E3 2010 Microsoft Press Conference Liveblog (Special) @ Gaming Target

Written by John Scalzo on June 14, 2010

Special: Here... we... go!

Microsoft's 2010 E3 Media Briefing will begin at 1:00 PM (Eastern Time). Stay tuned to this spot for up-to-the-second information on everything the console maker has planned for the press conference.

1:00 PM - Microsoft has kept their E3 offerings pretty hush hush, but I'd be shocked if we don't see more about Fable III, Gears of War 3 and Halo: Reach.

1:02 PM - We might also get a recap of the highlights from last night's Kinect (Natal) unveiling.

1:03 PM - The press conference is running a little behind. Looks like it'll be starting at 1:30.

1:27 PM - Five minute warning! Which actually was two minutes ago.

1:30 PM - And it begins...

1:32 PM - Opening with a Call of Duty: Black Ops trailer.

1:34 PM - Treyarch's Mark Lamia on stage to talk about the game.

1:36 PM - Showing off a pretty neat tunnel rat level. Gameplay is all live with Lamia playing on stage. Looks really slick.

1:38 PM - Taking the gunner's seat in a helicopter. Nice and action-packed.

1:39 PM - CoD is done. Now introducing Xbox VP Don Mattrick.

1:41 PM - All CoD add-ons will launch first on Xbox Live in 2010, 2011 and 2012. That also means Call of Duty 9 for Xbox 360 confirmed.

1:42 PM - Halo, Gears of War, Call of Duty called "biggest blockbusters in the industry."

1:43 PM - Hideo Kojima on stage.

1:44 PM - First Metal Gear Solid: Rising gameplay to debut with Rising producer Shigenobu Matsuyama.

1:46 PM - Rising has bullet time allowing you to dismember enemies (and fruit) at will.

1:47 PM - "2010 is the biggest year ever."

1:49 PM - Everything else in this media briefing will be "Only on Xbox 360."

1:50 PM - CliffyB on stage to show off Gears of War 3.

1:51 PM - Body parts, viscera and explosions everywhere.

1:54 PM - Gears of War 3 will have a new mode called "Beast."

1:54 PM - Peter Molyneaux on stage to talk about Fable III.

1:55 PM - Fable III dated for October 26.

1:58 PM - New exclusive partnership... with Crytek... looks like a gladiator game of some kind... named Codename Kingdoms

1:58 PM - Halo: Reach on stage.

1:59 PM - "Reach is the most ambitious game Bungie's ever made."

1:59 PM - Gameplay trailer.

2:01 PM - Firefight on the beach with Covenant drop troopers. Pretty cool.

2:03 PM - Kinda like Saving Private Ryan...

2:05 PM - Exploring a base. Getting into a Sabre. Space battle cut scene. Cool.

2:06 PM - Xbox Live's Mark Whitten on stage.

2:06 PM - Now we're in to the Kinect portion of the show.

2:08 PM - Controller-free dashboard browsing. Voice-activated movie and music controls.

2:09 PM - Very polite applause from the crowd.

2:11 PM - Xbox Live on Windows Phone 7.

2:12 PM - Kinect video chat.

2:13 PM - Hasn't the world already rejected video phones?

2:14 PM - Watching videos together.

2:14 PM - Kinect can track you as you move. That's neat I guess.

2:17 PM - ESPN 3's live online streams are coming to Xbox Live. Baseball, college football, soccer, NBA and college basketball. 3500 events. That's cool.

2:17 PM - SportsCenter guys on stage.

2:20 PM - ESPN on Xbox Live is awesome and all, but does this need an extended demo?

2:22 PM - That was the longest demo yet. ESPN on Xbox Live is free for Gold members.

2:23 PM - More Kinect stuff from Kudo Tsunoda.

2:24 PM - A small child is petting a tiger in Kinectimals. In real life that tiger would eat that child.

2:25 PM - It's all very cute but doesn't Nintendo get reamed for doing this kind of stuff every E3?

2:28 PM - Kinect Sports, from Rare, has six events.

2:30 PM - Hurdles... they're really running and jumping.

2:30 PM - Kinect Sports trailer. Soccer, bowling, more Track and Field, ping pong, boxing & volleyball.

2:31 PM - BigPark's Joy Ride after its Kinect makeover. Nice little kart racer, but I guarantee everyone will play this by holding a Wii Wheel.

2:35 PM - Kinect Adventures, the train track/river rafting game.

2:36 PM - Kinect Adventures will include Facebook integration for gameplay screenshots.

2:38 PM - Your Shape: Fitness Evolved exercise game from Ubisoft. Exclusively for Xbox 360.

2:41 PM - Ubisoft's Felicia Williams has been working out for the past few minutes. Doing yoga and light exercise. And some "combat training" AKA Taebo.

2:43 PM - More exercise. I repeat, Nintendo gets reamed by "hardcore gamers" for doing this at E3 every year.

2:45 PM - Dance Central, a dancing game developed by Harmonix.

2:46 PM - I'm not coordinated enough to play this.

2:48 PM - Soundtrack includes Lady Gaga, No Doubt, Beastie Boys, MIA, "Funky Town". With more tracks coming to Live as DLC.

2:49 PM - I'm still not coordinated enough to play this.

2:50 PM - Kinect launches on November 4. Worldwide launch before the end of the year. 15 launch titles.

2:51 PM - Star Wars Kinect game! Gameplay trailer!

2:52 PM - Looks kind of like an on-rails shooter with a sword. Makes sense for a sword fighting game with no controller. Coming 2011.

2:53 PM - Turn 10 Studios on stage.

2:55 PM - Forza 4? Whatever it is, it has Kinect features to look at the cars.

2:57 PM - You can look at every part of the car... even get in it.

2:58 PM - "Welcome to the future of racing" in 2011.

2:59 PM - Let's hope for a big finish from Mattrick.

2:59 PM - Xbox 360 Slim confirmed!

2:59 PM - Sleeker... smaller... whisper quiet... 250GB hard drive... built in wi-fi... $299.

3:00 PM - In stores this week.

3:00 PM - Everyone at the briefing gets one for free. Whoa!

3:00 PM - Don Mattrick is Oprah in disguise!

3:01 PM - And we're out.