Day One: Xbox Press Conference at E3

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Xbox One’s press conference at E3 today kicked off with an extensive reveal of the latest installment to the Metal Gear Solid franchise, Metal Gear Solid V (The Phantom Pain). They started off revealing new games as I am sure it’s because of all the heat the Xbox One has taken since the Xbox One reveal, of whether it really is an entertainment system or one that is also capable of being considered a gaming console as well.

Today, it’s all about the games.

XBOX 360 Revamp

Xbox 360 is changing. It will be updated based on the Xbox One’s design. Smaller, sleeker and it is available today, as in now. Despite this announcement, I am sure it won’t be selling until a few days from now unless they really weren’t kidding about it being available immediately. The Xbox Live Gold membership is carried over to Xbox One. Beginning July 1, existing gold members will receive two free game downloads per month that they will get to keep until the Xbox One’s release. The downloads include Assassin’s Creed II and Halo 3. Three new Xbox 360 titles announced during the conference are: 1. World of Tanks, 2. Max the Curse of Brotherhood and 3. Dark Souls II.

XBOX One Games

Announced Xbox One games:

Ryse: Son of Rome is coming to the Xbox One and I have to say that I am thirsty to play this already (hack and slash is one of my favorite genres). Ryse: Son of Rome is published by Microsoft Studios and it will be an exclusive for the new console.

Killer Instinct is coming back and is also another Xbox One exclusive.

A new franchise introduced at E3 for Xbox One is Sunset Overdrive. Produced by Microsoft Studios, Sunset Overdrive is a fast-paced game that fuses parkour, monsters, and Mirror’s Edge all into one game.

Forza Motorsport 5 transcends with all its realistic details and also boasts more lifelike gaming experiences. The game learns how the player drives and adapts accordingly, creating a more realistic approach to racing video games. The information is stored in the cloud and is constantly changing depending on how the player drives.

Minecraft will be coming from the Xbox 360 to the Xbox One.

Quantum Break is coming also as an Xbox One exclusive. By Microsoft Studios, the visually-stunning Quantum Break reveal gives us a small preview of how a game can blur the two different worlds of a video game and its TV show. Supposedly, what players watch in the show will affect and impact the decisions the player will make in the video game. Quantum Break is created from the makers of Alan Wake.

D4 has also been announced.

Project Spark utilizes the Kinect and SmartGlass to allow players to create a gaming world, controlling details from the climate of the world to who inhabits it. Anything goes in Project Spark from battling monstrous robots to encountering flying goblins. This game makes creating a game “a game” itself.

Crimson Dragon was also showcased despite its lack of audio.

Dead Rising 3 exhibits no loading time with an open-world gaming experience. Anything and everything is a weapon and not just limited to what the player finds (pretty typical of all the Dead Rising games). Zombies are attracted to the player’s every move. From picking up sledgehammers, weed whackers, and mowing over zombies with a car, it will be an Xbox One exclusive that will be available this holiday season.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt features over 100+ hours of gameplay. It will be the last installment of The Witcher franchise.

Battlefield 4, Halo for Xbox One, and Titanfall are several other games that will be released for the Xbox One.

Timeline allows players to view snapshots of the games that have been played by friends. You are able to upload videos to your timeline as well.

With Upload Studio, players can record, upload, edit, and share their clips of gameplay with friends and other members which are all stored on the cloud.

Xbox is now partnered with Twitch so all of your gaming experiences can be easily streamed. Built into Xbox One, Twitch enables real-time sharing.

In the new Xbox Live, the Xbox points systems will be replaced with the player’s local currency. It has also been announced that gamers can play multiplayer without being online.

Coming November 2013, it will be priced at $499. See you all then.

My Day Off

I love Mondays and Tuesdays; They’re practically my weekends. For some reason, I think people tend to find that a bit disturbing as to why I favor working on the weekends and relaxing during the slowest days of the week. I’ve thought of many reasons and there seem to be many that are justifiable for my situation.

  1. People typically party, get drunk, etc., on the weekends so by the time Monday morning rolls around, they’re hungover and/or cranky. I’d rather avoid coming into close contact with those people.
  2. People generally hate Mondays. They associate it with their real life which is a drastic difference from the life they escape into during the weekends. So with all the hate that Monday generates, I wish to not be hated as well since I work with people all day.
  3. I like to work, but not overly work. However, I don’t want to be bored out of my mind working the slowest days of the week. Generally, if I am by myself then that could mean the higher possibility of a scammer approaching me during my shift.
  4. I like to run errands and it seems impossible to run them on a Sunday when administrative offices are closed, clinics are closed, and when stores typically close at 6PM if not sooner. It irks me to not be able to get things done.
  5. Before I started working, we had a set schedule of Peter being off on Mondays and Tuesdays so we’ve kind of fallen into our own rut.
  6. Last but not least, I’ve learned that my manager typically works on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays. I think one day of working together out of the whole week is enough.

Many people like to stay at home, but I am generally a person who likes to get out-and-about. I like to explore new places, see new things, and generally, I don’t spend too much time with the TV (except for when I come home from work at night). I feel like I work myself so hard that it makes sense to do something special on my days off. Sleeping-in is not considered special to me. E3 will be starting in an hour so that is something that will throw my schedule off a little bit (and something I’ll have to blog about). I was planning to go get my whole face threaded at The Arches Threading Lounge mostly because my eyebrows need a little TLC. However, I’ve got peach fuzz all over my face so it only makes sense to do the whole thing. My mom said she has done it once and that it does hurt but you do get used to it. She is generally unpredictable when it comes to pain tolerance. For an example, she would probably hurt more getting her face threaded than what she would feel if she had broken her leg (which she has). I also want to go to look at shoes and see what I come up with. In case you all do not know yet, I love collecting and purchasing shoes. I recently went to Off Broadway Shoes for the first time so I’ll have to post my findings in another post since it’s way too massive for this one.

WORK

Work has been stable and now that I am working five days a week, I’m getting my system used to it during the transition from four to five. Some people wouldn’t think too much about it, but there certainly is a transitional phase for one’s own body and psyche. I think this week has been certainly better than the last. Last workweek was so mentally-tiring and frustrating but I’m glad I persevered.

MAKEUP

I’m going to be doing a massive article on eight different foundations for drier to dry skin so I went to Sephora to get samples to try out. So far, I wore Guerlain’s Lingerie de Peau yesterday and I’m so excited to write about it. The foundations to be reviewed are:

  1. Lingerie de Peau by Guerlain in Beige Moyen 04
  2. Photogenic Lumessence by Lancome in Bisque 8N
  3. Vitalumiere by Chanel in Beige 40
  4. Resilience Lift Extreme by Estee Lauder in  Outdoor Beige 4C1 (03)
  5. Skin Nude by Dior in 040 Honey Beige
  6. Studio Skin by Smashbox in Natural Beige 2.4
  7. Antiageing Foundation by Korres in Tan 25
  8. Illuminating Liquid Foundation by Stila in 60 Watt

I’ll be comparing them to my current foundation, NARS Sheer Glow in Stromboli Medium 3. Sheer Glow has been good to me for the past two years but it has accentuated some of my drier spots so I’m on the hunt for a better foundation. I was joking around with Peter that if the foundations all work as well as the Guerlain one, I might end up getting them all. I know Guerlain is made very well is considered a luxury makeup brand so I can’t wait to venture into trying out their famous primers and powders as well.

XBOX ONE

I’m excited and I hope you are, too. E3 is going to start at 12:30 PM so I have a few more minutes until I have to blog my ass off. See you then and have a happy Monday!