E3 2014: 14 Best Moments From Microsoft’s Press Conference

Turning fanboy frowns upside down.

By Xavier Santana /

E3 2014 has officially started, ushering in a week of wall to wall gaming coverage. Microsoft€™s press conference opened the show with a 90 minute showcase of upcoming and future titles. Unlike past years, where hardware and media have gotten the lion€™s share of attention, the new head of the Xbox division delivered a press conference full of games. After several months of lukewarm news for the Xbox One, Microsoft needed to get people believing in its gaming division again. And it did it by making the entire conference be gameplay or trailers, with a few breaks for developers reminiscing about their gaming pasts. It was a great 90 minutes of gaming news, but for those who don€™t have the time to watch all 90 minutes, all you care about are the highlights. So with that in mind, here are the 14 best moments from Microsoft€™s E3 press conference.

14. Phil Spencer€™s Opening Speech

One major problem with Microsoft€™s E3 press conferences over the past few years was the lack of focus on games. That was partly because Microsoft had tons of money and the intense desire to get its fingers in every pie, from PC to gaming to television. Years of half-game/half-media press conferences and the growing focus on Kinect killed people€™s enthusiasm about and trust in Microsoft€™s commitment to gaming. But Phil Spencer€™s opening speech for the Microsoft press conference changed that. Instead of talking about Microsoft right off the bat, he talked about how all the major hardware companies were there at E3 to promote games and gaming. For the first time in a long time, it feels like Microsoft has put someone who gets gaming in charge of its gaming division. And that is pretty reassuring for a fanbase that hasn€™t had a lot of good news lately and for gaming in general. Every console war is better with more horses in the race, after all.