Microsoft E3 2015 conference reaction

Microsoft needed a good E3 conference, and it delivered. Not with everything, but midway through the roughly hour-and-half show it was clear the firm's offering had improved immensely over previous years. There were exclusives, fundamental (if backward-looking by design) system updates, free stuff from EA, first-look betas, and Gears of War 4. There were a few mood trailers, and the mood after the show was good. Microsoft hit the beats in its conference, after a few years of stumbling, over-promising, and straight-up Don Mattricking.

The crowd, clearly buoyed by paid-for whoopers and out-and-out maniacs - each of them wearing light-up necklaces like some weird disco version of Battle Royale - didn't really seem to need such encouragement. There was enough good stuff on show. After an opening montage that showed Lara Croft, Master Chief, and Marcus Fenix's heads exploding thanks to their own memories, like some weird PTSD-version of Scanners, MS kicking off with Halo 5 was a good move, and one which both set the tone for the rest of the conference and broke away from the usual Call of Duty single-player footage and played-out 'in the interests of time' jokes.

In-game footage was shown, with Nathan Fillion's hair looking as lovely as the lighting and particle effects, and while it was just more Halo, that's what everyone wanted. Other big-hitters followed - Forza, which is out September 15th, was there, with Dan Greenawalt (seemingly reading the same script as last year, but with a new number on the end) introduced alongside Henry Ford III, who may be a step too far for the franchise.

Gears of War Ultimate Edition was announced, with a public beta today ('what do we want? Game announcements! When do we want to play them? Today, or the beta at least'), but it was Gears 4 that naturally excited more. Its horror-inspired gameplay footage, with flashlights, low visibility, gothic architecture, enemies stalking the players, and natural disasters piqued the interest more than another round of head-stomping and chainsaw revving. It got me interested in a series that got less engaging as it got more shoot-bang.

Rise of the Tomb Raider was also there, as expected, and looked technically excellent, featuring a mountainside ascent with pickaxes, safety ropes, death-defying leaps, and all things Cliffhanger. There's even an avalanche, although no Sly. At one point VideoGamer's own Dave Scammell turned to me and said 'this looks good', before muttering something about 720p. Oh well, it'll be out on November 10th.

Mojang brand director Lydia Winters and Mojang's Saxs Persson came on stage to show off HoloLens Minecraft. Saxs sounded like the third bad guy killed in most Die Hard movies, but showed of a very cool HoloLens trailer, where he built the world and then stalked players around a mountain as if he was auditioning for a God of War boss internship.

Rare announced a collection of its old games, pleasing mainly idiots and those who don't know how emulators work, before going on to introduce Assassin's Creed IV, or as they've called it, Sea of Thieves. Dark Souls III, which no-one knew about, also got a nice if lightweight reveal trailer.

Outside of the games, Microsoft also made strides with its hardware and system software. It went into more detail on its new Elite pad, which is customisable and features various interesting features (hair-trigger locks, swappable inputs) so you've got something else to blame when you get stomped at Call of Duty. Backwards compatibility was announced, with Microsoft aiming to recapture the glory days by letting you play them again, and the Xbox Game Preview program was introduced, ostensibly as the firm's stab at early access gaming.

All told it was a good show - confident, filled with interesting first (and third) party games - including a moddable Fallout 4, which could be huge - heedful of player feedback, and with no major fuck ups. Phil Spencer did turn up at one point to stand on a Top of the Pops-style centre stage in a jacket that made it look like he'd jogged there, but we can forgive him that. Also: Cuphead. CUPHEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD. I'd take that over every other game there right now.