The perfect Microsoft E3 conference

Halo, Perfect Dark, motion control, Square, Kojima and more.

E3 is just around the corner, and Microsoft is set to kick things off on June 1 with its pre-E3 conference. Last year the platform holder made headlines by announcing that Square would bring Final Fantasy XIII to the Xbox 360 in the West at the same time as the PS3 version. This year the hype machine is already running in overdrive, with everything from a new gaming mobile phone to a motion sensing camera controller being rumoured. We've tried to cut through the insanity to bring you what we reckon would make for the perfect, somewhat realistic Microsoft pre-E3 conference.

Microsoft's iPhone killer

With rumours circulating about Microsoft's supposed iPhone killer in the shape of a Zune mobile phone with gaming functionality, we think Microsoft will dedicate some of its pre-E3 conference to this new device. If we had to put money on it, we'd wager that it'll be pretty powerful, with graphical capabilities somewhere between that of a PS2 and Xbox. As for controls, it'll be touch heavy, but to convince gamers it'll also have a d-pad and at least two non-touch screen buttons. It'll obviously have its own version of the App Store and will launch with big name titles like Halo.

Third-parties

The third-party exclusive is a very rare thing indeed, but we reckon that Microsoft will come out with a few big announcements during its pre-E3 conference. Everyone knows about Splinter Cell Conviction from Ubisoft and Mass Effect 2 from EA being console exclusives on the Xbox 360. There is likely to be more in the exclusive line-up than just those two games, although considering the current trends none of these games are likely to remain Xbox exclusives for more than six months to a year. We've kept this list somewhat in the realms of possibility, but a Kojima double bill of MGS4 on 360 and a new exclusive would certainly put the cat amongst the pigeons.