Microsoft kicked off E3 2009 with a star-studded press conference displaying the company's dedication to licking competitors Nintendo and Sony with the mantra "showing not telling".

The first third of the presser was dedicated to blockbuster multi-platform titles with a rousing unveiling of The Beatles: Rock Band. The game was demoed live by Harmonix followed by a surprising appearance from surviving mop-tops Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr.

Tony Hawk took to the stage to demo his newest title, Tony Hawk: Ride. This newest addition to the successful skateboarding franchise introduces a new skateboard peripheral that promises to take the skate game genre into unprecedented levels of realism.

Infinity Ward followed with a live demo of Modern Warfare 2, the sequel to 2007's giga-hit Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. The demo showed off the snowy mountain level from MW2's most recent trailer, concluding with a thrilling snowmobile chase sequence.

Microsoft wrapped up their multi-platform segment with Square Enix taking the stage to showcase Final Fantasy XIII running on XBOX 360 hardware. Square Enix announced they are shooting for a 2010 release date, but did not announce a simultaneous release with the PS3 version.

After a strong showing of multi-platform sure-hits, Microsoft shifted gears to XBOX 360 exclusives.

Cliff Bleszinski (of Gears of War fame) and Donald Mustard from Epic Games unveiled Shadow Complex for the XBOX LIVE Arcade platform. Shadow Complex is a side-scrolling action title reminiscent of old-school NES titles like Castlevania and Metroid. A "summer" release was announced in the teaser video.

Microsoft's newly acquired developer Big Park prepared a teaser trailer for upcoming cart racer Joy Ride. This free to download title features heavy 360 Avatar support and will offer additional content like additional cars and tracks for sale through the LIVE Marketplace.

The conference rolled on with two teaser trailers; one for a sequel to cult-favorite Crackdown, and the other for Valve's co-op zombie hit, Left 4 Dead 2. A date was not projected for Crackdown 2, but Left 4 Dead 2 is set to be released this November, a year after the release of the original Left 4 Dead.

Ubisoft's long-in-development Splinter Cell: Conviction was unveiled through a slick demo showcasing the popular series new approach to stealth game play. Protagonist Sam Fisher's latest outing has a grittier, more violent tone than the previous Splitter Cell titles and looks to incorporate intuitive platforming elements into play similar to the PS3 game Uncharted.

Microsoft continued with a lengthy presentation dedicated to Forza 3, the highly anticipated continuation of the popular racing-sim for the XBOX brand. Community incorporation and customization were promised to play a big part in the continuing success of this popular series.

Halo, Microsoft's biggest and most successful XBOX title, had a big presence at the conference with a live demo of this falls Halo 3 spin-off Halo 3: ODST and a teaser trailer for a presumed prequel title, Halo: Reach. On stage Halo developer Bungie announced that purchasing Halo 3: ODST would grant gamers access to the Halo: Reach multi-player BETA program. A holiday 2010 release date for Reach is being speculated.

The exclusive title segment concluded with a trailer and live demo of Alan Wake, a mysterious title from the creators of Max Payne that has been in development for many years. The demo showcased the games premise; Alan Wake is a supernatural thriller author whose nightmarish stories are starting to come alive before his very eyes. Remedy, the developers of this title announced that they were eyeing a Spring 2010 release date.

The third part of Microsoft's press conference was dedicated to showcasing revisions and additions being made to the XBOX 360's user interface, the NXE (New XBOX Experience).

Popular internet applications Last.FM, Facebook and Twitter are coming to the NXE sometime this year. The XBOX 360's popular Netflix application is receiving an update that will allow users to have complete access to their media queue without having to sign into their accounts via home computer.

One of the biggest shockers of the conference was the appearance of legendary game director Hideo Kojima who "snuck" onstage to announce that the XBOX 360 was finally getting a Metal Gear Solid title. A port of popular PS3 title Metal Gear Solid 4 was expected to be announced but was not; instead Kojima announced Metal Gear Solid: Rising, a brand new Metal Gear experience starring series veteran Raiden. A short teaser trailer was shown containing footage of rolling storm clouds punctuated by static close-up shots of the famous cyber-ninjas face. "Raiden is back..." MGS creator Hideo Kojima is a famous prankster. Is MGS: Rising legit, or is Kojima bait-and-switching us like he did with Metal Gear Solid 2?

The final segment of the conference was also the most interesting. Microsoft unveiled Project Natal, the company's long-rumored motion-control interface set to compete with the massively successful Nintendo Wii.

A proof-of-concept video was on display, showcasing families playing games totally hands-free through the power of Project Natal's 3D camera peripheral.

The significance of this technology was hammered home by the surprise appearance of world famous filmmaker and cultural ambassador Steven Spielberg. Spielberg shilled for Project Natal and spoke highly of it's possibilities. He also announced that he will be developing games for Project Natal, but gave no specifics.

Three demos were present at the conference that showcased what Project Natal's 3D camera was capable of.

A fit young women took the stage to play Ricochet a 3D "breakout" style tech demo where she kicked and punched at orbs flying towards her on-screen avatar. The 3D camera captured her real life actions with shocking accuracy as the woman deflected the orbs away from her avatar.

The second tech demo called "Paint Party" showed one of the project developers "painting" with his arm motions an abstract landscape on an on-screen canvass. This demo ended with the developer and an audience member posing in front of the the 3D camera to make a shadow puppet of an elephant that they then placed inside the "painting".

Famed game designer Peter Molyneux ended the presentation with a tech demo featuring a computer rendered little boy named Milo. Molyneux showed a video of a woman interacting with Milo through Project Natal's voice and face recognition features. In the demo the woman carries on a natural conversation with Milo and fluidly interacts with him and the environment. She draws Milo a picture, then he tells her to look down into a small pond. The woman reaches into the pond and everything, including the water physics and the behaviors of the pond's gold fish, are all rendered with staggering realism. Molyneaux concluded the presentation by announcing that the Milo demo will be showed to the press behind closed doors during E3.

Microsoft wrapped up their E3 presentation by reassuring the audience that they are committed to the XBOX 360's evolution, and that it is not only a game console, but also a all-in-one living-room media hub.

The press conference was jammed packed with popular game announcements, new console features and a brand new motion-control interface. The ball is now in Sony and Nintendo's court Will Microsoft's competitors have as many surprises at their E3 showings?

Stay tuned for more E3 coverage.