E3 2012: Microsoft Press Conference Liveblog

Microsoft's E3 2012 press conference is just about to begin, and that means electronica and anticipation. Game Podunk's got your back on the second part, as we'll be covering it in a live blog right here for your convenience!

It's just beginning now,

[9:29] The music is dying down and the conference is just about to begin!

[9:30] A trailer is beginning... Halo 4, seems to be. The graphics looks pretty freakin' good.

[9:31] Uh oh, things seem to be going awry! Stuff's blowing up and junk.

[9:32] Master Chief! And a giant ship is falling while Master Chief's just hanging out, no big deal.

[9:32] Big glowing orb thinger showed up and is flying off towards the wreckage.

[9:33] "We know where he's heading..." "Same place we are."

[9:33] Some actual gameplay. The game looks pretty fresh, not gonna lie. A nice jungle setting. Seems pretty linear right now.

[9:34] Chief killing some Grunts. Guess these guys are back.

[9:34] More enemies. Clearly these enemies are "not Covenant," 'cause they're some advanced AI.

[9:35] Whoa, close up of an enemy. Its face opened up to show what looked like a glowing orange human skull. They're not organic, though!

[9:35] Forerunner gun! Now he's killing more of those Grunt-looking guys. I guess they aren't grunts, though!

[9:36] The ship that crashed is radioing some Mayday.

[9:36] Batman Detective Vision! Master Chief got ambushed... Now there's some Requiem of a Dream editing going on while dramatic music plays... Cortana looks mad.

[9:37] Halo 4 logo! Don Mattrick is now here.

[9:38] This year, it's all about Xbox 360. Games, movies, sports, yadda yadda. This year, they're supposed to be bringing us the greatest line-up of games of all time.

[9:39] This holiday, Xbox is to be taken to phones, PCs, and tablets, he says. Enjoy the show, he says...

[9:39] Some dude carrying another dude to a medic...

[9:40] Wuh-oh, betrayal! He killed a bunch of dudes. Sam Fisher?!

[9:41] Splinter Cell: Blacklist! Grim's back, and Sam's goggles are back. We're on the Iraq border, trying to stop a group called Blacklist. Seems very Conviction-esque, gameplay-wise. Very mobile.

[9:42] Sam's manhandling the crap out of these dudes, yo. He's able to take enemies out "quickly and fluidly." Executes are back, and stealth-killing guys opens up his execute options.

[9:43] Kinect voice recognition can be used to catch people's attention.

[9:43] Sam's using a knife a whole lot in this...

[9:44] You're able to use Kinect voice to call airstrikes, too, in this scenario.

[9:45] Take-away here is some decent Kinect integration and a lot more verticality...

[9:46] Whoops, that guy just died! Didn't see an interrogation, so dunno if that's back.

[9:46] Splinter Cell: Blacklist is shipping Spring 2013.

[9:47] Head of EA Sports, Andrew Wilson. Madden NFL and FIFA are becoming "Better with Kinect."

[9:47] FIFA 13 allows action to be commanded on the pitch without pausing. Voice commands are able to be used to sub characters and stuff without using a menu.

[9:48] Giving commands for formations, passes, stuff like that. Profanity is understood by the ref...

[9:49] Madden 13 is supposed to be a huge investment. Joe Montana was called out... No wonder it was such a huge investment!

[9:49] Joe Montana's going to demo Madden 13. He's able to call maneuvers for... football stuff. Look, I don't know sports.

[9:51] Joe seems impressed. He's able to call out specific players to do specific stuff. He made a football home run!

[9:51] Voice actions work on offense and defense. August 28th will be the release for Madden 13!

[9:52] Fable: The Journey trailer time. The world seems to have gone to a bad day. Kinect integration, throwing magic and stuff around.

[9:52] Fighting skeleton monsters, throwing lightning, fire, energy whips, energy balls.

[9:53] Hey, some people... Yep, these are definitely Fable graphics.

[9:53] Phil Spencer is up now. "Only the best games are on Xbox," he says, right after showing Fable: The Journey.

[9:54] An action racer is being announced... But first, a Gears of War trailer. Odd way to preface that. If only Gears of War was the kart racer we all know it could be!

[9:54] Explosions, people getting killed, and our old Gears of War pals there. There's a giant spider crab monster, and the three guys from last time are shooting the crap out of stuff. Well, that housed nothing but explosions.

[9:55] Forza was the game he meant before. Those cars sure are driving fast. Right into traffic, too.

[9:56] Is this that "dubstep" the kids keep talking about? We get a glimpse of some mountain racing to juxtapose against the cityscapes we saw before. Now one of those Fast and the Furious style car line-ups.

[9:57] Explosions open the change from Dubstep to rock and/or roll. Forza Horizon's the name, and October 23 is the release.

