Now that the dust
has settled on E3, it’s
time to reflect a little
on what it all means.
We’ve been putting in
the late nights here
at OXM to bring you
our coverage of gaming’s big LA shindig,
even as we’re right on mag deadline.
No trip to California this month for
yours truly though. While staff writer
Adam gets to swan around in the West
Coast sunshine, muggins (I’ve insisted
the team at least call me ‘Captain
Muggins’ for the duration of E3 week),
alongside the rest of my brilliant team,
but not Adam, have worked tirelessly
back at HQ to unpick the revelations from
E3, and speculate on just what it means
for the future of Xbox.
For us, the biggest excitement was
reserved for Microsoft’s big conference.
With rivals Sony a no-show, and this
Google Stadia thingy announced just
before, the onus was on Phil Spencer and
his team to deliver the future for Xbox- which they certainly have done, very
brightly indeed.
Even so, as thrilled as I am each year
to find out about the future of Xbox, is
it weird that I’m actually happy with
the present?
Yes I know: soon the power of xCloud
will align the planets and unite all
gamers, while the next-generation Xbox,
Project Scarlett, will blow minds. But slow
it up, I love my Xbox One! And I will not
have my head turned by some brazen
new console. Scarlett indeed!
Smelling the roses
At least I don’t need my head turning
just yet. Of course Scarlett is going to be
amazing. Time and tech marches on, and
business, including the games industry,
demands change and evolution to create
new markets, and keep gamers engaged
and excited, and I’d never want to stand
in the way of progress. But every time I
stop to smell the roses, metaphoricallyDead Redemption II, and I’m loving the
ongoing content for Red Dead Online.
I’m thrilled that the new Elder Scrolls
Online Elsweyr chapter is big enough to
keep me happy for months to come. I
have hours and hours of The Witcher 3
and Assassin’s Creed Odyssey still to
play. I’ve got stacks of games I’ve yet
to crack open, like Sekiro and Resident
Evil 2, while Apex Legends and Fortnite
are always updating and begging to
be played. Mortal Kombat 11 and Dead
Or Alive 6 are literally fighting for my
attention. I’ve got Forza Horizon 4 playing
through an Xbox One X and a 4K TV, and
my eyes can’t quite believe themselves.
I am still utterly thrilled by Red Dead
Redemption II, the perfect example of
games that are now so utterly immersive,
and so full of content, that they have
massively long shelf lives. Compare
games to movies. Films are certainly not
necessarily better these days, of course,
but something like the filmmakers’
capacity to bring, say, the Marvel
Universe to life, would seem astonishing
20 years ago. There’s rewatch potential,
but the experience provided by even the
most earth-shatteringly good movie lasts
for two to three hours, then you’re done.
Great games last for literal days, or even
weeks, or sometimes never stop. Imagine
if movie experiences lasted that long.
Endgame? What? I’ve only just finished
the main story of Iron Man 2, I was about
to get stuck into the latest update!
Speaking of which, that reminds me that I
may need to block-book the 2020s in my
diary, just to play Marvel’s Avengers. Halo
Infinite? Clue’s in the title - that one may
possibly never actually end, and when
will I find the time? So come on Microsoft- you’d better fire up that xCloud, and
find a way to stream Halo directly into
my head so I can at least play it in the
shower, while I do the washing up, while
I’m shopping for groceries or waiting
for the bus. That’s the future I need! Q
Follow us on Twitter @OXM.speaking, I still have to pinch myself at
how good we’ve already got things.
And I’m not greedy – I already have so
many games on the go that I have no
idea how and when I’m going to find time
for the next raft of genius Xbox games,
this year or next. I’m still playing RedINSIDER OPINION
Chris is excited by the future, but still in awe of the present
The Editor
Chris Burke is...
“I still have to
pinch myself at
how ood we’ve
ot thin s”
022 THE OFFICIAL XBOX MAGAZINE