E3 2016 Xbox Briefing Roundup: Xbox One S, Xbox Play Anywhere, Project Scorpio, and More
By Ambia Staley
June 13, 2016It's currently the most wonderful time of the year for gamers. E3 2016 is now upon us! While the festivities don't officially kick off until tomorrow, there are still plenty of big conferences and announcements to check out if you're looking for a sneak peek at the latest in gaming.
Day 0 at E3 kicks off with Microsoft Xbox's briefing presentation. You can check out the full 2 hour presentation via YouTube, but if you just want to take a glance at the meat & potatoes of the presentation, you can check out our highlights below in the order they were presented.
Xbox One S
After a series of rumours surrounding the possible announcement of a slimmer Xbox One console, Microsoft opened up today's briefing by officially announcing the new Xbox One S console. Slated for release this August, the new system has been given a suggested retail price starting at $299 in the US and $399 and up in Canada. It boasts a 40% slimmer design when compared to the original Xbox One console, and full UHD support as well as a 2TB hard drive option. The Xbox One Controller is also getting an update, with a brand new textured grip and increased range.
Xbox Play Anywhere
If you're an Xbox gamer who also likes to play on your PC, you'll be interested in what was clearly Microsoft's favourite new addition -- Xbox Play Anywhere. With the motto, "Buy it Once, Play It Anywhere", this new feature allows you to purchase a game digitally on your Xbox console and then play it on your Windows 10 PC with no additional costs. Play Anywhere will also be supported on most upcoming games, as throughout the rest of the presentation, "Xbox One and Windows 10 exclusive" was repeated numerous times.
Clubs on Xbox Live
Xbox is looking to make gaming more social with their improved club capabilities on Xbox Live. Using the new clubs feature, gamers can now easily search for like-minded people based on common interests and form a group. If for some reason you don't see a group or club that's for you, you may want to take advantage of Xbox's "Looking for Group" feature. What basically sounds like a Craigslist wanted ad for gamers, this option allows you to post an ad looking for fellow Xbox players that share your interests to find you and offer to join a group.
Xbox Design Lab
If you've ever wanted to put your own unique twist on your Xbox One controllers, you'll get a kick out of Xbox Design Lab. With Design Lab, users can now visit a website and design the colourful custom Xbox One controller of their dreams down to the the shoulder triggers and D-pad. Microsoft claims to offer at east 8 million unique colour combinations, which you can finish off with a laser engraving of your choice on the front of the remote. Design Lab doesn't start shipping until September, but you can head online and get your pre-orders ready now.
Game Demos and Announcements
Xbox announced and demoed a number of games during today's presentation. Some highlights include:
- Gears of War 4 - Horde Mode + New Elite Wireless Remote
- Killer Instinct - Adding General Raam from Gears of War to the roster
- Forza Horizon 3 - Co-op playing set in Australia
- The Division - Underground DLC will be released first on Xbox One
- Sea of Theives - Co-op game play reveal
- Tekken 7 - Coming early 2017
- Halo Wars 2 - Coming February 21, 2017 + Beta version now available for download
Project Scorpio
What was probably the most exciting and surprising news from Microsoft, was the announcement of Project Scorpio. While vague on the details, Microsoft did say that the new hardware boasts 6 teraFLOPS of power with 4K resolution, and VR capabilities. Xbox is not leaving their current Xbox One gamers behind with this product launch either. They stressed that Project Scorpio will be compatible with Xbox One and Xbox One S games and accessories, so anyone thinking of picking up the Xbox One S this summer can still do so.
Did you tune into Xbox's E3 presentation this year? Are you looking forward to anything they presented? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
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