Today marks the beginning of the video game industry's biggest event of the entire year, that being E3. The show is the platform where the biggest names in the industry come together to announce new games, show off new technology, and allow gamers a chance to get a hands-on preview of the biggest games in the coming years. This morning, Microsoft got the party started with its press conference at 9:30 this morning. With a lot of games featuring Kinect and new features added to XBox Live, Microsoft has a lot to look forward to beyond traditional video games.

 

 

The best way to get people's attention is with some gameplay, and that's what Microsoft did. The press conference kicked off with a live demo of Modern Warfare 3. The demo featured an attack on a submarine just outside of New York City, and was packed with an underwater and boat driving scene. Shortly after that, the first ever demo for Tomb Raider was shown off, featuring a portion of the beginning of the game. Lara Croft found herself being held captive on a mysterious island and makes a daring escape out of a cave.

 

Once those two demos were finished, Microsoft quickly changed gears and focused a lot on the Kinect. With a majority of its titles aimed at the casual audience, Microsoft looked to include the core gamer in the mix of Kinect titles. The first example that they showed off was for Ubisoft's upcoming release, Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier. Kinect was used with the new Gunsmith feature, a system where you use your hands to customize your gun via a menu system. Kinect will also allow for voice commands to navigate through the menu as well. During the demonstration, some of the guns were tested out and used the Kinect to do the shooting. 

 

The next game on the list to show off the Kinect was Mass Effect 3. In the game, you will be able to choose your dialogue options simply by saying them rather than select them as was done in the previous titles. Voice commands will also be used to give out orders to your allies in combat, much like how the SOCOM series utilized the microphone for that years ago.

 

There were also other titles shown throughout the press conference that promise Kinect functionality. Forza Motorsport 4 will use voice recognition to issue some commands and use headtracking so that you can look through the windows of the car. EA Sports President Peter Moore also briefly mentioned that games like Madden NFL and FIFA will be using Kinect as well when he came out to speak. He also mentioned Kinect will be used for Sims 3: Pets and Family Game Night 4. When speaking about Ghost Recon, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot promises Kinect functionality for all Tom Clancy titles.

 

Microsoft had a good number of new games to show off for the Kinect as well. Fable: The Journey is an on-rails game that has the player using their hands to conjure up different spells to defeat enemies. Star Wars Kinect will have the player swinging their hands to swing a lightsaber and even use force powers to manipulate objects. If you still have the dancing bug, Dance Central 2 will be available out later this year, allowing you to play the new songs along with the entire library from the first game.