Microsoft keeps the Xbox 360 with new games and a redesigned console

By Anthony John Agnello June 10, 2013

Xbox 360 E3 2013 — Image used with permission by copyright holder

The Xbox One was the star of Microsoft’s show, but the nearly decade-old Xbox 360 wasn’t ignored during the presentation. After a bombastic trailer for Konami’s Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain showed the horsepower of the new machine, Microsoft’s Yusuf Mehdi came out to announce a brand new redesign of the Xbox 360 itself.

This will be the third redesign of the box since it debuted in November 2005, and Microsoft has already begun shipping the new Xbox 360 to retailers. Like the third revision of the PlayStation 3 that Sony released in 2012, the new Xbox 360 appears slightly smaller than the current version and is likely a reflection of lowered production costs.

Microsoft also confirmed changes to its Xbox Live Gold premium subscription, giving away free games like Assassin’s Creed 2 in a PlayStation Plus-style service. Unlike Sony’s subscription service, where users lose the games if they cancel their memberships, Microsoft promises Xbox Live Gold players can keep these games even if they do not renew subscriptions.

In addition to previously announced Xbox 360 games due later this year like Grand Theft Auto V, Dark Souls II, and Splinter Cell: Blacklist, Microsoft also announced some brand new games for the old man of the console industry. Wargaming.net will release a new console version of its hugely popular World of Tanks. There was also a new kids property called Max: The Curse of Brotherhood, a charming 2D platformer.

Stay tuned for more news from E3 2013.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Anthony John Agnello

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Anthony John Agnello is a writer living in New York. He works as the Community Manager of Joystiq.com and his writing has…

Gaming

Xbox lays off 1,900 developers, cancels Blizzard’s survival game

A hunter crouches before footprints in Blizzard concept art.

Concept art from a now-cancelled Blizzard survival game. Blizzard Entertainment

Microsoft is laying off around 8% of its Gaming Workforce, affecting game developers across Xbox, ZeniMax Media, and the newly acquired Activision Blizzard.

Gaming

Try one of gaming’s best trilogies before it leaves Xbox Game Pass next week

Hitman 3 Dubai level.

Xbox Game Pass might not be losing a lot of games at the end of January, but the most significant loss is a big one. On January 31, the subscription service is losing Hitman: World of Assassination, which is one of the best stealth gaming experiences out there. Technically, it is a collection of three games’ worth of content, plus an excellent roguelike mode.

Few games can make you feel as clever or as idiotic as IO Interactive’s Hitman games, so World of Assassination is a must-play if you enjoy stealth gameplay and want to see those mechanics explored to their fullest. While the base games are short enough to blaze through in a few sittings, there's way more content here than you could reasonably get through in a week. You better get cracking if you want to try it without paying for the full package.

Gaming

You need to try this new, adrenaline-fueled Xbox Game Pass highlight

A ball zips up a ramp in Go Mecha Ball.

It's going to be a busy year for Xbox Game Pass subscribers. The subscription service is expected to get an influx of high-profile games in 2024. Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 and Avowed are leading the charge, and there's a good chance that we'll see a lot of Activision Blizzard games on the service soon. What's always more exciting to me, though, are the games I've never heard of. Some of my favorite Game Pass titles over the year have been left-field indies that I learned about the very day they launched. Call them pleasant surprises.

Xbox Game Pass is already getting one of those games this week. Go Mecha Ball is a new roguelike, twin-stick shooter hybrid that launches on January 25 for both PC and Xbox Game Pass. It's a wildly creative little action game that makes it the kind of Game Pass curiosity that keeps me subscribed to the service.