Xbox E3 2015 Wrap-Up, Done Clean and Simple!

Perhaps you’ve heard that E3 2015 is here? Microsoft just wrapped up their 90 minute Xbox presentation and dropped a TON of exciting info that’s bound to draw more attention to their current-gen console.

So let’s get down to it, shall we?

Halo 5: Guardians

• Will feature 4-player squad-based gameplay. You can order your squad to revive teammates, focus targets, and pick up ammo.
• Looks like what we’d expect a current-gen Halo to look like, and that’s in no way a bad thing.
• Air dashing looks pretty damn fun.
• Will feature a 24-player mode called Warzone, that adds in AI enemies, vehicles, different playable races, and seems to be some sort of PVP/PVE raid hybrid thing.
• Launches October 27, 2015.

ReCore, a new IP from Keiji Inafune and the developers of Metroid Prime.

• Is an Xbox One exclusive.
• No actual gameplay was shown, just a CGI trailer.
• It’s Mega Man creater Keiji Inafune, FFS, and Armature Studios, comprised of developers from the amazing Metroid Prime series.
• Seems to focus on a sole female human living in a desolate world among robots.
• Character has the ability to insert spherical “cores” in to machines to fight alongside her.
• Immediately made us cry with doggy robot suicide and resurrecting their “sphere” in to an ape-like mech. Way to play with our emotions, Xbox.

The Xbox One will be backwards compatible. Yep!

• 100 titles will be available by Holiday 2015. The list of games was posted earlier today by Miles, which can be found right here.
• Works with both physical and digital releases.
• Physical discs need to be inserted in order to download the game from Xbox Live.
• Will allow you to stream and take screenshots, basically expanding our streaming library tenfold.
• No work needed from developers or publishers, aside from a simple “okay, we’re in!” to Microsoft. They’ll handle the rest.
• Allows you to play multi-player games with your friends who still play on Xbox 360.
• Unlike Sony’s PS Now subscription-based service, Xbox does not want to charge you again for games you’ve already paid for. Good on you, Xbox. Good on you.

Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Confirmed.

• It’s wireless and will work on PC and Xbox One.
• Allows remapping and swapping through a variety of D-pad and analog options, as well as trigger locks, and more.
• No release date or price confirmed.

Fallout 4 supports PC mods on Xbox One, includes Fallout 3.

• As of now, PC mod support is only confirmed for Xbox One versions.
• Xbox One version includes a copy of Fallout 3, playing on the backwards compatibility feature mentioned earlier.
• UPDATE: According to Kotaku, Bethesda is “hoping to bring PC mods to Fallout 4 on PS4”, but it’ll be “after Xbox.”

EA confirms Plants vs. zombies: Garden Warfare 2, hypes EA Access.

• EA Access is an Xbox One exclusive subscription-based feature allowing unlimited access to any game in “The Vault”.
• Cost is $5 per month or $30 per year, and has been available on Xbox One for a while now.
• EA is adding Titanfall to The Vault next week and will be adding the Game of the Year award winning RPG Dragon Age: Inquisition later this Summer
• No gameplay for PVZ:GW 2 was shown, but the CGI trailer looked nice and the game will be releasing in 2016.

Forza Motorsport 6 details announced.

• Launches September 15th exclusively on Xbox One.
• Features over 450 cars, including the brand new Ford GT.
• Will run in 1080p/60fps.
• Drivatar system will return.
• Will have 24-player online races, with local 2-player split-screen.
• 26 different tracks.

Tom Clancy Stuff Happened.

• They showed the world premiere of Dark Souls 3 before this, but it was just a CGI trailer and nothing worth mentioning. No Xbox exclusive content, etc.
• The Division beta arrives in December, and is exclusive to Xbox One.
• Rainbow Six Siege arrives in October, includes free copies of Rainbow Six Vegas 1 & 2, again, milking that backwards compatibility announcement. We hope to see more publishers do this.

Xbox One offers Steam-like Early Access program, Xbox Game Preview.

• Offers Xbox One users a chance to buy in to games while they’re still in development, similar to Steam’s Early Access program.
• Xbox requires all Preview games to offer a free demo to help consumers decide if they’re interested in supporting the unfinished product.
• Launches today with Preview versions of The Long Dark and Elite: Dangerous. DayZ and Shelter also confirmed for the future.

ID@Xbox displays a metric ton of new indies.

