Rumor is that Xbox Music and OneDrive are going to be better integrated so you can store your own music on OneDrive and play it through Xbox Music seamlessly with any other streaming music through the service.
If they do that, as well as make it so you don't have to have Xbox Music snapped to hear it, I'll be ditching Spotify pretty quickly.

I loved Viva Pinata and Kameo but those were 7-8 years ago. I hate that MS turned Rare into their Avatar and motion gaming house.

All these years later it was a helluva sale for Nintendo but I think they would have been better off keeping Rare and all their IPs. The Wii and WiiU libraries would have been better off.

This would be great as long as they do it without having it snapped. I HATE HATE HATE having anything snapped to the right of my screen. I think it's a horrible idea and can't imagine why anyone would want to give up a quarter of their screen for a stupid menu or something while gaming. Ugh, Snapping is a terrible "feature"

They are apparently working on reviving a platformer, most likely Conker or Banjo at E3.

So, what exactly is MS planning on revealing at E3? They are blowing all their loads already and we still have 3 weeks to go. Sunset Overdrive, Halo 5, New price point SKU, paywall removed, Games with Gold program all within a week. They either have HUGE stuff or are going to have a very disappointing E3.

So you want your E3 to be all about surprises and not actual, physical gameplay footage and demos?

Sunset Overdrive was revealed at last year's E3.
Halo 5 was revealed at last year's E3 and a "delay" in a release date is not something you trumpet on stage during a press conference.
Removing Kinect and the paywall, again not something you boast about on stage where you're expecting cheers and applause. Course corrections are not applause worthy.
Games With Gold is less than what it is on 360 and on par with PS4. Again, not something you say on stage.

They'll have Sunset Overdrive on stage. Another Halo 5 teaser. Probably that Halo 2 Anniversary game that's been rumored forever. Call of Duty. Quantum Break will have to be there. Maybe a Crackdown 3 reveal. A Gears teaser of some kind. A huge ID@Xbox segment. EA Sports. A Ubisoft demo. That'll just about eat up all their time.

Halo 5 is not delayed, it was never coming in 2014. Another Halo game IS coming this year, and yes it will probably be Halo 2.

Games with Gold details and a cheaper system is definitely something you talk about on stage, it is huge shocking news. Not so much the Games with Gold program, but that is still great, stage worthy news.

Overall, yes, E3 should be all about surprises followed by actual gameplay. Not a list of games we already know are coming out.

People assumed Halo 5 would be out Holiday 2014. While that is not Microsoft's fault, revealing that on stage would generate negative buzz, like it or not.

Microsoft and I disagree with you. You don't want anyone watching the press conference getting on Twitter and saying "MICROSOFT 180 LULZZZZZZ". You have to program for positive reactions, not potential negative ones, no matter how insipid or misguided.

Well you shouldn't watch E3 then. Or do. There could still be surprises. Are any of the things you've mentioned so far things that would genuinely get your blood pumping?

I don't see the big deal, like Microsoft said they wanted to get this stuff out of the way so they can devote stage time to games and not 20 minutes explaining why they removed Kinect or whatever. Talking about it on stage wouldn't make much of a difference as far as press coverage, and i'm sure their PR is purposely staging these announcements for good reason. Granted E3 could be a huge bomb for them, but given the announcements so far it sure seems like they're making the right moves and saying the right things.

My wish is for a Tiger Woods 15, Fight Night 15 and 3D blu ray support.

Was anybody actually expecting Halo 5 this year? I thought at most there would be some sort of refurbished older title.

chuckd makes a valid point in why you would present the Gold things beforehand and not during -- they put it on level with its biggest rival, but give it no actual advantage, just levels the playing field.

Microsoft needs to show off a few titles coming out this Fall instead of all 2015 stuff. I don't get what everybody sees in Sunset Overdrive, and sequels to a few tired franchises aren't going to get people on board. The Xbox had Halo, the Xbox 360 had Gears of War, what does the Xbox One get?

I think the closest you'll get to any of those is a new PGA Tour 15 announcement.

Not I... while Halo 5 would be nice this year, I think I always expected it in 2015. They haven't been on a yearly release schedule for Halo games anyways. Now.. if Halo 2 Anniversary comes out, I'm all over that. Halo 2 got so many hours of playtime on the original XBox.

Nope, nobody was. It was always expected in 2015. Halo 2 Anniversary is expected this year.

People were, yes.

That's why they're doing this very specific "we said they journey starts with a..." blah blah blah pseudo-backpeddling. They never came out and said "Halo 5 in 2014!" last year, but enough people ran with the notion anyway.

Weird, I remember last years E3 pretty well and I never once got that sense. Ah well. at IGN for being IGN.

Think about how many absolutely stupid people are gamers. Microsoft was vague, and people who don't understand how games work made up their minds that HALO 5 IN 2014 OMG! Microsoft is not responsible for the stupid way people think, but announcing that the game is coming out in 2015 on stage during a press conference will just make those stupid people take to the internet and start smashing their keyboards with their fists. You can't contribute to that.

Also, that trailer very specifically has a 2014 date on it. So unless it's imagery is directly related to Halo 2 somehow (I never played it so I can't comment) it's not hard for someone to say "Hmm, unseen Halo imagery with 2014 date... Halo 5 coming in 2014."

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/zjUqTZsITJY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Well the trailer showing Obi Wan Master Chief walking through the desert and running into some Prometheans and saying Fall 2014 would lead people to believe they were announcing Halo 5 for this year. Or I must be forgetting some key sequences in Halo 2.

Who's gonna believe a date in an official trailer shown by MS on stage at E3? Morons.

Halo: The Master Chief Collection coming to Xbox One.

According to a report from Engadget, the Master Chief Collection will include remastered versions of Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2, Halo 3 and Halo 4 and will be out this year.

http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/05/...ction-revealed

Hnnggg.

I'm late to the Kinect discussion, but I'm going to give my two cents anyway.

It's pretty incredible that every single thing that Microsoft touted as being revolutionary and different about the Xbox One has been stripped away within six months of the console's release. It is now simply a 360 with upgraded internals. Of course, it was the only thing MS could possibly have done, short of Phil Spencer offering blowjobs to anyone who buys a new console. But now they're competing against a console that was already $400 and has superior technical specs. They have to step up their game literally by stepping up their games. As of now there is nothing on the One that is making me want to own one. Titanfall is the closest, but it's not worth the price of the console plus renewing my Xbox Live just for that. E3 has to be a smorgasbord of orgasmic games for MS to pull ahead.

And I'm sure I probably said I'd get an XO if they dropped Kinect. I'm totally willing to do that, but as it is I barely have time to play my PS4 and Wii U, so I have no problem waiting. I think a lot of people are probably in the same boat. MS really dropped the ball by being so bull-headed about this.

Still, I hope they pull through, because competition is good.

Assuming that it's $60 for the whole package, and includes multiplayer, that would be awesome.

With our luck, it'll probably cost $200 and include a Kinect.

Excellent...