E3 Week: The Microsoft Press Conference

All the news from Microsoft's opener and my thoughts on their press conference!
Microsoft kicked off this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo in style with their conference Xbox Entertainment Evolved on Monday. First off, my thoughts on the conference. There seemed to be a little too much focus on mediums other than games (e.g. the web; tablets; music) for my liking, but the titles shown didn't half impress me, so in that respect I was impressed with what Microsoft had to offer, even if they were essentially filling time for the still-unannounced next generation of Xbox. Now we'll move onto all of the news that was actually unveiled, and you can find the new trailers and demos for the announced games below this list...

• HALO 4 DEBUTED- We got our first proper look at the gameplay for Halo 4, with Forerunner enemies like the Trackers and Scattershot AI revealed to us as the Master Chief explored a beautiful jungle and Cortana's integration into the new interface was revealed.
• SPLINTER CELL: BLACKLIST ANNOUNCED- Sam Fisher is back next February, it's been confirmed here by Ubisoft. A more guns-blazing shooter taking place in a terrorist warzone, Blacklist will feature Kinect voice support and kick off a new chapter in the Splinter Cell saga.
• FIFA, MADDEN KINECT CONFIRMED- EA Sports reiterated that the Kinect peripheral would be integreated into FIFA 13 and Madden NFL 13 later this year with voice integration, so 360 fans of these sports franchises will have an extra reason to check out the latest editions.
• FABLE: THE JOURNEY DATED- There was only a brief teaser trailer for Fable: The Journey at the conference, yet we did get an actual release date of October 12th for the fantasy Kinect RPG.
• GEARS OF WAR: JUDGEMENT ANNOUNCED- As reported last week, Gears is back for an all new prequel adventure just before the next generation of consoles arrives and a fourth chapter can begin. Judgement is developed by Bulletstorm's People Can Fly, and will arrive in the first quarter of 2013.
• FORZA: HORIZON DEBUTED- Again, there wasn't too much footage for Horizon shown off, but it was revealed as an open-world entry in the series with more competitive events and even wilder music from Brit dev Playground Games. Forza Horzion will be with us on October 23rd.
• NIKE+ KINECT TRAINING ANNOUNCED- As part of the more social section of the conference, a new Kinect game called Nike+ Kinect Training was announced for release this Autumn.
• XBOX SMARTGLASS ANNOUNCED- This revolutionary new interface will allow connection of Windows 8 tablets, phones and the Xbox to allow for multi-screen play. Take that, WiiU, apparently! Look for out this near the end of 2012 or as we head towards the 720.
• TOMB RAIDER DEBUTED- Lara Croft's return was confirmed at last year's conference, and of course we now know she won't be back until February 2013. Still, we got brand new gameplay here, and the title really is looking hotter than ever.
• ASCEND: NEW GODS ANNOUNCED- One of a handful of new exclusives announced here for the 360, New Gods is a new fantasy action IP that should kick off in 2013.
• LOCOCYCLE ANNOUNCED- The Gunstringer's Twisted Pixel will debut this whimsical Xbox Live Arcade adventure later this year, and again it's exclusive and features super-powered heroes and villains in a Tron style romp.
• MATTER ANNOUNCED- Not much is known about this exclusive yet bar that it aims to do something along the lines of Portal in terms of gaming innovation, and will be revealed in full for XBLA later on in 2012.
• RESIDENT EVIL 6 DEBUTED- Capcom took to the stage to show off their latest Resident Evil sequel and my oh my, it's looking mighty promising so far. Resi 6 will be with us in November, and judging by this video we may well have a turning point for the fledging series.
• SOUTH PARK: THE STICK OF TRUTH DEBUTED- Every South Park fan should be looking forward to this ambitious RPG from Obsidian. Right now, it's looking pretty much identical to the series, a great piece of satire and ideal for the video gaming format.
• DANCE CENTRAL 3 ANNOUNCED- As sure as day turns to night is that Microsoft loves the success of their Kinect casual audience titles, most of all Dance Central. Therefore we've got a third entry in that best-selling series coming out this Winter for 360 and 360 alone.
• CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS II DEBUTED- Finally, Microsoft revealed once again that they would have the first DLC on the latest Call Of Duty, and showed off an exciting new demo for Black Ops II once they had done so. A great end to the conference!

Now, you can check out all of the gameplay trailers and reveals below in this video of the conference...enjoy!