We Talk Over Microsoft's Gamescom 2015 Press Conference

@smokyexe: Dan? Calling something that isn't wrestling stupid? Who would of thought.

I don't know how many more press conferences I can watch. The buzz words and using 5 random adjectives to describe some part of the game is starting to make my brain hurt more and more.

Brad was referring to Dominic Monaghan. He played the Hobbit Merry.

Fantastic conference. I hand it to Microsoft. They have a lot of games to talk about. And personally I'm excited for Halo Wars 2. Bring it on.

As a Norwegian I can co-sign this.

I only caught the ending live. Halo Wars 2

So I do not get it. Can you get Forza Motorsporton PC now?

Yup, at most halfway decent places you will get ice in your soda. At some places you might have to order it but it's not nearly as bad as they make it sound.

Aller Units

Alright, I saw people on twitter complaining about the esports commentary bit and it made me roll my eyes. I find it kinda weird how a lot of people in the gaming press have this "eew esports" attitude. Having watched this bit though and hearing Jeff's problem with the segment makes more sense. Wasn't the best way or place to show that stuff off. I do think though having an esports push for games like this is something people are just gonna have to get used to, it's not something you can ignore anymore.

Also the reaction to Halo Wars was so good.

Hypothesis: T-shirts and blazers are still douchey.

CONFIRMED

Can't wait for Drew Raider where Drew plays the two newer Tomb Raider games and just kills everything with grenades whenever possible.

Good show. Crackdown 3 and Scalebound are helping the Xbox One edge over the PlayStation 4 in which console I would get. ALL UNITS.

@thesoutherndandy: I can't assume this for all video game writers, but I think the core of the problem they have is how forced it feels at the moment. I believe Jeff has expressed how esports appears to be a corporate cash-grab before, and this Halo 5 presentation isn't convincing otherwise.

On the other hand, I would like to believe Microsoft is genuine in their esports desires for Halo 5. I can see how having today's stage presentation is a show of commitment.

I feel there's a tug of war between "eSports isn't big enough to have this presentation spot" versus "eSports has this presentation spot because it is big or so it can be big." Hopefully, in a few years time we will be used to it.

Brad always leaves during Dark Souls 3 stuff.

Man, I wish Platinum Games would do something other than action games with eccentric main characters. I feel like they did all these needed to do after they made that Devil May Cry reboot.

128:45 is all you need.

Early morning Jeff is hilarious.

Microsoft did a good job. Not enough for me to get an Xbox One, though Quantum Break is very tempting. Still, any Xbox One owner who is worried about their console's future will probably be happy. And free last-gen games is a nice touch.

Also, (1) many places have free refills and (2) many other places will give you a can of soda with a cup of ice to pour it in yourself.

"Who's that?"

"Don't worry about him, he's just there forever."

I wouldn't regret being Max Payne ever.

Quantum Break looks like it will be either really cool or really lame, depending on how the time manipulation mechanic is implemented. I feel like there's no real in between.

Also lmao @Jeff's reaction to the Halo esports.

Yeah, I have enough trust in that developer to think it's gonna turn out great. But I agree, it needs to nail the time stuff.

I really dont care about Microsofts franchises anymore. Halo and Gears im just done with, they were great for years but im not into them at all anymore. Burnt out maybe, or just moved onto different things. This weird esports angle they are taking with halo 5 is a real turn off. Show me the good stuff to make me change my mind, not terrible esports. I was interested to see Scalebound but that was extremely disappointing for me too.... dubstep, lame character and the dragon did everything for you. meh. Iv been willing to let Microsoft convince me to buy a xboxone to go next to my ps4, they are trying but its just not doing it for me.

Biggest announcement? Blast Corps 2

#getbenjuddawhip

I still get the impression they are trying their damndest to turn the ship around, and they're getting there little by little. Quantum Break looks pretty and while it felt a little too pedestrian compared to Remedy's usual fare I have hope they'll bring it home in the end.