• Like, seriously, a metric ton of indies were shown.
• Goat Simulator MMORE GOATZ edition was spotted, confirming the MMO Simulator and zombie survival parody GOATZ add-ons.
• Cuphead was given a pretty amazing gameplay trailer.
• A fantasy RPG was shown, called Ashen.
• Beyond Eyes was shown in detail, featuring a blind protagonist that must use all of her other senses to survive.
• Gone Home’s Fullbright was there showcasing their new project, Tacoma, which comes first to Xbox One and PC.
• Plenty of other glimpses at games like Below, Ark: Survival Evolved, Swordcoast Legends, and more.
• DayZ creator’s new space MMO Ion was given a CGI trailer.

Motiga’s Competitive PVP game Gigantic shown, closed beta coming in August.

• Gigantic will be available on Xbox One and Windows 10 platforms, with cross play.
• Closed beta starts in August, so go sign up here.
• Game will be 5 vs. 5 PVP format with various character classes to choose from.

‘Rare Replay’ coming to Xbox One in Celebration of developer’s 30th anniversary. Plus some Pirate MMO thing that isn’t a new Banjo-Kazooie.

• Features 30 games for $30.
• Arrives August 4th
• Has 10,000 GamerScore to unlock. And you thought The Master Chief Collection had a lot.
• Key games are Perfect Dark, Perfect Dark ZERO, Kameo, Jet Force Gemeni, Banjo Kazooie, Banjo Tooie, Conker’s Bad Fur Day, Blast Corps, Battletoads, Viva Pinata, Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise, and more.
• RARE’s new IP is a cartoony DayZ-like open world pirate game called Sea of Thieves, where you can form your own pirate gang, sail the world, hunt for treasure, and make other players walk the plank. I’m in.

Fable Legends gets a dark new trailer.

• This year’s trailer is a step darker than the previous light-hearted affair we’ve seen thus far.
• Nothing new here really, but to confirm, Fable Legends will be free to play for Xbox Live Gold subscribers on Xbox One, and to anyone on Windows 10.
• It will also be among the first cross-play titles with Xbox One and Windows 10.

Microsoft blows the roof off of E3 with their VR plans.

• Microsoft is partnering with Valve VR for use with their Vive headset on Windows 10.
• They’re also partnering with Oculus Rift, including an Xbox One controller with each purchase, and allowing users to stream all of their Xbox One games to their Oculus Rift headset via Windows 10. That’s pretty damn huge.
• The HoloLens was shown, which is basically like a thousand wizards shoved in your eyeballs and creating magic at whatever surface you look at.
• Seriously, did you watch the video above? HOLY SHIT, right?

Gears of War Ultimate Edition and Gears 4 shown.

• Gears of War Ultimate Edition will only consist of the original game, remastered for Xbox One in 1080p/60fps.
• Launches August 25th, with the multiplayer beta starting today and continuing for one week.
• Roughly 7 minutes of Gears of War 4, dubbed Gears 4, gameplay was shown, featuring new characters and very, very, very, almost un-seeably dark lighting effects. The trailer above is drastically better than what was streamed on Twitch, and increased my excitement for the game tremendously.
• Gears 4 was given a Holiday 2016 release window, so we still have a long wait ahead of us. If Gears of War Ultimate Edition does well, here’s hoping 2 and 3 aren’t far behind to tide us over.

And that’s it, basically.

• RARE didn’t announce a new Banjo-Kazooie, like we all expected.
• No talk of Killer Instinct’s third season, which would have been a nice counter to Street Fighter V’s PS4 exclusivity.
• Nothing on a new State of Decay or Battletoads.
• Microsoft covered a ton of bases that PS4 has yet to touch on, like (free) backwards compatibility, an Early Access program, PC mod support on consoles, and a plethora of options for VR enthusiasts that support third party sets like Valve’s Vive and the Oculus Rift.
• The HoloLens is run off of real life magic.
• It was confirmed earlier that Quantum Break, Scalebound, and Crackdown reveals would be saved for Gamescom this August.

What did you think? Is Microsoft making waves with the new Xbox One announcements or what?

Bradley Keene is the Executive Editor here at What’s Your Tag?, generally handling reviews, public relations, and our social media communications on Facebook and Twitter. He’s no stranger to sinking an absurd amount of time in to an MMO, but also has a deep seeded love for pro wrestling, horror films, and his hometown of Baltimore, MD. Get in touch with him by e-mail at the address above, or follow him on Twitter.