Xbox Innovations Expand
Video Game Entertainment
Exclusive New Games,
Expanded Xbox Live Offerings Converge To Connect Gaming
Community With Digital Entertainment Lifestyle
Illustrating a bold
vision to expand video game entertainment by embracing
what it calls the Digital Entertainment Lifestyle,
Microsoft Corp. today unveiled its lineup of new games
and experiences for the Xbox® video game
system, setting the stage for this week’s Electronic
Entertainment Expo (E3). With ambitious new
games — "Halo™ 2," "Project
Gotham Racing® 2" and three new titles
from renowned developer Rare Ltd., to name a few —
and an impressive list of industry firsts, including
"Music Mixer," XSN Sports and new features for
the Xbox Live™ online game service, Microsoft
demonstrated how Xbox delivers social gaming experiences
that promise to redefine the video game industry forever.
"At the core of
everything we do are great games, and in looking to the
future, our vision is to expand the definition of video
game entertainment by expanding gaming content and
merging it with services that will build the gaming
community," said Robbie Bach, senior vice president
of the Home and Entertainment Division and chief Xbox
officer at Microsoft. "The convergence of content
and services is being embraced by people whose lifestyle
is all about being connected — the Digital
Entertainment Lifestyle. Serving this lifestyle, and the
gamers who are part of it, is absolutely required for
success, and we intend to take a leadership position to
grow this industry."
Ambitious Xbox Games
Lineup
Ed Fries, vice
president of Microsoft game content, provided a sneak
peek at the most-anticipated Xbox games in the portfolio,
including the hottest new Xbox exclusives:
"Halo
2" (Microsoft® Game Studios,
Bungie Studios). "Halo 2" is the sequel
to one of the greatest games of all time. It
promises to surpass the original with
revolutionary breakthroughs in the way people
play games, including engine and artificial
intelligence (AI) enhancements, and an
unsurpassed team-based multiplayer experience. It
will ship the first quarter of 2004.
"Project
Gotham Racing 2" (Microsoft Game Studios,
Bizarre Creations Ltd.). The sequel to the
million-unit seller, "Project Gotham Racing
2" is the ultimate test of racing skill,
style and daring, rewarding drivers for not only
how fast they drive, but for how they drive fast
— both offline and competing using Xbox
Live. It will ship holiday 2003.
First titles
from Rare (Microsoft Game Studios, Rare):
"Grabbed
by the Ghoulies." Rare’s first
Xbox-exclusive game since Microsoft acquired the
company in September 2002, "Grabbed by the
Ghoulies" is a fun and chaotic
beat-’em-up game that pits the brave and
endearing Cooper against the Ghoulies that have
captured his girlfriend. It ships holiday 2003.
"Conker:
Live and Uncut." Rare’s
"Conker" is back in an all-new Xbox
Live-enabled team-based shooter focused on
story-driven scenarios. With a wide variety of
customizable multiplayer scenarios, teamwork (and
fun) is what "Conker" is all about.
Each scenario has its own objectives, rules,
environment and back story, adding emotional
context to the genre. It ships in 2004.
"Kameo:
Elements of Power." This is an
action-adventure game set in a fantastic kingdom
of monsters and magic. Players become
"Kameo," a princess on a mission to
rescue her three Elemental Ancestors from the
Dark Troll King, who has plans to dominate the
fantasy planet’s wildlife. It ships in 2004.
"Fable"
(Microsoft Game Studios, Lionhead Studios). From
renowned developer Peter Molyneux,
"Fable" puts the choice squarely at
gamers’ fingertips: Will they be good, evil
or somewhere in between? In "Fable,"
players choose their identity, determine
appearance and abilities, feel effects of
reputation, and thus create their own interactive
experience. It will ship holiday 2003.
"Counter-Strike"
(Microsoft Game Studios, Valve/Ritual). Designed
by Valve and Ritual Entertainment, two of the
world’s most renowned game developers,
"Counter-Strike" is one of the
world’s most popular PC action games, with
more than 75,000 simultaneous gamers playing at
any given time. It is the winner of numerous
awards and ships holiday 2003.
"Crimson
Skies™: High Road to Revenge™"
(Microsoft Game Studios, FASA). "Crimson
Skies: High Road to Revenge" is an Xbox
Live-enabled flight combat action game that
immerses players in the life of a swashbuckling
air pirate, bringing the thrills of aerial
dogfighting exclusively to Xbox. It ships holiday
2003.
