by Keith Garlington –

Building on last year’s theme Phil Spencer and company again made games a focal point of their 2016 conference. Clearly Microsoft aimed to show gamers what they would playing this year and in the near future. Even though much of their conference had been leaked they were still able to promote some exciting titles several of which come out this year. But they also made news with their hardware announcements as well as revealing the new direction for the Xbox brand. A few rough patches aside, Microsoft really stepped up their game at this year’s showcase.

STRENGTHS

• How can you not start with Microsoft’s hardware announcements? The show began with a video revealing the Xbox One S. Internal power brick, 40% smaller than the Xbox One, updated controller, 4k video playback, a very cool white console design, and a pricetag of $299. It’s a beautiful machine…