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With E3 just around the corner, people are starting to get very, very excited. The industry is abuzz with story after story of what developer A or publisher B plans to do, and everyone's curious as to what sort of awesome tech and intriguing games we're going to see this time around. More than anything, all eyes are turned towards "The Big Three" of console gaming- Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo. With all the rumors that have been floating around of late, everybody's curious as to what they're going to do, particularly in the face of Nintendo's impending Wii U launch. Today, we're going to take a close look at Microsoft's offerings - which will, one way or another, put to rest once for all those pesky rumors about the Xbox 720 (we hope).

As with last year, Microsoft's going to be starting the show, with their press conference scheduled for June 4th at 10 AM PST. Here's what to expect from them at E3 2012:

Confirmed

• Halo 4: Naturally, the thing most fans are most excited about is the world premiere of Halo 4, which is due November 16. We'll be getting a closer look at the game and its story, as well as what sort of new features and mechanics we can expect-definitely an event to remember. 
• Forza: Horizon, Fable: The Journey: They’ll also be answering some questions and addressing some concerns about Forza Horizon, and, most interestingly, Fable: The Journey.
• Xbox: Entertainment Evolved To Be Streamed over Xbox LIVE: The organization will, in co-operation with SPIKE, be streaming the conference over Xbox LIVE for the unlucky few who were unfortunate enough to miss out on tickets to the event. 
• Rumors about the Xbox 720 put to rest: Microsoft has, at long last, directly confirmed that they will not be debuting any new hardware this year. When questioned about it by gaming blog Kotaku, a Microsoft representative responded over Twitter that releasing the 720 at E3 would be "premature", and that there will be "no talk of new hardware at E3 or any time soon."
• Microsoft's "Woodstock" music service: On the software side of things, you should also expect at least a few discussions to come up regarding their new service, Xbox TV, as well as a bit of time devoted to the 360’s other new music and entertainment services.
• More on Kinect and many Kinect titles: Microsoft is also paying a bit of mind to their proprietary motion-control technology, Kinect, with an impressive gallery of exclusives.  Even better, some of them might actually truly harness Kinect's technology in a way that doesn't feel completely gimmicky or involve dancing of some kind. 
• More focus on features than games

Likely

• A true Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 reveal: Though they’ve neither confirmed it nor denied it, there’s a good chance we’ll be receiving a bit more information – or, at the very least, a demo – of Black Ops 2.
• More info on GTA V and Dead Space 3
• A new subscription model for the Xbox 360

What We Hope For

• A new Gears of War game: The Kinect-based Gears of War: Exile was cancelled, but hopefully they have something else in the works for this popular series.
• Better Kinect titles: Everything up to now has either been a gimmick or a dance game. Here's hoping Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor is going to be worth the wait.
• Speaking of Steel Battalion… here's hoping they provide some coverage during their press conference. It's thus far what makes the best use of Kinect, from that I've seen.
• An effort to win gamers over as well as investors: E3 might be primarily a trade-show, but countless fans are tuned into it - and Microsoft knows this.
• Some word about the future of the Xbox 360, and where Microsoft is planning to go: We know they're not going to be releasing a next-gen console for a while yet, but… what are they going to do? The 360 is, after all, getting a touch long in the tooth.

Nicholas Greene   FollowTech_Light A gamer at heart, Nick started writing when he was a child. He holds a BA in English, works as a freelancer, and loves every minute of it. One day, he hopes to net himself a career in game design - but that's something for the future.

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