Looking back at my predictions post, it looks like I might want to start playing the lotto, at least buy some scratch cards. There were a couple of things that I didn’t call, but I sure did hit on the high points.

The Xbox Slim was officially revealed. This wasn’t a big surprise to anyone as the news of this had leaked days prior. It’s 40% smaller than the current Xbox One, comes with a bigger HD (up to 2TB), and it can output 4K video (which is important to those that have bought those snazzy 4K televisions). It also comes with a new and sleek Xbox wireless controller and has the ability to stand up vertically. The price point on the Slim is $299. While Sony chose not to showcase their upgraded PS4 this E3, Microsoft kicked the door down with Project Scorpio. This monster of a machine will reportedly come with a 6 TFLOPS GPU, 8-core CPU, and 320GB/s of memory bandwidth. It will be capable of 4K gaming at 60 frames per second and support VR. It was heavily emphasized that all games and peripherals that work on the current Xbox One and Slim will be fully compatible with Scorpio—don’t go throw away your games just yet. The ball was thrown into the developers’ courts as it won’t drop until Holiday 2017. The question now becomes, will game developers continue to make games based around the older tech or will they make games that are more in-line with the beefier specs? Our own Harry C. had something to say about this reveal earlier.

Microsoft unveiled a new feature called Xbox Play Anywhere. It allows a gamer to purchase a title once but still have the option to play on console.  This, along with Crossplay, is going to help us answer once and for all who’s the better gamer: console or PC? Gears of War 4 and Forza Horizon 3 will be some of the first games to incorporate these new features, but expect to see EVERY game on Xbox supporting this going forward.  I didn’t see this coming, but I’m happy for the reveal.

Xbox LIVE is getting some new features as well:

1. Background Music: you’ll be able to listen to your own background music on Xbox One without snapping an app—something that was a fan favorite on Xbox 360.
2. Cortana integration
3. Gamer-made “Clubs” where you can join like-minded gamers, basically Facebook Groups or Google+ Circles.
4. Looking For Group: ever wanted to get in on the action in the Dark Zone in The Division or a Raid in Destiny, but none of your higher level buddies are on? Now you don’t have to worry about that anymore once LFG launches. You’ll be able to find and group up with other gamers that have the same goals in mind as you. THIS is a feature that I can’t wait to use.
5. Arena on Xbox Live will be a new tournament platform offering all-in-one tournament from registration to spectating and competition. I can see this being useful for those games that don’t already have a native ranking structure built into them.

Now Minecraft players on Windows 10 and mobile can host their own multiplayer worlds using the Minecraft Realms service and Xbox Live. Minecraft gamers can play with friends 24/7 on private, cloud-based servers, even when the original world creator is offline. For all you Minecraft fans, it is now set to be playable across all devices/platforms with “The Friendly Update”. Texture packs and add-ons are coming in the fall, but Minecraft Realm is available today. I’m not into this game, but my 10 year old nephew is. He was watching the presentation with me and his face lit up at this news.

I was a bit disappointed with the game announcements this time around. There were some biggies announced, but nothing much for games that had been announced LAST year. The games are:

1. Gears of War 4 (Oct 11 2016)
2. Tekken 7 (early 2017, but Tekken Tag Tournament 2 was added free to Xbox Live Gold members)
3. Dead Rising 4 (Holiday 2016)
4. Scalebound (2017)
5. Sea of Thieves (announced last year, but we got to see some actual gameplay this time—still no date)
6. State of Decay 2 (2017)
7. Halo Wars 2 (Feb 21 2017, but the beta runs for a week starting today) I’m truly stoked for this as I loved the first game in the series.
8. We Happy Few (July 26 2016)
9. Gwent (no release date yet, but you can sign up for the beta that launches September 2016)
10. Forza Horizon 3 (Sep 27 2016—crossplay and instant co-op makes this game a must-have)
11. Final Fantasy 15 (Sep 30 2016)
12. ReCore (announced last year, no release date, but we got to see a snippet of game play)

I was looking forward to seeing more HoloLens action this year, but we got zip, zilch, nada. I’d predicted that this technology would make a return in this year’s presentation as their page currently says that it’s shipping.

For those of you that like cool peripherals and accessories, there’s a new limited edition Xbox Elite controller with a Gears of War 4 theme—no release date but you can plunk down $199 and pre-order it from Microsoft. For those of you that have always wanted to coordinate your controllers with your wardrobe, now you can design your own with the Xbox Design Lab—you can personalize your Xbox controller with over 8 million possible color combinations.

All in all, nothing really stood out for me as it did during last year’s presentation…but it was nice to see all the gameplay. If you haven’t already done so, you can watch the presentation below. Let us know what you think!