[9:57] Yusuf Mehdi, their marketing dude, is up. Kinect Bing Voice is easier. Say a genre, and Xbox finds it. "Xbox, Bing Comedies." Bunch of comedies showed up, etc. "Xbox, Killer Elite," and it opens the multiple providers.

[9:58] Pre-existing subscriptions give instant access. 12 additional countries are getting Bing Voice.

[9:59] Demonstrating the Spanish-language Bing Voice. He's just showing off his ability to speak Spanish, the jerk...

[9:59] He's discussing all the networks on the Bing historically, 'cause they plan on doubling it. Four networks: Nickelodeon, Paramount Movies, Machinima ("for y'all core gamers out there!", Univision.

[10:00] Let's talk about sports, he says. Do we have to...?

[10:01] UFC came last year. Three months ago, MLB.TV. Today, that portfolio of sports is going to grow. The NBA is coming to Xbox, bringing over 2400 live games.

[10:01] Hockey? Well, next season, NHL is also coming to Xbox. Hockey's the one with the Stanley Cup, right?

[10:02] ESPN on Xbox is about to get "even better," 24/7 ESPN stuff on Xbox. Sports Center, Sports Nation, Mike and Mike Show, all in HD on 360.

[10:03] A new trailer for the new sports stuff. "Xbox, Sports. NHL. Fullscreen." Seems quick and easy. Mobile functionality for the NHL picks.

[10:03] Split-screen for watching multiple things at once. Do people who like sports actually do that?!

[10:04] Now for the music!

[10:04] Cleverly named Xbox Music, which will be on 360, tablets, phones, and PC.

[10:05] Okay, so this isn't my music, but whatever. Bunch of people dancing and having a grant old time, playing music. The same usual rhetoric for new stuff. "Personalize" "Music is much more amazing with Xbox," and stuff like that.

[10:06] A look to the future. Kinect transforms entertainment, he says. Oh, a fitness game. Couldn't go without that.

[10:06] Train for your moment! Shows some wire skeleton working out, and the Kinect's eye just starting glowing.

[10:06] Stefan Olander from Nike is here. Nike's about serving athletes, Stefan says.

[10:07] "If you have a body, you're an athlete." They've clearly never seen my body.

[10:08] Nike Fuel is a unified measurement for every athlete in the world. Sounds like Fitocracy.

[10:09] Nike+ Kinect Training is the name of Nike's stuff. It allows for the most "personalized digital training experience in the world." Shows progress, keeps you up-to-date on work-outs.

[10:10] You'll be connected to other people to compete against. So it's a work-out program with a bunch of digital integration and a Fitocracy-like. Interesting, if you want to get Diesel, I guess.

[10:11] Mark Witten, head of Xbox Live. Looks like we're building up to some smart device integration.

[10:12] Oh-kay, Xbox SmartGlass. Connects to your smart devices and gives you a bunch of other information and stuff while you're trying to watch the movie.

[10:13] You can send the movie from your tablet to your TV. So it's the Wii U controller?

[10:14] When you do it, it gives you a bunch of information about cast and crew and stuff.

[10:14] Are they about to spoil the season finale?

[10:14] Oh, okay, they're not. Your phone and tablet are keeping track of what's going on, letting you know what's happening when. That's kind of interesting, I guess.

[10:15] Devices working together to immerse you in entertainment.

[10:16] Game creators are using this technology like the Wii U controller, except to also give information, switch plays in Madden, or switch play modes and stuff.

[10:17] Halo demonstrates this by letting you switch to multiplayer via the tablet. SmartGlass lets you navigate screens.

[10:17] With Kinect and SmartGlass... Browsers are added. Internet Explorer is coming to Xbox this year. Introducing tepid applause.

[10:19] We just watched a Prometheus clip online.

[10:20] Pinch and zoom, use touch to mouse around. Have the full experience of internet with just touch. Internet Explorer for Xbox launches this fall.

[10:21] Windows 8 is getting a lot of Xbox integration, including the tablets.

[10:23] Crystal Dynamics is showing off Tomb Raider. Some actual gameplay here. Looks very Uncharted-y, except with a bow. She has a shotgun, too, apparently.

[10:23] Lara's promising to get someone out. Ten bucks says that person dies and becomes a martyr in the plot.

[10:24] Environmental kill with some a lantern near some gas. She's taking cover and killing dudes.

[10:25] A melee kill. Stabbed that dude in the neck.

[10:25] Now she's swimming across the water... Nice set pieces and stuff. This is a LOT like Uncharted.

[10:27] Wouldn't be the new Tomb Raider if she didn't take a severe beating while falling off a mountain into the forest!

[10:28] The first DLC will be available on Xbox 360.

[10:28] Spencer's back. Three new world premiere exclusives.

