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In a media briefing to officially open the E3 video game trade show in Los Angeles Monday, Microsoft didn't waste time and got right down to the games.
The makers of the new Xbox One next-generation video game console, which will retail for $499, introduced titles for the box, including a sequel to the popular space shooter "Halo," and a new chapter to the best-selling military game, "Metal Gear Solid."
"As we've been promising, it's all about the games," said Microsoft executive Dan Mattrick.
The E3 show, which brings video game developers together with retailers and the gaming press, opens its exhibit hall Tuesday for three days at the Los Angeles Convention Center. A media briefing by Sony, which introduced the upcoming PlayStation 4 gaming console earlier this year, was scheduled for Monday night.
After a widely panned briefing last month in which Microsoft introduced the Xbox One, gamers criticized the company for focusing too much on the system's interactive ability to watch TV shows and too little on games.
But Microsoft corrected that Monday by putting the emphasis on exclusive titles for the Xbox One.
Among others will be new versions of the fighting game "Killer Instinct," the driving game "Forza Motorsport 5," a shooting game called "Sunset Overdrive" and a futuristic shooter called "Titanfall" by the developers of the original "Call of Duty" games.
The console has 13 exclusive games scheduled for release, including a new version of the popular sandbox game "Minecraft," and a new Roman combat game called "Ryse."
Aside from the games, perhaps the biggest reveal was the Xbox One's price, which at $499 may be the most shocking disclosure and the hardest for gamers to swallow because that makes it $100 more expensive than its predecessor Xbox 360 when it was introduced in 2005. The Xbox One does come with a revised and improved Kinect motion sensor and camera, an add-on that was sold separately with the Xbox 360.
The new console, scheduled to be released in the U.S. in November, will go head to head with Sony's next-generation console, the PlayStation 4, which also will be released before the holidays. Nintendo's newest console, the Wii U, was released late last year.
The Xbox One is a disc-based gaming console with a Blu-ray drive, a hard drive and Internet connectivity. It will not be compatible with older Xbox 360 games but will be able to play used games bought from retailers such as GameStop with some restrictions. The console also will require that it be hooked up to an Internet connection at least once a day.
The system will be capable of playing games with higher-resolution graphics, and its new Kinect camera is more sensitive and has more voice commands. The Xbox One also can be used to watch television with interactive features, such as viewing an NFL football game while looking at team stats and fantasy football information.
Google+: +Vincent Horiuchi Among new titles for Xbox One
Sequel to "Halo"
New chapter to "Metal Gear Solid"
New versions of "Killer Instinct," "Forza Motorsport 5," "Sunset Overdrive" and "Titanfall"
13 exclusive games, including new versions of "Minecraft" and "Ryse"