14 DAY TRIAL // E3 is launching its barrage upon gaming minds early next week and one of the companies to watch carefully is Microsoft, the creators of the Xbox 360 home gaming console and the publisher that still has the rights to such gaming brands like Gears of War and Halo.
On the hardware front Microsoft will probably keep quiet about any developments linked to its next console and deny any rumors that appear about it, concentrating on how well the Xbox 360 is doing at the moment and how the addition of Kinect has changed the platform.
Expect to see more games announced with motion tracking support and maybe a price drop for the Kinect and Xbox 360 with 250 GB hard drive bundle, as the online Target store has suggested.
It's likely that Microsoft will also talk about the gaming possibilities on the line of Windows 7 phones, with some big brands moving to the mobile space, and the press conference might also refer briefly to the PC and the opportunities opened up with Windows 8.
The company will also talk up its Xbox Live service, contrasting it's stability and security with the problems Sony has been having with PSN.
The big expectation linked to Microsoft on the video game front is to talk about its plans for the Halo franchise, which has been abandoned by Bungie and is now under the stewardship of 343 Industries.
Halo is a huge series and there have been rumors about both a remake for the original Combat Evolved and about a sequel, perhaps something focused upon the multiplayer side, and we might see an official announcement for one of these projects.
Rare is also expected to talk about their new project and we might even hear something about the future of the Fable series or about another project from Lionhead.
Because Microsoft handles a limited number of development in house, the company will also talk about the most popular series on its platform, Call of Duty, and about how Modern Warfare 3 will work on the Xbox 360 when it arrives in the fall.
Epic Games will focus on pushing Gears of War 3 to fans, but there's also a chance that they would talk about a future project.
Softpedia will be live on show floor at E3 2011, so you should also look forward to live coverage of the event, from all the major announcements to plenty of hands-on time spent with many upcoming games.