The Xbox One really needed something for gamers after what felt like a huge flop for the gaming community when Microsoft showed that the company intended to make the new console into an entertainment center. During the controversial Xbox reveal, Microsoft frustrated the gaming community with the potential of always-on DRM (now expected as call-home every 24 hours on the Internet) and having a requirement for fees to play used or pre-owned games and no backwards compatibility with Xbox 360.

We have a lot we expect from this year’s E3, but as usual it’s the big three console developers who will carry the day in living room entertainment and Microsoft is bright in the spotlight.

If you’re looking into buying an Xbox the price point has been revealed to be $499 and it will be on the market November this year.

The press event

Microsoft tried to start out strong by leaping directly into a cinematic and apparent gameplay from an open-world version of Metal Gear Solid. Apparently it involves cars: lots of cars. Snake takes back to the video game world in Afganistan—filled with dust, sheep, viehicles, and some fairly amazing graphics. Between the swelling music and the movie-trailer emotions, it’s a good flashy intro.

Xbox 360 gets center stage presaging what everyone hoped would be more Xbox One news?

Interestingly, Microsoft isn’t just going to focus on bringing a new console to the market: but just announced is a new Xbox 360. A brand new, sleeker, quieter, and more powerful Xbox 360 is coming to the market today. It will also come along with a change to Xbox LIVE with a promotion that will give gold members 2 downloadable games (for free) a month and it will start with Assassins Creed 2 and Halo 3.

To say the least, this shows an interesting marketing ploy by Microsoft: the Xbox 360 is ostensively a competitor to the Xbox One. Why remake the previous console and put it out right before releasing the next generation console? A cheaper, smaller, but more powerful Xbox 360 will certainly bring more people to Xbox LIVE—but it will potentially draw people away from Xbox One.

Wargaming.net’s World of Tanks comes to Xbox 360!

In what is potentially one of the best free-to-play MMO tank sim games on the PC market, World of Tanks has hit-and-beat world records. As we’ve seen, the free-to-play gaming market is an amazing place for game makers to go because it’s so lucrative (and the next iteration of social gaming after the undoubtable power of games such as World of Warcraft) but it’s mostly on the PC—so bringing to the Xbox should open up an entire new market.

I’ve already opined that Xbox’s connection to the cloud will lead to a revolutionary ability to add even more free-to-play MMOs to its lineup. World of Tanks is just in before the rush and it’s an excellent matchup for the console.

Games, games, games!

As is proper for a next-gen console, Microsoft came forward with exclusive games expected on the Xbox One and the console does not disappoint. Ryse: Son of Rome puts players in the position of playing a warrior Centurion. Killer Instinct adds a fighting game as well as Sunset Overdrive by Insomniac Games to provide a stylized open-world brawl with infected mutants. Minecraft will most be definitely coming to the Xbox One. Quantum Break continued to show more footage of their game-to-movie video game.

Project Spark gave a hint into how the community can build, produce, and share games made in their amazing system.  Dead Rising 3 tossed even more zombies at the audience with a new uprising to put down with improvised weapons and SmartGlass integration. The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt brings an open world filled with magic and mayhem.

Stay tuned for a more in-depth look at all these games.