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Microsoft’s E3 conference last year first revealed Project Natal, the motion-sensitive hardware that supposedly surpasses Nintendo’s Wii Motion technology, along with early and rather basic implementations of the hardware. So it was with more than a large degree of excitement that many viewers were waiting to see the different uses of the technology a year on. The promise of new trailers of some extremely-anticipated games certainly didn’t help.

The company wasted no time in showing off Activision's Call of Duty: Black Ops. Treyarch’s Mark Lamia showcased two levels from the seventh instalment in the series. The first saw him crawling through a rock tunnel with an ill-fated A.I. companion, before jumping to a jungle-based environment in 1964, that saw him and his NPC buddy commandeering a Hind attack helicopter and using it to wreak havoc on their Vietcong captors. It wasn’t apparent if the player will actually pilot the helicopter, but you can expect a large dose of explosive action, along with the usual two-man gameplay mechanics the series is known for.

Lamia opened up the stage for developer Don Mattrick. Coming on to a smattering of applause, he told us that every new map pack for the Call of Duty series will be initially launched on Xbox 360 for at least the next three years.

It was Hideo Kojima’s turn to showcase gameplay from Metal Gear Solid Rising, the first MGS title to be made available on the console. Producer Shigenobu Matsuyama introduced the footage, which saw Raiden chopping up numerous robot enemies via the implied use of the new Kinect technology. Featuring a slow-motion mode where you can slice enemies with surgical precision, the trailer ended (somewhat weirdly) with Raiden chopping a watermelon into little tiny pieces.

Cliff Blaszinski then demonstrated gameplay of Gears of War 3, highlighting a number of additions to the sequel. Set in a woodland area new to the series, the gameplay remains the same mix of running-and-gunning, with the action being switched-up through the ability to play co-operatively with up to three friends, swapping weapons with them at will, while also using new weapons, such as a massive spike attached to the front of your gun, to charge at and rip apart enemies. The usual high level of violence remains, while lambent enemies, capable of mutating into much bigger and more powerful forms, are among the new foes you can lay waste to. Fans of The Cole Train will be glad to hear that the loud-mouthed sportsman will definitely be making a return in this title.

Peter Molyneux showed the latest trailer for Lionhead’s latest project Fable 3. Showing a new range of choice and responsibilities the player can make, the action looks set to take in a somewhat Victorian era, adding a multitude of machines and firearms to the usual magic and melee combat. Fans of canine friends will be happy to hear that you’ll have another poochy pal in this.

After a rather mysterious trailer for what looked like a gladiator-based actioner from Crytek, Halo Reach made an appearance, showing the Spartans infiltrate a Covenant base via a mix of shooting and silent assassinations before commandeering a shuttle and blasting down enemy ships in the planet’s atmosphere.

After Reach had suitably impressed, a demonstration of the newly-renamed Kinect technology was showcased. Taking us to a specially-designed menu, Kinect allows you to access a variety of features such as Zune, Facebook and Twitter either by using your hands or simply saying the name of the application you wish to open. It’s a convenient way to access these features, but no harder than simply pressing a button on the controller…

The communicative abilities of Kinect were then highlighted via a demonstration of a video call. Conducted between a woman called Laura and her ‘sister’ Kirsten, abilities such as target-tracking and high-framerate connections were made evident through a slew of awkward and obviously fake conversations between the two.

The announcement of ESPN integration with the console was exciting but somewhat irrelevant to European gamers, being followed by demonstrations of some proper Kinetic gameplay. Being kicked off with the massively-contrived ‘Kinectimals’, the audience were shown a young girl interacting with an on-screen tiger reacting in real-time to her movements in a mildy creepy display of virtual pet play. The imaginatively named Kinect Sports was then shown, which, while admittedly better-looking than its Wii counterpart, looked somewhat like more of the same (which may be no bad thing).

Kinect Adventures showed a somewhat more original side to the technology. A game requiring you to move about to catch tokens highlighted the drop-in, drop-out feature of the title, while another one involving whitewater rafting (and riding on floating clouds, no less) showed how seamlessly more than one person can influence the on-screen action. A neat feature saw the camera taking a picture of the players at certain points. 

Ubisoft showcased Your Shape, essentially Wii Fit for 360, before Harmonix showed off Dance Central, their new title teaching both new and experienced players to dance. After a rather uncomfortable-looking display of dancing from both the title’s lead designer and some dancers throwing some awesome shapes, the Kinect hardware’s release date of November 4th 2010 was announced, along with the 15 titles available on launch day (more info can be found on our Kinect Roundup article).

A small look at the latest Xbox 360-exclusive Star Wars title was presented before being shown the new Forza Motorsport, due for release next year. Allowing you to control your vehicle via motion-control, you can look around and interact with the interior of your vehicle in realtime.  We were also shown the new method of purchasing new cars, allowing the player to inspect the exterior of the vehicle before climbing into the car itself and examining the detail of all its fixtures and fittings. 

The last revelation Microsoft made was the much-rumoured Xbox Lite, shown to be a little curvy black number, accompanied by a 250GB hard disc and wireless network adaptor as standard. The best news about it, however, was that it was being shipped to stores right now. Well, in America, at least. Us Europeans need to wait til the 14th July to get one. Unless you were in the audience, where you should have one in your hands right now. Make sure you keep a tight hold of yours, there are some people that are majorly jealous of you right now.

So that was Microsoft’s E3 press conference: a mixture of violent shooting, fluffy tigers, fast cars and undoubtedly a larger number of very happy games journalists. The general consensus is this year’s conference surpassed 2009’s and that Microsoft may have won this year’s conference, despite Nintendo and Sony having yet to show theirs. It all depends on what they choose to show this year.