Microsoft Press Conference: Highlights
All of the main announcements from the software giant's stage show at E3 this year
Games - Key Titles, Part Two
Final Fantasy XIII, first announced for the Xbox 360 last E3, was shown running on the Microsoft machine for the first time, with Square Enix going public on a Spring 2010 release date plan.
Shadow Complex, a side-scroller from Epic for XBLA followed, with an avatar racing game called Joy Ride for Xbox Live after that.
One of the most understated triple A games in the entire event was a brief video for Crackdown 2, which was confirmed as the first project for Ruffian, the company formed from ex-Realtime Worlds members.
Ubisoft then talked the audience through a video for Splinter Cell: Conviction, before another big reveal for the much-anticipated Forza 3, which will include the option to record and upload high-definition video, run at 60 frames per second, and feature 400 vehicles from 60 manufacturers.
Alan Wake rounded off that section of the event, with a video followed by a gameplay demonstration, and the firm date of "Spring 2010" given for release.
Games - The Metal Gear Reveal
In a move described by Don Mattrick with the phrase "We can finally say that our platform is complete," Hideo Kojima made a brief appearance to confirm to the audience that the next MGS title - Metal Gear Solid Rising - will definitely be coming to the Xbox 360.
It's the last of the big independent former PlayStation 3-exclusives that have now made the transition to multi-platform, and although there was no release date mentioned for the game, Kojima did reveal that Solid Snake had definitely retired, with Raiden featuring as the new game's protaginist.
For anybody that lives out their existence via Tweets and status updates, there was welcome news that the Xbox 360 would be integrating both Facebook and Twitter into the dashboard, allowing users to publish to the networks via their consoles - including shots from selected games (starting with Tiger Woods this year).
Additionally, a handful of service announcements were made in addition to the previously-announced Sky-360, including "instant on" viewing for Netflix users in the US, streaming free music via a partnership with Last.fm, and 1080p resolutions to be made available for all film and TV programmes in the renamed Zune Video service - all to go live "later this year".