So the presser is now over, and I’m a little stunned and in no position to make any thoughtful comments yet. Instead, let’s go over those wild predictions I made and see how we fared…

  • “The next dashboard update will be revealed and will include expanded avatar customization options”

Well, we there is a dashboard update coming and it’s going to include some crazy stuff.  And, as if on cue, a bunch of stuff that won’t be coming to Canada.  There were no more announced avatar customization changes, but we did get Twitter and Facebook so I guess it’s an even exchange. (1/1)

  • “The motion controller will be shown”

Well… “motion control” was shown, sans actual controller, but I’m going to take this as a win regardless. You know, we all knew that the motion camera thing was coming, what surprised me is that no one really guessed how much it would change everything. (2/2)

  • “You’ll be able to use a Zune HD as a controller for your Xbox 360 for specially made games (Maranda wants the world to know that this is her prediction, not mine, and if it comes true then she was right)”

Sorry Maranda, but not only did they not bring motion controlling zunes.. but they didn’t even MENTION the damn thing. Better luck next time! (2/3)

  • Primetime Channel release date announce along with additional games.

Okay, Primetime was completely absent which, I have to be honest here, completely surprised me. I thought this was a shoe in! Not only did they not mention Primetime, but they also didn’t mention that 1vs100 is going live in the States TONIGHT in beta. (2/4)

  • Game announcements, appearances:
    • Crackdown 2
    • Lord of the Rings Online
    • PGR5 or Forza 2 or Both, with a new high-end racing wheel incl. six speed shifter
    • Bungie’s new IP will NOT be shown
    • This is obvious, since it’s shipping in six months, but we’re finally going to see ODST gameplay
    • Mass Effect 2 will be shown and will time timed exclusive for Xbox 360

Okay, let’s make another list to cover this one…

  • Crackdown 2 win!
  • LotR Online fail!
  • Forza 2 or PGR5 win!
  • New racing wheel fail! (I *know* there is one coming)
  • New Bungie Game NOT appearing fail!
  • Halo ODST win!
  • Mass Effect 2 fail! (where the hell was it??!)

Which brings us to… 5 of 11 predictions true or, essentially, a fail. Damn, I’m not very good at this!

If you’ve been following me on Twitter, then you’re already well aware that I hold in my hand an invite to both the Microsoft media brief presentation and to E3 itself… both of which I had to turn down.  I’m well aware the extents that many people would go through in order to obtain that which I have tossed aside but believe me, the decision was not easy.

About a month ago I began to loosely form a set of theories, or predictions, about what Microsoft would unveil at this year’s media brief.  One of them, a new piece of hardware to compete with Apple’s iPhone as a grass-roots gaming platform, has mostly come true. We’ve seen the hardware, but we’ve yet to see the software and I do believe, from the rumblings I’ve heard, that it will have a significant gaming component to it and that it will be shown at the media brief.

Okay, that one is obvious, let’s keep it going.

  • The next dashboard update will be revealed and will include expanded avatar customization options
  • The motion controller will be shown
  • You’ll be able to use a Zune HD as a controller for your Xbox 360 for specially made games (Maranda wants the world to know that this is her prediction, not mine, and if it comes true then she was right)
  • Primetime Channel release date announce along with additional games.
  • Game announcements, appearances:
    • Crackdown 2
    • Lord of the Rings Online
    • PGR5 or Forza 2 or Both, with a new high-end racing wheel incl. six speed shifter
    • Bungie’s new IP will NOT be shown
    • This is obvious, since it’s shipping in six months, but we’re finally going to see ODST gameplay
    • Mass Effect 2 will be shown and will time timed exclusive for Xbox 360

So those are mine, but what are yours? Do you think I’m crazy? Let me know in the comments.

~ Jeff

Disclaimer
While I have regular interaction with the community and product teams, I don’t know any more (most likely less) than everyone else. They’re all very careful never to let us know anything that we’re not supposed to know and only ever tell us anything after it’s been announced (we typically just get additional information on it).

I’ve had some time to let everything we saw yesterday sink in and I’m ready to make my comments.  Read on for my humble thoughts and opinions.

Dashboard 2.0: The New Experience
On the Xbox 360’s launch day when I first turned on my console, I remember thinking very clearly to myself that the Dashboard was going to be inadequate as time moved on.  Being the professional designer that I am (you did know that, right?) I had concocted several solutions in my head that could potentially solve the problems that I foresaw.

Never in my wildest dreams did I image that they’d implement an entirely different front end interface!

I can’t say that I necessarily love it, but we really don’t know a lot about it yet.  I know that significantly more information is coming and I’m fully intent on reserving judgment until then.  Primarily, I want to know how it’s going to benefit the gamer enthusiast in me beyond 8 person partying in the dashboard.  While neat, I can’t see myself using this very often (if ever).

What we really need to see is how this system will make getting around easier.  I’ll tell you, from my limited exposure to it so far I would imagine it would make navigating your content harder.  But, like I said, we really don’t know anything about it yet and we’ll have to wait for Microsoft to reveal more in greater detail.

Avatars
Cool? I guess?  Can I dress him up in COG armour from Gears of War?  I don’t know.  This is obviously aimed at making the console more mainstream friendly and, while I’m on board with that, I hope they take the opportunity to expand the experience well beyond the horribly realized Miis.

Another important question that I’m curious to have answered is how these new Avatars will be monetized.  Obviously paying for new shirts and whatnot is the equivalent of paying for gamerpics so I guess we’ll see that.  But will they take it further.

Here’s another question.  What’s going to happen to gamercards on Xbox.com and the rest of the internet?  If gamerpics are going optional, will there be a backend system to essentially convert avatars into gamerpics.  I guess only time will tell.

NetFlix, NBC, Universal
I’m pretty sure none of these apply to Canada so I’m not really getting worked up over them.  The Canadian video marketplace is the equivelent of a bad joke (a very expensive one at that) which I’ve pretty much ignored up to this point.  What I really want to see is the price reduced and the content signifiacntly expanded.

Games
This is what it all comes down to for me.  Everything they showed was pretty much on my must-buy list.  Fallout 3, Gears of War 2, Fable 2, Rock Band 2 and (of course) Final Fantasy XIII.  There was lots of news and lots of new features announced.  They’re all great and fantastic and I’ll be sure they’ll add to the experience.

A few of the more casual or mainstream games announced will also more than likely find their way into my living room.  Maranda and I have quite a few non-gamer friends and games like Scene It have been a hit in the past.

Game Over
Now that we’re all said and done I think it’s safe to say that Microsoft is delivering a little something for everyone.  Will the new mainstream focused dashboard deliver a better experience for the core gamer?  That’s still up in the air.  Regardless of whether it’s a hit or miss, at least we’ll have some fantastic games to play.