Microsoft Xbox at E3 2017: all of the latest news, trailers, and announcements – The Verge

The 21 best game trailers of E3 2017

2017-06-16T12:00:39-04:00

Rejoice, for E3 is over for another year, and we can all take a breath. The world's biggest video games trade show brings such a flurry of news that it's hard to stop and take it in before you're whisked to the next keynote, the next conference, or the next big reveal.

It's only now, with E3 over, that we can really take time to look back at some of the most impressive, intriguing, or downright bizarre games to get announced or outlined further at the show. Below you'll find some of the trailers that are worth rewatching - or that you might have missed - from the last week.

Super Mario Odyssey

Nintendo closed its E3 presentation - a prese …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Microsoft on its lack of exclusives, selling 4K, and how Xbox One X will improve old games

2017-06-13T20:59:43-04:00

Dave McCarthy is the Head of Xbox Operations and General Manager of Xbox Services, meaning he's been deeply involved in the lead up to the reveal of Xbox One X. We had a chance to sit down with McCarthy at Microsoft's E3 event space in downtown Los Angeles and talk about a range of topics, from how the company plans to explain native 4K to potential customers, how Minecraft has influenced Sea of Thieves, and why the company's press event had fewer big budget first-party games and timed downloadable content (DLC) exclusives.

Let's start with the DLC.

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

On the absence of downloadable cont …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Why Microsoft didn’t turn Xbox One X into a Windows 10 gaming PC

2017-06-13T09:30:02-04:00

Microsoft's big reveal this week of the Xbox One X, the high end of its Xbox line and a competitor to Sony's PlayStation 4 Pro, has set the stage for a new conversation about the future of the console industry. This debate isn't simply about comparing the two devices, deeming one superior, and predicting which will win out. It's also about the very nature and purpose of a game console in 2017.

We heard a lot about the Xbox One X being "the most powerful console" ever created, and Microsoft dropped frame rate and memory metrics and the phrase "4K" to hammer home the point that it's built a more capable piece of hardware. But absent from the …

Read the full story at The Verge.

What Microsoft got right and wrong at E3 2017

2017-06-13T08:15:02-04:00

Microsoft's press conference at this year's E3 was always going to be the early highlight of the show. Going in, we knew the company was planning on unveiling the final consumer version of Project Scorpio alongside a slate of new games and other announcements. Right away, Microsoft gave us a name, Xbox One X, alongside pricing ($499) and a release date (November 7th).

That alone was enough to satisfy a torrent of news headlines and first reactions, and Microsoft followed it up by packing quite a bit of news into its two-hour presentation. Some of it bodes well for the Xbox's ongoing comeback, while other announcements seem to further put th …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Xbox’s Phil Spencer: PS4 Pro is an Xbox One S competitor, not a true 4K console

2017-06-13T07:38:43-04:00

Microsoft unveiled its new Xbox One X console earlier this week, promising "true 4K" gaming on "the world's most powerful games console." While many are debating what those promises truly mean and whether we'll see the majority of games in Native 4K or checkerboard rendering, Microsoft's Xbox chief Phil Spencer believes the Xbox One X is "a true 4K console." In an interview with Eurogamer, Spencer explains the Xbox One X name, a lack of first-party game announcements, and the all-important $100 price gap between the Xbox One X and the PS4 Pro.

"I look at [PS4] Pro as more of a competitor to [Xbox One] S than I do to Xbox One X," claims Spen …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Why Monster Hunter World is one of the biggest announcements at E3

2017-06-13T07:00:06-04:00

Sony's E3 keynote wasn't too big on major reveals, largely focusing on known quantities like God of War and Uncharted: The Lost Legacy. There was one announcement, however, that really did shock me despite not even making it into our roundup of the event: Monster Hunter World, a new game coming next year for PS4, Xbox One, and later PC.

I don't blame my colleague Chaim for omitting it - Monster Hunter has never quite broken through in the West, and its presence in Sony's keynote probably left a lot of viewers nonplussed. But trust me, Monster Hunter World is huge news. Here's why.

What is Monster Hunter?

Monster Hunter is an action-RPG seri …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Capcom’s Monster Hunter World is coming to PS4, Xbox One, and PC

2017-06-12T21:40:56-04:00

Capcom is bringing a brand new game in its huge-in-Japan Monster Hunter series to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. Monster Hunter World is coming out in early 2018, and while we don't know too much about it we can say it's by far the most visually impressive Monster Hunter game yet. All other games in the series have been designed around the technical limitations of systems like the PS2, Wii, and 3DS, so the leap to modern hardware marks a huge upgrade.

Capcom is also bringing Monster Hunter XX to Nintendo Switch later this year, making Monster Hunter World somewhat of a surprise. The new game appears to play very differently to others, how …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Microsoft can’t explain why its 4K is $100 better than Sony’s

2017-06-12T08:00:03-04:00

Xbox One X

From Microsoft's perspective, the Xbox One X, the new console built to take advantage of the rapid growth of 4K televisions, is a luxury item. Its diminutive shell contains an abundance of RAM, teraflops, and other expensive bits. For that reason, $499 is a logical price for Microsoft to go with, but it isn't a competitive one.

As my colleague Tom Warren noted in our original story, the Xbox One will cost $100 more than its direct 4K console competitor, the PlayStation 4 Pro. Technically, the Xbox One X delivers native 4K, while the Pro mostly offers something approaching that resolution. But in both cases, it depends on the game. And some …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Want Forza Motorsport 7 to look its very best? You’ll need a PC

2017-06-11T19:03:42-04:00

Turn 10 Studios announced Forza Motorsport 7 today during Microsoft's E3 press conference, and it's primed to be the best-looking and most feature-dense entry in the series. The game was tailor-made to take advantage of the new Xbox One X's added horsepower, which should render the game in 4K resolution and 60 frames per second.

This also the first full Forza Motorsport game to hit PC. (The series has tested the Windows 10 water with Forza Motorsport 6: Apex and Forza Horizon 3.) And if you want the cars, the tracks, the raindrops on the windshield to look their absolute, pixel-perfect best, the Windows 10 version - with the help of some to …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Original Xbox games are coming to Xbox One with backwards compatibility

2017-06-11T18:39:42-04:00

Microsoft is bringing original Xbox games to the Xbox One. After launching Xbox 360 backwards compatibility at E3 last year, Microsoft is surprising gamers again with original Xbox games. Crimson Skies is one of the first titles planned for the new backwards compatibility, and Xbox chief Phil Spencer promises that original Xbox games will "look better and play better across the Xbox One family."

The original Xbox games support will launch later this year, and it's likely that Microsoft will trial it with Xbox Insiders in the coming months.

Read the full story at The Verge.