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E3 Briefings - The Essentials

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Microsoft kicked off E3 with a bang this year, with the focus firmly on games this time around, much to the relief of the assembled crowd.

We got a look at the new Xbox 360 and Wargaming confirmed that free-to-play title World of Tanks is coming to the current-gen console.

The presentation opened with Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, which was followed by a succession of big game announcements. Dead Rising 3 and Ryse: Son of Rome were both announced as Xbox One exclusives.

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Battlefield 4 was also on show, and the upcoming generation will see timed-exclusive content coming to Xbox One first.

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Insomniac surprised everybody by joining Microsoft on stage and announcing an Xbox One exclusive IP, Sunset Overdrive, and Titanfall was also there on display, proving that the new console will have plenty of stellar titles when it launches later this year.

E3 Briefings - The EssentialsE3 Briefings - The Essentials
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We know for a fact that Xbox One is coming this year, after Microsoft confirmed a launch window of November, along with a price of £429. From next month, through to the end of the year, Gold members will receive two free games a month, with Halo 3 and Assassin's Creed II mentioned.

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There was plenty more on top of all that. We got to see more of The Witcher 3, the inevitable first-sight of the Master Chief, and another look at Forza Motorsport 5.

E3 Briefings - The Essentials

Project Spark, Killer Instinct and D4 were all revealed during the presentation.

After Ubisoft and EA had their turn (scroll down for more details), it was time for Sony to respond, and they did so in style.

First on the agenda was the small matter of revealing the Playstation 4's design. Though the biggest news of the evening came right at the very end, when Sony's Jack Trenton revealed that there'll be no used-game restrictions and "always-on" requirement for PS4. They rounded off the crowd-pleasing announcements with the news that the console would retail at a very competitive £349 - £80 less than Xbox One.

E3 Briefings - The Essentials
E3 Briefings - The Essentials

It was confirmed that there'll be 85 PS Vita titles released on the handheld before the end of the year, and there was plenty of PS3 games to tell us about too (including Gran Turismo 6, The Last of Us, and a new trailer for Beyond: Two Souls).

We got a quick update on some of the games that were announced during the PS4's unveiling earlier this year (Driveclub, Knack, Infamous: Second Son and Killzone: Shadow Fall), and an impressive spread of indie titles were laid out for us to enjoy, as Sony is clearly aiming to dominate in this area too.

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The Elder Scrolls Online is going into beta first on PS4, after an exclusive agreement with Bethesda was revealed, and of course there was the obligatory Final Fantasy announcement from Square Enix.

The last game on show at Sony's conference was Bungie's Destiny. We got to see an extended gameplay sequence for the MMO shooter, and it's looking rather lovely.

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EA and Ubisoft

EA followed Microsoft with their conference. Their show kicked off with the reveal of Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare, a new third-person shooter from PopCap Games (who also announced Peggle 2 right at the end). We saw more of Titanfall, Dragon Age: Inquisition was dated, and there was the briefest of glimpses of Star Wars: Battlefront.

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We saw more of EA's slate of sports titles, the epic destruction of Battlefield 4 was showcased, and the event was concluded with a reveal for a new Mirror's Edge.

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Ubisoft followed shortly thereafter, with Alice in Chains guitarist Jerry Cantrell introducing Rocksmith 2014 (Just Dance 2014 was also announced). We were then given a brief tour of the publisher's imminent current-gen offerings, and crossover titles Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag and Watch Dogs.

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Two new Trials games were revealed (one for next-gen, one for mobile devices), and we were given a lengthy demonstration of new racer The Crew. Where last year the show ended with a Watch Dogs reveal, this time around we were treated to The Division, the long-rumoured Tom Clancy MMO.

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For Nintendo related news, head to our Nintendo Direct round-up.



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