Microsoft E306 Media Briefing

Age of Conan: Unchained is an award-winning and critically acclaimed massively multiplayer online game set in the sexy, savage and brutal world of Conan the Barbarian. Tread in the footsteps of the greatest fantasy hero of all time, and explore the vast reaches of Hyboria. Choose between twelve different classes, from Barbarian to Demonologist, and fight your way to riches and glory as you battle creatures straight out of hell or even engage in colossal guild vs. guild warfare!

Alan Wake is a psychological horror action-adventure game developed by Remedy Entertainment. The narrative centres on Alan Wake, a bestselling thriller novelist experiencing writer's block. He travels to the small town of Bright Falls with his wife, Alice, seeking a change of environment. Shortly after their arrival, Alice vanishes under mysterious circumstances. As Alan searches for her, he discovers pages of a thriller novel he does not recall writing. The events described in these pages begin to manifest in reality, and Alan encounters hostile supernatural entities known as the "Taken," who are controlled by darkness. The gameplay involves navigating Bright Falls and using light to combat these dark forces. The storyline explores themes of reality and fiction, along with the influence of the written word.

"Hironobu Sakaguchi, the Father of the Final Fantasy series, and Artoon present the world of Blue Dragon on Xbox 360. Featuring the character design of Akira Toriyama, the Father of "Dragon Ball Z", and music by Nobuo Uematsu, the composer for Final Fantasy, Blue Dragon is an epic role-playing game (RPG) centered on five youngsters who possess miraculous strength and magical power to control shadow creatures that mirror the actions of their masters." Blue Dragon follows the story of five friends (Shu, Jiro, Kluke, Zola, and Marumaro) as they travel across the world to confront Nene, the evil ruler of the Grand Kingdom. The setting inspired separate anime and manga adaptations, although these follow the story to different degrees and feature a different cast of characters. The game follows a traditional role-playing design, based around exploration and turn-based combat. The gameplay of Blue Dragon uses turn-based gameplay elements seen in older Japanese role-playing video games. The game world contains two major types of areas: towns, in which the player can rest and purchase items, and dungeon-like areas, with numerous foes to be defeated.

Brothers in Arms Hell's Highway brings the critically acclaimed squad-based WWII shooter into the next generation of gaming with amazing graphics and sound, new cutting-edge gameplay features and a totally redesigned online component.

Crackdown is an open world, third-person shooter video game for the Xbox 360. Set in the fictional Pacific City, the player controls a biologically enhanced Agent, tasked with defeating three crime lords and their organized crime syndicates. The Agent's abilities improve by defeating both crime lords and their supporters, as well as by completing optional activities, such as street races and scavenger hunts. The gameplay is nonlinear: instead of following a rigid mission sequence, players are free to select the approach to completing their missions and activities. The game features a two-player cooperative play mode via Xbox Live. Crackdown, initially planned for release on the original Xbox console, was envisioned as a vast world in which players could experiment and explore freely. Microsoft Game Studios bundled specifically marked copies of Crackdown with an access code to the multiplayer test version of the much-anticipated Halo 3 Beta. The game sold 1.5 million copies in its first six months of release because everybody wanted to play Halo 3. It received positive reviews and has garnered several awards for its innovative gameplay. Crackdown was a free download (for Xbox Live Gold members only) from August 1st, 2013 to August 16th, 2013 as part of the Xbox 360 "Games With Gold" (Xbox Live) program.

From the makers of Far Cry, Crysis offers FPS fans the best-looking, most highly-evolving gameplay, requiring the player to use adaptive tactics and total customization of weapons and armor to survive in dynamic, hostile environments including Zero-G.

The DDR dance party continues its long tradition of innovation and creativity with an entirely new game! Dance Dance Revolution Universe takes dancing to a whole new dance floor exclusively on the Xbox 360. A game that everyone can play and enjoy, including anyone with two left feet.

Frank West, a freelance photojournalist on the hunt for the scoop of a lifetime, pursues a juicy lead to a small suburban town only to find that it is being overrun by zombies! He escapes to the local shopping mall thinking it will be a bastion of safety, but it turns out to be anything but. It's a true struggle to survive the endless stream of enemies, but with full reign over an entire shopping center, Frank can utilize anything to fight off the flesh-hungry mob and search for the truth behind the horrendous epidemic.

Dig Dug is a 1-2 player arcade game in which you have to use your shovel to dig your way through the earth. Stopping you from doing this are two monsters, called Pooka and Fygar, who will continually chase you around. The only weapon that you carry is an air pump, which you can use to inflate the monsters to the point where they explode. (if you start to inflate them but stop doing so, the monsters will get turned back to their normal selves). Furthermore, rocks are scattered throughout the earth, and you can use these rocks to squash them. If the monsters do not find you for several seconds, they will eventually get turned into ghosts, which are able to walk through the earth. They are invincible and cannot be killed. From time to time, vegetables will appear in the center, and you can get these for points.

An action adventure role-playing game that has a linear storyline with a somewhat open world to travel through and explore. Along with 4 main playable characters mix your team up with over 100 collectable creatures scattered throughout the game. Uses a turn based battle system with each side on its own 3 by 4 square grid area across from each other. Characters can move a set number of squares on the grid each turn and skills have different area of effect patterns.

