He's back again! HEXUS reader, Parm Mann gives us his version of events from the Microsoft conference last night.

Here we are then, last but not least, Microsoft take the stage.

Headed by Peter Moore their show covered a whole host of topics, ranging from games, peripherals, developers, windows vista, mobile gaming and more.

To get the show off with a bang, we’re treated to a little demo of Gears of War, an upcoming title due for release this year. It could be argued, that we’ve seen nothing being played at this year’s E3 that ‘looks’ quite as good as Gears of War.

After that impressive opening, Peter Moore begins to discuss XBOX Live, starting with the XBOX Live Arcade. With an estimated 6 millions XBOX Live users by E3 2007, Microsoft have a big line up of classic games to be made available via the Live Arcade. Some of the highlights being Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat and the true classic himself, Sonic.

This of course, was just the appetiser, and as Peter Moore said, it was now time for the main course.

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Microsoft then presented a montage of upcoming games, with the promise of 160 titles to be available by this holiday season. A very handsome number, coupled with the one year head start and having potentially shipped 10 million 360 consoles before the Wii or Playstation 3 hit the market, that’s not just a slight advantage. That’s a very good foundation. Microsoft didn’t fail to mention that the 360 is to date, the fastest selling console of all time. They even got Apple in on the act, stating that the 360 had sold more in the period since launch than the iPod. Once Microsoft were through having fun parading their facts and figures, they started to show us some games. Here’s where their show just gets better and better.

Fable 2. Peter Molyneux and Lionhead Studios’ latest offering. Recently acquired by Microsoft, Lionhead Studios are working on the sequel to XBOX hit, Fable. Although the trailer on display most certainly wet the appetite, it was merely a tease. An impressive one nonetheless.

Forza 2. Here’s one to rival PGR3. A day after Sony demonstrates their Gran Turismo HD video, Microsoft bring along Forza 2. It looks just about as spectacular, but it does bring one hefty side kick with it for good measure. A Wireless Force Feedback Steering Wheel. I may have been drooling ever so slightly at this point, but wait, there’s more to come in regards to Forza 2 a little later in this article when we discuss ‘Live Anywhere’.

The Force Feedback Steering Wheel wasn’t the only peripheral that Microsoft disclosed. Add to that the XBOX Live Vision Camera, a Wireless Headset, and a HD-DVD Player and you’ve got some pretty nice additions being made available this year.

Like Nintendo, Microsoft also declared the need for new franchises, and their prime example was Viva Piñata. A game which for me, came as a pleasant surprise. With all the running and gunning shown in most of the Sony and Microsoft demos so far, it was refreshing to see something more sincerely pleasant and suitable for all age groups.

Microsoft then bought out the boss man himself, Mr Bill Gates. Surprisingly, this was Bill’s first appearance at E3, but it wasn’t long before he began to give us a glimpse of what PC’s will have to offer in terms of games. With Windows Vista and DirectX10 due early next year, Microsoft has formed a division with the rather logical name of ‘Games for Windows’ to bring the latest gaming technology to the PC. To illustrate the point, a demo of Crysis was shown, and put frankly, it looked nothing other than drop dead gorgeous.

Bill then touched upon Live, and their plans for Live Anywhere. By Live Anywhere, what Microsoft mean is that you’ll be able to access Live practically anywhere, on your XBOX360, on your Windows Vista PC, or on your Mobile Phone. This is where things started to become a bit…wow, for lack of a better word.

Bill talked about the possibility to integrate services such as Windows Live Messenger (MSN) with XBOX Live. Being able to send game invites to people on Windows Vista PC’s. Being able to set downloads going on your Mobile Phone, to have them ready when you get back to your XBOX360. It all sounded good, but it sounded a long way away. Well, at least that’s what I thought. Until they showed it in action.

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We were given a few glimpses of an upgraded XBOX360 Dashboard, where the friends list didn’t just show the regular online or offline status, it also showed if the users were on their 360, or on their PC. One particular user, Microsoft’s Major Nelson was listed as Working, on a Windows PC. Now that was brilliant. But wait, it gets better yet. They then sent a game invitation for Shadowrun to Major Nelson. On Major Nelson’s Vista desktop, the invitation pops up, and not only can he view the users gamercard and stats direct on his Vista desktop, but he can accept the challenge and play from his PC. Yes, that’s right, cross platform gaming. This of course raises a lot of questions, but on the flipside it also opens up a whole host of possibilities.

Microsoft keep the onslaught of goodies coming, and if that demo of Vista integrating with Live wasn’t enough, you’d better take a seat before you read about this one. With the Windows Mobile Platform, you’ll be able to access your Live content on your phone. As all this is connected to your Live account, if you download or buy anything on your phone, it’ll then be available via your account on your XBOX360 and your Vista PC.

So, how can game developers take advantage of this? Well, here’s one of the things they’ve done with Forza 2. They show a message on a Mobile Phone from Major Nelson, not a text message or a voice message, it’s actually a car. You’re able to edit this car on your phone, tweak it to your liking and then save it to the Live servers for use when you’re back to your XBOX360. Or better still, you can also use your Vista PC to edit the car even more, using the paintshop to style the car to your liking. Save that to the Live servers and you’re ready to race that very same car on your XBOX360. Now that is some pretty amazing stuff. Although you couldn’t help but feel it was a long way away, Microsoft did specifically mention that “the futures a little closer than you might think”. We certainly well hope so!

After seeing so many great features, you completely forget about what a lot of people were waiting to see. With a huge smile on their faces, Peter Moore and Bill Gates let The Master Chief close the show with the very first trailer for the hugely anticipated Halo 3.

XBOX360 owners have a lot to look forward to. Particularly when you take into account that I haven’t mentioned the other tidbits; GTA4 coming to the XBOX360 first, with exclusive episodic content for XBOX Live. The next gen Pro Evolution Soccer making it’s debut on XBOX360. Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell. Alan Wake. Test Drive Unlimited. WWE Smackdown vs RAW. Too Human. I could go on and own…