Microsoft shows off E3 software slate
New Modern Warfare, Crackdown, Forza and Left 4 Dead titles presented
Microsoft kicked off E3 proper today with its press conference, unveiling a host of new titles, as well as shedding more light on some already announced.
The event began with a demonstration of Rock Band: Beatles, unveiling Abbey Road as the first album for the game, as well as a downloadable track the proceeds of which will go to charity.
A performance by the Harmonix house band was followed by brief appearances on-stage by Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, who thanked the audience for "having us in your game show," before departing.
Activision's title line-up continued with Modern Warfare 2, with gameplay footage being shown for the first time, while Tony Hawk presented the new skateboard controller for Ride.
In the platform exclusive section of the conference the key announcement was Forza 3, which will ship in October and feature over 400 cars from 50 manufacturers - and run at 60 frames per second.
A new title from Epic, Shadow Complex, was unveiled for Xbox Live, while BigPark will be releasing a racing title to incorporate users' avatars, while in-game footage from Alan Wake was presented.
Other big reveals included Crackdown 2 from Ruffian, Left 4 Dead 2 from Valve and the new Halo title from Bungie, Halo: ODST - plus a trailer for brand new game Halo Reach, set for a 2010 release, was also shown off.
Final Fantasy XIII was also demonstrated, running for the first time on an Xbox 360 in public, with the Square Enix team citing a "Spring 2010" planned release.