The Xbox 360 port of F.E.A.R. contains an Instant Action mode for single-player. In this mode, players are dropped into a modified level and must get to a designated point as quickly as possible whilst simultaneously killing as many enemies as possible and being as accurate as possible. Graphically, this versions is equivalent to the PC version on maximum settings with an high dynamic range lighting, an advanced particle system and HD textures. It also features an exclusive bonus level not found in the PC original, which depicts Holiday's attempt to extract Bishop from ATC headquarters. These versions also features a new weapon, dual wielded automatic handguns. The PlayStation 3 port of F.E.A.R. features the same Instant Action mode from the Xbox 360 version. It also has its own exclusive additional weapon (a street sweeper shotgun) and bonus mission, which depicts the Delta Force recon team's journey through ATC headquarters prior to encountering Alma. Like the Xbox version, the game's native resolution was 720p, but the other enhancements were removed for this version.

Fable 2 is the second game in the fable series by Lionhead Studios, it is an open world role-playing game. It has a simple story line where the hero needs to save Albion from the evil Lord Lucian by collecting together the other three heroes to defeat him. Interactive cut-scenes are a large part of the game however the main character never speaks and all dialogue is uncontrolled. The game features a large variety of game play and freedom, allowing a player to shape the world around and the characters appearance and moral standing based on decisions throughout the game. The player can also get married both same and opposite sex and bring up children to childhood but no farther, expressions are a lot more interactive with NPC's than before

Forza Motorsport 2 is a racing simulation game featuring a large selection of licensed cars, realistic driving mechanics, and extensive vehicle customization. Players compete across a variety of tracks while tuning performance and creating custom paint designs with the game’s detailed livery editor.

Frogger is the Xbox Live Arcade version of the popular arcade game of the same name by game developer Digital Eclipse, published by Konami. Full game includes the new Versus Speed, Co-Op, and Versus Head-to-Head multiplayer modes! Earn achievements and post your high scores against other players on Xbox Live!

The objective of Galaga is to score as many points as possible by destroying insect-like enemies. The player controls a starfighter that can move left and right along the bottom of the playfield. Enemies swarm in groups in a formation near the top of the screen, and then begin flying down toward the player, firing bombs at the fighter. The game ends when the player's last fighter is lost, either by colliding with an enemy or one of its bullets, or by being captured. Galaga introduces a number of new features over its predecessor, Galaxian. Among these is the ability to fire more than one bullet at a time, a count of the player's "hit/miss ratio" at the end of the game, and a bonus "Challenging Stage" that occurs every few levels, in which a series of enemies fly onto and out of the screen in set patterns without firing at the player's ship or trying to crash into it. These stages award a large point bonus if the player manages to destroy every enemy. Another gameplay feature new to Galaga is the ability for enemies to capture the player's fighter. While the player is in control of just one fighter, a "boss Galaga" (which takes two shots to kill) periodically attempts to capture the fighter using a tractor beam. If successful, the fighter joins the enemy formation. If the player has more lives remaining, play resumes with a new fighter. The captured fighter flies down with the enemy that captured it, firing upon the player just like normal enemies, and can be shot and destroye

Gears of War is a third-person shooter built around a cover system, where players duck behind obstacles and use tactical fire to advance on enemies. The signature weapon is an assault rifle fitted with a chainsaw bayonet, and a timed reload mechanic can grant a brief damage bonus or jam the gun if mistimed. The five-act campaign can be played solo or in two-player co-op, and a competitive multiplayer mode supports up to eight players split between the two factions. It was the first game in the Gears of War series and helped popularize the modern cover-based shooter, later receiving remastered versions.

Grand Theft Auto IV is an action-adventure video game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It is the eleventh title in the Grand Theft Auto series, and the first main entry since 2004's Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. The game is played from a third-person perspective and its world is navigated on-foot or by vehicle. Throughout the single-player mode, players play as Niko Bellic. An online multiplayer mode is included with the game, allowing up to 32 players to engage in both co-operative and competitive gameplay in a recreation of the single-player setting. Two expansion packs were later released for the game, The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony, which both feature new plots that are interconnected with the main Grand Theft Auto IV storyline, and follow new protagonists.

Halo 3 is a shooter game where players primarily experience gameplay from a first-person perspective. Much of the gameplay takes place on foot, but also includes segments focused on vehicular combat. The balance of weapons and objects in the game was adjusted to better adhere to the "Golden Triangle of Halo": these are weapons, grenades, and melee attacks, which are available to a player in most situations. Players may dual-wield some weapons, forgoing the use of grenades and melee attacks in favor of the combined firepower of two weapons. Many weapons available in previous installments of the series return with minor cosmetic and power alterations. Unlike previous installments, the player's secondary weapon is visible on their player model, holstered or slung across the player's back. Halo 3 introduces "support weapons", which are cumbersome two-handed weapons that slow the player, but offer greatly increased firepower in return. In addition to weapons, the game contains a new class of gear called equipment; these items have various effects, ranging from defensive screens to shield regeneration and flares. Only one piece of equipment can be carried at a time. The game's vehicular component has been expanded with new drivable and AI-only vehicles.