X06 Impressions - Retrospective Feature

The presentations, demo pods, and the three Peters (Moore, Molyneux, and Jackson) have all been sent packing from Barcelona at the end of another X0 event form Microsoft. But with the dust now settling, what did it reveal to gamers eager to glimpse the next eighteen months of gaming, and how well received was their annual event of exuberance and announcements?

Undoubtedly slick in both style and execution, the annual mini-'X'po contained everything, from surprises, revelations, and even Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson himself, shipped over from Auckland to the Catalan capital with no expense spared, to announce a long-term creative partnership with Microsoft and the creation of his own studio in Wingnut Interactive. With his signature already obtained to executively produce 2008's Halo movie, it perhaps came as little surprise to discover that Jackson's first title would be set in the Halo universe. His intentions to a create something that was neither quite a movie or a videogame in the traditional sense, suggests however, that it may be a little while before we get our hands on the fruit of the partnership.

But aside from "PJ's" plans, what else did Microsoft announce from the stage at the Theatre National Catalunya for the year ahead? Opening with a teaser for Banjo-Kazooie, which only confirmed what many had long been expecting (does this mean that Killer Instinct will be announced at X07???), the list of titles for their next-gen machine was seemingly never ending. Though news of its development was confirmed in recent weeks by the unlikeliest of sources, French car manufacturer Peugeot, the teaser for Bizarre Creations' Project Gotham Racing 4 burst onto the screen with the sort of speed and style that we've come to expect from the franchise to date. Whether the symbolic obliteration of the city streets in the teaser was indicative of what's in store, perhaps the possibility of Test Drive Unlimited style open-racing, we don't know at this point - all will be revealed in the months to come. X06 also brought with it confirmation that Mistwalker's double feature of Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey would be released in Europe, emphasised with a couple of trailers - though release periods for both titles were kept back, if previous Japanese RPGs are anything to go by expect them around 2008. The exclusive Xbox 360 downloadable content for Rockstar Games' Grand Theft Auto IV was revealed to be two 'epic' pieces that will be released a matter of months after the game's October 2007 release, whilst Eidos confirmed that Kane & Lynch: Dead Men would be Xbox 360 and PC exclusive.

It was also a night for retro gamers, with news that Sensible World of Soccer and Doom would be heading for Xbox Live Arcade (the latter now released, though Sensi will be following in 2007), ensuring that Microsoft's strategy to casual gaming continues to grow. Though news of Doom's presence on the platform wasn't perhaps as warmly welcomed by the crowd at the Theatre, in fact it could at best be described as 'polite', the fact remains that id Software's classic title is more than worthy of undergoing the XLA process.

Having already announced the price in Japan at Tokyo Game Show 2006, it came as no surprise when Peter Moore confirmed a price and release period for the Xbox 360's HD-DVD drive (£129.99 with a copy of Peter Jackson's King Kong and the Universal Media Remote from November). Quite frankly an astounding price since HD-DVD movies have a price set around the £25 mark, and the remote control is available for £17.99, Microsoft's pricing policy will certainly offer an enticing prospect and a convincing alternative to blu-Ray.

Of course, no Microsoft presentation would be complete without a final Columbo-style "One more thing..." moment, and X06 was no exception. For the second time that evening, Bungie's Halo franchise was in the spotlight - the surprise being that the game being teased wasn't Halo 3...nor was it a Bungie title for that matter. Having started as an RTS title in-development for the Mac in the late 1990s, it was with a certain irony that the universe will return to the early days of its conception with Halo Wars from Age of Empire developer Ensemble Studios. News that the game will appear on Xbox 360 is another surprise, let's face it, how many twelve-year old Halo fan boys do you see enjoying an RTS? With all the revelry that seemed to emerge with the announcement however, one point has emerged: Halo may be to Microsoft, what Grand Theft Auto is to Take-Two.

Following the "guns-a-blazing" relentless list of announcements of their Media Briefing, it was time for the party. Held at an extravagant venue in Barcelona, which was all lit up in green hues (making it seem like a Carlsberg ad), it proved another opportunity for Microsoft to show off Gears of War. With both single- and multi-player versions of the game on show, queuing up to play as Marcus Fenix proved to be something that many of the attendees would experience throughout the course of the night...including the likes of Real Time Worlds founder Dave "Crackdown/Grand Theft Auto" Jones.

Each of the levels at the venue provided a different style of music from wailing Spaniards with their guitars, through to dance music and even jazz. Nice. Like the theatre that held the presentation, the party seemed to embody exactly the sort of buzz words that Microsoft would use to describe Xbox 360. Walking from each of the levels to the next, sampling the delights of the cuisine, beverages (except for a semi-opaque kiwi fruit drink that was the very definition of potent), and demostration booths, the X0 event becomes less about the formalities of the media briefing, and more about chilling out and taking in the Xbox 360 philosophy. People mill around and discuss everything from the games, the announcements, and life in general, whilst others try to squeeze as much gameplay time with the titles on offer as possible. It's a party like no other, and the vast majority of attendees that we spoke to the next day all made positive vibes. If only there were clubs that held X06 parties every weekend...Microsoft could make a killing!

It was also a place where people could talk away from the confines of a formal interview. Most notably, Epic Games' Mark Rein and CliffyB, who revealed to TVG that unsurprisingly they'd already had enough storylines for future instalments in the Gears of War franchise...and that the ending of the highly anticipated Xbox 360 title will leave gamers calling for more. When we asked whether Epic was "doing a Halo2" on gamers, Rein said that it won't be as bad as Bungie's infamous ending, before CliffyB delivered the defining take on the subject, "If Halo 2 gave you a boner, we tickle your balls too!" Get ready for a tickling sensation come mid-November then folks...

The main 'business' day of X06 came the following day however, with live performances of Guitar Hero II for Xbox 360 from Activision, a whole host of demo pods featuring the likes of Forza Motorsport 2, Viva Pinata, FIFA 07, Gears of War (naturally), Lost Planet, and huddled away in one corner, a section dedicated to Games for Windows. It was also an opportunity for some behind-closed doors action too, so look out for more on Remedy Games' Alan Wake, Rare's Viva Pinata, and Eidos' promising Kane & Lynch: Dead Men in the coming days.

As the sun set on Barcelona at the end of the second day, it has to be said that Microsoft had pulled out the stops in trying to impress everyone with their plans for the year ahead. Kicking off with the likes of Gears of War and Viva Pinata towards the end of 2006, the promise of Too Human, Alan Wake, Forza Motorsport 2, Banjo-Kazooie, Mass Effect, Lost Odyssey, Blue Dragon and Project Gotham Racing 4 over the course of the next eighteen or so months makes it a busy time for Microsoft Game Studios, and an exciting time for next-gen gamers. With the launch of PlayStation3 in Europe postponed until Spring 2007, Microsoft is determined to continue pushing the benefits of entering their interpretation of next-generation gaming - let the next-gen war commence (well in five months time).