Xbox Live Is
Evolving and Growing the Gaming Community
"With a
community of over 500,000 gamers worldwide, the Xbox Live
service is growing strong and helping us learn a lot
about how gamers want to interact with Xbox," said J
Allard, vice president of the Xbox platform.
"We’re continually innovating and expanding the
Xbox Live gameplay experience, leveraging what we’ve
learned about what gamers want and allowing the
most-talented developers in the industry to take
advantage of the endless possibilities that Xbox Live
enables."
As Xbox Live
continues to evolve over the next year, the growing
worldwide community of online gamers will be enticed by a
host of new features:
Xbox Live
Alerts. Gamers can receive invitations to play on
their personal digital assistant (PDA), cell
phone or PC with MSN® Messenger
Service.
Xbox Live
Web. Xbox Live stats and friends lists will be
available to view through a new Xbox site that
links to the service.
Xbox Live
Aware Games. More games will allow users to be
"logged on" while playing, even as a
single player, so they can receive invitations
and keep up with what their friends are doing.
Teams and
Competition. New features on Xbox Live will make
it easy for gamers to form teams with friends,
and create and participate in structured
competitions on the Web and in games.
Xbox Live
Now. Gamers will have a place to meet and can use
voice chat to determine where to begin their
gaming experience. They can decide which game to
play and how to team up, and chat after the game.
By this time next
year more than 100 Xbox Live games are forecasted to be
available, including the most-anticipated game in the
industry, "Halo 2," as well as games such as
"Counter-Strike," "Project Gotham Racing
2" and every sports game from Microsoft Game
Studios.
Innovative Digital
Entertainment — XSN Sports and "Music
Mixer" — Debuts
XSN Sports
Microsoft unveiled
XSN Sports from Microsoft Game Studios, the first lineup
of Xbox games in which sports fans compete beyond the
game. For the first time ever, gamers will challenge real
people to create their own leagues and build their own
rivalries. Launching in August, XSN Sports will change
the way the industry develops sports games. XSN Sports
features include these:
Virtual
leagues. Teams, leagues and schedules can be
organized easily from a centralized Web site,
XSNsports.com.
Check stats
on a virtual sports page. Xbox Live will
automatically broadcast up-to-date scores,
standings and stats to XSNsports.com every 15
minutes. For the first time, gamers can scout the
career stats of their next opponent.
Competition
for the digital lifestyle. XSN Sports will keep
gamers plugged in — on the Web, on their
cell, on their Xbox — where their game is
the center of the action.
Train to be
a multisport champion. The XSN Sports lineup will
enable gamers to be a one-sport star or even an
eight-sport superstar.
Combining the power
of Xbox, Xbox Live, PC and mobile devices to redefine the
way sports gamers compete, the XSN Sports network will
include "NFL Fever 2004," "NBA Inside
Drive 2004," "Top Spin™,"
"Amped™ 2," "Links®
2004" and "NHL Rivals."
"Music
Mixer"
"‘Music
Mixer’ unlocks the digital entertainment capability
of Xbox," Allard said. "‘Music Mixer’
demonstrates how we can use the Xbox to connect gamers to
other favorite activities of the Digital Entertainment
Lifestyle, enabling players to access DVD playback,* CD
playback, photo viewing, gaming, music storage, online
gameplay, enhanced party visualizers and even
karaoke."
"Music
Mixer" expands the way people play, share and
interact with music, allowing any player to be a
producer, VJ or American idol. Features include the
following:
With digital
lyric-stripping technology, "Music
Mixer" will provide a limitless karaoke
experience, letting Xbox players sing along to
millions of songs.
Players can
mix, match, shuffle and customize soundtracks,
setting the mood for any situation. Players can
enhance the music experience with the addition of
interactive
2-D and 3-D on-screen visualizers.
With PC
media sharing, Xbox players will be able to
easily transfer their digital music and photos
from their PC to their Xbox system, creating the
ultimate multimedia library to be enjoyed in the
social center of the home: the living room.
Xbox "Music
Mixer" will debut this holiday in the United States
for an estimated retail price of $39.99.
Hands-On Demos at
Electronic Entertainment Expo
The full roster of
new Xbox software and services will be on display
Wednesday through Friday of this week at E3 at
the Los Angeles Convention and Exposition Center.
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