CES 2010: Recap of Microsoft’s game-related announcements

Microsoft held its keynote address yesterday (January 6, 2010) during CES 2010, during which there were several notable game-related announcements.

The keynote starred Steve Ballmer, Microsoft’s CEO, and included a power problem and a few handoffs to other execs (esp. Robbie Bach). It featured a tree-pronged approach TV, “cloud” and NUI (natural user interface) technology.

Will it be, as Bach called it, the “biggest year in Xbox history?” You decide.

Here’s a bullet-point list of all the gaming announcements Microsoft had to offer:

• Microsoft had one 3D driving game demo, further contributing to the year’s 3D-heavy theme. Looks like it requires eye wear (likely polarized or fancy wireless cooperative hardware).
• Content pack for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 will be released Spring 2010.
• Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Conviction was teased.
• Fable 3 is coming out.
• Sequel to “super hit”, Crackdown 2 is coming.
• Alan Wake was unveiled as a part of a “new genre” (called the “psychological action thriller”). Coming 2010.

• A Halo: Reach trailer was showed. Coming Fall 2010. Halo: ODST owners get to partake in an early beta.
• Zune Video on Xbox Live does live streaming of HD movies at 1080 resolution.
• The Xbox Live Game Room, coming Spring 2010, will let Xbox Live users play 30 arcade classics (’70s an ’80s) against each other (“social gameplay”). You buy a title once and can play it from either Xbox 360 or PC. It will feature actual cabinet art (sorry MAME). Microsoft promises more than 1000 games in the next year. Here are some f the launch titles:
• Adventure

• Crystal Castles
• Mountain Madness: Super Pro Skiing
• Sea Battle
• Sub Hunt
• Armor battle
• Outlaw
• Super Cobra
• Football
• Space Armada
• Astrosmash
• Space Hawk
• Yars Revenge
• Real Sports tennis
• Star Raiders
• Project Natal for the Xbox 360 will be shipping by Holiday 2010 (price still not known). It “evaluates trillions of body movements a thousand times a second” and will work with existing consoles.

Read [Gadgetell] Site [Gamertell @ CES 2010]