We have arrived at the Galen Center in Los Angeles for Microsoft's pre-E3 2011 press conference. While some details about what is supposed to be revealed at the press event have already leaked it still promises to be a interesting show. Neowin.net will be live blogging the event on this news post so check out the post for constant updates.
The Xbox 360 press briefing has begun with a live demo of Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 as we get to see more of that underwater mission that was briefly seen in the game's reveal trailer. The player controls a diver with some kind of underwater one man vehicle with the mission to bring an enemy submarine to the surface in New York City
The player then enters the sub and begins shooting its occupants.
The demo then moves forward in time a bit as the team enters the sub's bridge, kills its crew and takes the sub's missile launch keys. The missiles are then actually launched as the team leaves the sub in a speed raft.
The team has to take the raft through a ton of enemy ships and fire fights and then gets picked up by a chopper to leave New York City to end the demo.
Xbox 360 exec Don Mattrick takes the stage. He boast about Xbox 360 and its upcoming announcements.
Crystal Dynamic team members then start a demo of the upcoming reboot of Tomb Raider with a 21 year old Lara Croft seen tied up and suspended in some kind of mine. She falls the the ground and starts to walk through the mine.
This is definitely not the Lara Croft we are used to. She screams and is scared as she tries to fight enemies while she tries to get out of the mine. The player can apparently switch on a view mode that highlights things in the levels that she might use.
After some trouble Lara gets out of the mine to see that the island she is on has a lot of wrecked ships. The game is now due out in 2012, a delay from the previously announced fall 2011 release date.
EA Sports is next and it announced that Kinect support will be coming to Tiger Woods PGA Golf, Madden NFL, FIFA 12 and one more game to be announced.
Bioware is next on the stage to show off Mass Effect 3 and it indeed will support Kinect via voice recognition. A live demo shows a player speaking the options given to Commander Shepard rathen than using a standard controller. The Kinect can also allow players to speak orders to AI teammates. BioWare hints about more about the game being revealed at EA's E3 press conference later today.
Then we get to see the next game trailer for Ubisoft's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier. The game will also use Kinect for features like weapon customization via hand gestures or voice. It's very cool to look at. You can also use gesture moves to aim and fire the weapon. All future Tom Clancy branded games from Ubisoft will support Kinect.
Xbox Live with Kinect voice support are being shown as the dashboard reacts to voice orders. YouTube support will be coming to Xbox Live. Microsoft's Bing search service will be combined with Xbox Live and Kinect to help people find media and games.
The rumors are true: Live television is coming to Xbox Live. Details were not given but the new Dashboard with the features will launch later this fall.
UFC head Dana White shows up on stage. UFC matches will be coming to Xbox Live later this fall.
From now until the end of the press conference all of the games shown will be Xbox 360 exclusives. The first is naturally Gears of War 3. CliffyB and Ice-T (yes Ice-T) demo one of the campaign levels together. The Gears team is naturallly going after some bad guys including a huge creature. Thankfully one team member is in a powerful one-man mech suit. Ice-T will write an original song for the game.
Then the trailer moves to Crytek's next game set in ancient Rome, previously called Codename Kingdoms and now called Ryse. The game will support Kinect
Another rumor is true. the original Halo is getting a graphical remake for the Xbox 360 console with co-op Xbox Live support. It's coming November 15.
Forza Motorsport 4 is next. with some impressive looking graphics. It will support voice command via Kinect and headracking as well.
Peter Molyneux is on stage announcing Fable The Journey. The live demo has your character controlling a horse-drawn cart, again supporting gestures via Kinect. Spells can also be cast via Kinect hand movements. It's due out in 2012.
Minecraft has been announced as coming to Xbox 360 with support for Kinect this winter.
Disneyland Attractions is an upcoming Kinect game that gives kids a way to visit the theme part at home along with playing in Disney's fantasy lands like Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland.
Star Wars Kinect is next and it's looking really good even though it's set during the prequel movie timeline. The cloud city of Bespin is shown as you use the force and light saber to take out enemies.
Double Fine head Tim Schafer demos Sesame Street: Once Upon A Monster, with Kinect support.
Kinect Fun Labs is next which will serve as a place for programmers to develop new Kinect ideas. Kinect Me will let people use Kinect to create your own Xbox 360 avatar, even your clothes. Finger tracking is also coming and we were shown a demo where a stuffed animal was scanned and brought into a game. Kinect Fun Labs is now available.
Kinect Sports Season Two is next as we see two live golf and football games on stage with the Kinect controller and voice support. Sking and tennis will be added.
Dance Central 2 was announced and it will have multiplayer dance for the first time. All songs from the first game can be imported in Dance Central 2.
Don Mattrick is back on stage going over the announcements made in the past 90 minutes. He intros a trailer for Halo 4. The clip has Master Chief trying to get out of a exploding space ship that is itself inside a massive unknown structure. The game is due in 2012.
That's it for Microsoft's pre-E3 press conference. EA's event starts in 90 minutes.
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