E3 Day 1: Microsoft Finally Focuses on the Games

Today was the Opening Day of E3, and it did not disappoint. Microsoft and Sony opened the week long event with their conferences and gave us the coveted information we've been waiting for. Unfortunately, Microsoft didn't acknowledge the used-games debate, but did finally provide a price and release date.

New Xbox 360 Design

Microsoft's presentation was first and provided a plethora of new information. The conference began with the reveal of the new Xbox 360. Microsoft wanted to ensure gamers that it had not abandoned them, and revealed the new design of the existing console as well as a few new titles for the Xbox 360.

In addition, Live Gold members will now be able to get 2 free downloads every month. Some of the free titles include: World of Tanks, Assassins Creed II, Halo 3, Max Curse of Brotherhood, and Dark Souls II. As an added bonus, Live Gold now allows players to have multiple accounts that share one Gold Membership.

The Xbox One also debuted many new additional titles with some more noteworthy than others:

•  Ryse Son of Rome: Set in the Roman era, you control a general who must command troops to expand the Roman empire. The graphics and music of this game look great, but the E3 demo offered minimal button combos. The game will be available with the Xbox One Launch. 
• Forza 5: Forza had a great presentation with gameplay to match! The 5th installment of this series allows players to have a Drivatar which recognizes and learns your driving patterns. It allows the AI to continually offer challenging opponents and even races when you're offline to earn credits for you. With Cloud powered opponents, a bigger and better selection of cars, and infamous racing circuits, Forza 5 looks like it very well could be the best racing game of the season. 
• Project Spark : The new title allows players to create their own gameplay with story creation, landscape design, enemy selection and the ability to build off of other player's creations. It presents as a blank canvas that allows players to have their own unique adventures. 
• Additional Titles Included: Battlefield 4, Crimson Dragon, Dead Rising III, Halo, Metal Gears Solid, Minecraft, Quantum Break, Titan Fall, What Lies Below, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (COD: Ghosts did not present at today's conference)

The Xbox One will be released in November with retailers already allowing for pre-order. The Xbox One will retail for $499, £429, and €499. Xbox Live will no longer use Microsoft Points and will allow gamers to make purchases with their own form of currency.