New Dashboard. Simpler. Cleaner. Easier to navigate. With the addition of new entertainment content on Xbox LIVE and our commitment to continuously improving the overall Xbox experience, weve updated the dashboard with a new look and feel that makes it even more open, inviting and intuitive to navigate. All of your favorite content is categorized in a way that is easy to browse and find what youre looking for, plus you can use voice anywhere in the dashboard to effortlessly navigate and get to what you want.
* Bing on Xbox. We are bringing Bing to Xbox. Bing on Xbox searches Netflix, Hulu Plus, ESPN, as well as our music, video and Xbox LIVE marketplaces to find exactly the entertainment you want to enjoy. With Bing on Xbox and Kinect, you can effortlessly find the games, movies, TV shows, sports and music you want by only using your voice. You say it, Xbox finds it. The experience is now simpler than ever before.
* Expanded Kinect Voice Support. We want Xbox LIVE members around the globe to experience the magic of Kinects voice recognition technology so we are committed to bringing voice to eight additional markets by the end of this year with a total of 13 markets that will have Kinect voice. We are also exploring some innovative new ways to enable the LIVE community to help us accelerate the refinement of voice models in new markets, and look forward to sharing developments on that front soon.
* Beacons. We want to make it easy for you to connect with friends over your favorite games on Xbox LIVE, so we are introducing Beacons to the service. Beacons are a way to tell your Xbox LIVE and Facebook friends that you want to play a game on Xbox LIVE. By setting a Beacon, you tell Xbox LIVE what you want to play. Then, Xbox LIVE lets you know when friends are playing or want to play the same game. With Beacons, no matter what youre currently doing on Xbox LIVE your friends know that its ok to ask you to play your Beaconed games. Imagine sending out a Beacon to let your friends know youre interested in playing Halo, while watching a movie on Netflix. Its about making it easier for you to share and discover games and multiplayer opportunities with friends on Xbox LIVE.
* Cloud Storage for Game Saves and LIVE Profile. Here at Xbox LIVE we listen to your feedback. We are making it easier for you to sign into your Xbox LIVE account from any console at any time to access your game saves and full profile, including items such as Microsoft Points to make purchases, Achievements and friends. Cloud storage will allow you to enjoy the same great Xbox LIVE gaming experience even when youre not in your own living room by giving you the option to store your game saves securely in the Xbox LIVE cloud instead of on a portable memory unit or your consoles hard drive. Gone are the days of gamertag recovery. Now all you need to do is sign in, no matter where you are!

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Xbox 360 Gears of War 3 Limited Edition Console


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The Xbox 360 limited edition Gears of War 3 Bundle includes an exclusive red and black console design with two custom-designed Xbox 360 wireless controllers, a 320GB hard drive and built-in Wi-Fi connection for easier access to the world of entertainment on Xbox LIVE. The console will be available for $399 (US ERP) and at your favorite retailers beginning September 20, 2011.

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The package also includes a standard copy of Gears of War 3, a wired headset, plus a download token for bonus game content including the Infected Omen Weapon Pack and the Adam Fenix character for use in multiplayer. The Infected Omen Weapon Pack gives fan the infected omen skin for use on the five starting weapons: Lancer, Retro Lancer, Hammerburst, Gransher, and Sawed-Off Shotgun. Also, the power and eject buttons have been customized with unique sounds from the Gears of War universe.

Also, the customized Limited Edition Gears of War 3 wireless controller will be available separately for $59.99 (US ERP).

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Xbox 360 Wireless Speed Wheel



>> From the press release:

Launching in early October, the Wireless Speed Wheel is completely wireless and controlled intuitively with precise steering, standard controller buttons/triggers, and haptic feedback with rumble. The device is compatible with all racing games right out of the box (Limited functionality in some games. See [ Register or Signin to view external links. ] for details.). The Wireless Speed Wheel will be available for $59.99 (U.S. ERP) and will ship to retailers worldwide beginning September 26, 2011. This device combines a fun and immersive driving experience with the biggest racing game of the year, the best rated Forza Motorsport.


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With trigger buttons for gas and brake, combined with a rumble feedback, the Xbox 360 Wireless Speed Wheel provides intuitive standard controller buttons that immerse the driver into the game, whether you like to white knuckle it down the race track with your hands at 10 and 2 or 9 and 3.

The new Xbox 360 Wireless Speed Wheel balances the realism of a wheel with the feel of a controller for greater user edge in game play. It includes buttons for game specific functions including triggers, ABXY and D-pad along with green bands of lights on each handle to provide visual cues when necessary.