[10:29] Ascend: New Gods. Killin' some bad guys from atop a giant spike monster's back, jumping around and fighting big dudes. Looks very action-oriented. Coming 2013.

[10:30] LocoCycle, coming 2013... just showed off Iris, a motorcycle, via panovers. Like Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

[10:32] Matter, made for Kinect. 2013.

[10:33] Kobayashi and Sasaki from Capcom. These two are not enthusiastic about Resident Evil 6 at all.

[10:33] That city's in a baaad way. Leon and Elena? Leon's melee killing these dudes. There's some corner cover.

[10:35] These zombies look a little more conventional. The quick kills from RE5 are back, and it looks like Leon can use two guns now.

[10:36] Oh no, an airplane just fell on them, and now they're running from an explosion like Will Smith's wife ran from that explosion in Independence Day.

[10:36] No underpass to hide in, so it's helicopter time!

[10:37] Of course the pilot's dead. Now the chopper's going down... Tap X to lift up!

[10:38] And now the chopper was hit by a train. What?

[10:38] Don't worry, they hit a big advert and lived... until they fell out of the chopper into a room filled with hundreds of zombies. Resident Evil 6 logo.

[10:38] Alex Ruiz is taking the stage. Kobayashi and Sasaki didn't stick around long.

[10:39] Wreckateer. Not anything like Recettear, it seems. Kinect-based castle-busting... Why is Alex Ruiz talking like Paulie Shore?

[10:40] It comes out this summer on Xbox Live.

[10:41] Oh hey, the South Park game! City's burning. Mr. Garrison's injured under some rubble, Cartman is narrating.

[10:41] You make your character with a "power yet unknown." The gameplay looks very authentic to how South Park looks. Clearly it has some... language, and the stuff is pretty large-scale.

[10:43] Trey Parker and Matt Stone are taking the stage. A joke about the Xbox's over-the-top connectivity.

[10:44] Making the game authentically South Park was a priority. You're playing the fifth of the four boys... Well, they talked about the development for a bit, then left without saying a whole lot about the game.

[10:45] Ah, it wouldn't be complete without a Dance Central trailer. Dance Central 3.

[10:46] Usher's there. He worked with the people at Harmonix to make his dance moves in the game... Wait, Usher is ACTUALLY there!

[10:46] Now he's doing a song and dance. Literally. He's commanding people to get up.

[10:47] He's got some pretty fresh dance moves... This is just an Usher performance, it doesn't currently relate to video games at all.

[10:48] This isn't even a particularly dance-heavy number for him, though...

[10:49] Okay, finally, some Dance Central 3 footage. He's dancing, but not doing the stuff on the screen...

[10:50] He finished with the footage, so... there's that.

[10:50] Don Mattrick's back. He is summarizing what they've covered so far.

[10:51] Call of Duty: Black Ops 2. All content will launch on 360 first.

[10:52] Unmanned armies were built, and apparently bad guys stole the keys. Shenanigans are ensuing, President is being evacuated. Mason's taking her to a shelter.

[10:53] Cripple capitalist governments by taking out the leaders. Seems straightforward enough.

[10:54] Slow motion explosions! It's like a Michael Bay movie!

[10:54] The president's convoy was blown up. They're escorting her out and they're all running away.

[10:54] Some futuristic Humvee-back missile launcher thing to blow up bad guy ships. Mason barely makes it back onto the overpass, and planes are blowing up and falling all over the place.

[10:55] Moving along the overpass, Mason's gotta provide cover-fire for the President.

[10:56] Mason can look through the wall with the scope on his sniper rifle, and shots can be charged to fire through.

[10:57] Cut to later in the game to show off more James Bond tech. Fighting through what seems to be a mall.

[10:59] A SAM turret is on the roof, so that's where Mason's apparently going.

[11:00] Some unmanned vehicles are flying all over the place, shooting stuff, apparently controlled by Mason's James Bond smartphone watch thing.

[10:00] That airstrike person is very, very talkative...

[10:01] A huge building just fell over. Yep, this is definitely a Call of Duty game.

[10:01] Now Mason's gonna be flying a jet.

[10:02] Oooh, everyone's favorite, an escort mission. Escort that President, Mason! The jet combat seems very comparable to that ship from Saints Row: The Third. Smooth four-directional movement that can be adjusted to going really fast forward.

[10:03] And missiles and machine guns.

[10:04] The future is black, y'all. Okay, so that was it for Microsoft, then.

Well that was our coverage of Microsoft's E3 2012 press conference! And what a conference it was. If nothing else, we got a look at a few neat titles on the Xbox in the near future.

Tune in at 1:00PM Pacific/4:00PM Eastern for EA's conference, 3:00 PM Pacific/7:00 PM Eastern for Ubisoft's conference, and 6:00PM Pacific/9:00 PM Eastern for Sony's conference coverage!