Assorted thoughts about the Microsoft E3 Press Conference, jotted down while watching...

• MS has conceded the "family entertainment system" to Nintendo and is going fully after hardcore teen & adult gamers. That means they are focused on Sony as their only real competitor.
  
• Fallout 3 looks good. I may have to scrounge up a 360 just so I can write a guide for it.
• No personal interest in RE5 or GoW2; but, the online co-op at least worked.
  
• Molyneaux is promising a bunch of stuff again. Anyone remember the last time he promised a bunch of "innovations"? Anyway, seems he's pushing Fable 2 more as a Sims competitor than an RPG. Oh, goody, I get to grow old, get married, have kids, watch them grow up...I thought I was playing a game, not re-creating my life. :sheesh:
  
• MS's spokespeople need better teleprompter skills. They're awful.

• There's the nod to "family" after all the ultraviolent game previews. Good show, Microsoft.
  
• One brief mention that third-party games sell better on 360 than Wii. Yeah, well, when most of your library is third-party, I guess they would sell better. No prediction, however, that MS will sell more consoles than Wii.
• That $48 billion dollar figure looks made up. I saw an article recently that, while game sales have individually surpassed box office, DVD sales and DVD rentals, together, those movie-related figures far outgross game sales.
  
• Man, John Dvorak looks incredibly prescient. Five months ago he postulated MS backed HD-DVD just to stall Sony while pushing for downloadable content; and, here MS is boasting about people downloading movies instead of buying the discs. Sorry, MS, don't think it will happen--especially not for HD content.
  
• Loooooooooong pause before the applause for the new Dashboard, and the applause was weak.
  
• Avatars look good; nice update of the Mii concept.
  
• Party. meh
  
• Primetime. meh
  
• Geometry Wars & Galaga updates look good; but, not enough to sell a 360
  
• New Portal levels. meh (I am one of the five people on Earth not impressed by Portal.)
  
• South Park. yawn
  
• More hype for downloadable content, this time from Netflix. Sorry, I want a disc.
  
• So, you can watch downloaded movies/shows with your Live Party...There are social ramifications here I don't want to delve in to; but, this is disturbing. MS's "vision of the future" is looking a lot like WALL*E...
  
• Now we get to the family-friendly portion of our show...Banjo-Kazooie and Viva Pinata. Short trailers only, no gameplay footage or developers speaking about the games...
  
• You're in the Movies looks...interesting...I just don't know what to say about that.
  
• OK, Guitar Hero World Tour will have Van Halen & The Eagles. Definitely getting that. Very weak applause for GH WT.
  
• Lots of buildup for Lips, which is a...karaoke game...Whee?
  
• Duffy can't even sing her own song correctly.
  
• Rock Band 2 getting better response than GH. Bet that makes the Activision guys feel good.
  
• The Last Remnant hitting 360 and PC is very good; I definitely need a new gaming rig.
  
• Good going, MS! Hide your biggest announcement from online viewers by forcing a poor camera angle and not providing a direct feed of the trailer.
  
• Big applause for the FF 13 announcement. This is a real back-breaker for Sony. Their one sure console-seller is no longer exclusive.
  
• Another swipe at Sony to sign off.