Creative Assembly + Halo = Joy

My son (8) plays Halo Wars all the time. He is going to FREAK OUT.

ALL UNITS

That one also caught my attention. I just wish it didn't have wise crackin' nouveau Dante dude bro protagonist.

Also, wtf how come Lara Croft doesn't wear shorts anymore. I'm boycotting this shit.

Looking good lately @jeff! Keep up the weight loss man!

nah, Platinum just needs to make him MORE of a dudebro. They said he's from Earth so let me set the scene: Brother Drew "The Brew" from Alpha Sigma Nu is transported to an alternate dimension just after he drank a few forties and was totally about to hook up with this hot chick. Now he's stuck on a world full of goddam LARPing nerds with a fuckin' dragon and needs to find some way to get back to his prized polo t-shirt collection.

I think that Jeff made wayyyyyy too big of a deal over the whole Halo 5 esports segment. Sure it was kind of lame that they were commenting over a pre-recorded game, but it was still an opportunity to see the game in action and see some high-level play between two great teams. I don't particularly care for esports or ever watch any of it online but that segment was far from being as terrible as Jeff made it out to be.

You know Jeff does not believe in loyalty when he mixes Nike kicks with Adidas short socks.

Agreed. Although as someone who has been into competitive Halo for 7 years it still felt awkward but it was cool to see those people featured in a press conference. I think the main reason they felt they had to do this was because the entire scene imploded when Reach was released since it was so terrible for high level play. Halo 4 came out and that failed for competitive play too. Pretty much at this point like half of the really dedicated fans that were into the competitive scene have completely given up on Halo and haven't been paying attention to H5. Because of this the only way to tell those people "hey we are really supporting this esports thing now" is to put it directly into promos like this and at press conferences.

@eribuster: For sure, usually when esports shows up in a conference it's handled really poorly. I just have noticed some push back though here and there to esports in general from video game people and it's always struck me as super weird. I do think that's gonna go away as the audience for that stuff keeps growing and devs/publishers are gonna keep trying to find a way to fit that in to grab that audience. Hopefully they do a better job of presenting that stuff in the future.

Wow, that Halo esports thing sucked. Everyone who they would want as their target audience to watch competitive Halo is way into CS:GO and doesn't give a fuck about this.

Watch Us Watch the Sony Gamescom Press Conference

Brad @ 22:15

God that halo demonstration was one of the worst things i've ever seen. I cringed so hard my face hurts.

Crackdown 3!

Xbone? Oh... Guess I won't be playing that ;_;

Hearing Chris Charla say "family bomb shelter simulator" made my evening. Video games y'all.

BANE?

Man, still using the same sounds and animations from Dark Souls 1 in the third game seems lazy as fuuuuuck.

Sea of Thieves was always coming to PC.

It would at least have made some sense if they coupled that with an "Halo 5 for Windows 10!" announcement, which i actually expected because they showed it off after the "Everything from now on will be on Xbone and Win10!" but that's still Xbone exclusive...

If you want to sell me a new Windows version at least make it a meaningful change, like bringing back Halo to PC. Minecraft for Windows 10 and gimped Xbone wireless controller support for Win7 won't sell any Windows 10 copies, it will only make people despise Microsoft even more for their shitty corporate ways.

It's gotten cringe-worthy how MS tries to appeal to a userbase they obviously have no clue about, even tho it's been their userbase for over 2 decades..

That whole segment had been completely misplaced, as next to nobody in Europe cares about Halo as an "E-Sport". CS:GO, LoL, SC2, even FIFA all of those are popular, but Halo? That game ain't even considered a real FPS as there's no PC version :P

GiantBomb staff laughing at Europe and football, it never ever gets old.

There is so much wrong here.

Man, all this multiplayer e-sports stuff sure is something I don't get.

Almost all of those games involves guns. That fact makes me start to get fucking tired of video games.