Microsoft E3 Conference Recap

Microsoft held their E3 conference at 9:30 AM Pacific time today. Here’s a summary of the whole conference:

• A trailer of Halo 4 kicked off the conference, followed by the first gameplay footage showing the new enemies and Forerunner weapons. Full story.
• Splinter Cell: Blacklist announced for 360, with Kinect functionality. Trailer showed Sam Fisher stalking around the Iraq/Iran border facing a terrorist group called “Blacklist.” Full story.
• FIFA and Madden 13 available later this year, will use Kinect.
• Fable: The Journey trailer shown, with a holiday 2012 release date.
• Gears of War: Judgment unveiled with a trailer and a 2013 release date. Full story.
• Forza Horizon trailer reveals an October 23, 2012 release date. Full story.
• Yusuf Mehdi took to the stage to announce that Bing voice search will be expanding to more countries and languages.
• Lots of new entertainment services coming to 360, including Nickelodeon, Paramount, Machinima, NBA, NHL, and more. Full story.
• Xbox Music will be coming to 360 and Windows 8 PCs, tablets, and phones. Over 30 million tracks will be available.
• Stefan Olander from Nike announced Nike+ Kinect Training coming to 360 this holiday.
• Mark Witten announced the rumored SmartGlass, which allows mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets to link wirelessly and seamlessly with the Xbox 360. It works with both media (for example, seamlessly transferring a movie from your tablet to the 360/TV with the push of a button) and games. Halo Waypoint was shown as an example. Full story.
• Internet Explorer will be coming to 360, supports Kinect voice integration.
• Xbox Games, Music, and Video will be compatible with Windows 8.
• A Tomb Raider demo was shown with Lara creeping through an enemy camp, firing arrows and blowing up enemies with fire. The first DLC for the game will be exclusive for 360.
• Three new games announced for 2013. Ascend: New Gods by Toy Soldiers developer Signal Studios, LocoCycle by Twisted Pixel, and a new Kinect game by Gore Verbinski called Matter. Full story.
• Resident Evil 6 trailer shown, and an announcement that DLC will be coming first to 360.
• Wreckateer announced for Kinect, coming this summer. Looks very much like Angry Birds with flailing.
• South Park: The Stick of Truth revealed. It’s an RPG being developed by Obsidian. Players will create their own character who becomes part of the South Park group. Releasing March 5, 2013. Full story.
• Usher came onstage to perform his latest single and announce Dance Central 3, coming this fall. Full story.
• The conference concluded with the obligatory Call of Duty: Black Ops II demo, coming November 13, and the usual announcement of timed 360 exclusivity for DLC.