E3 Expo: What to expect from Microsoft

With Microsoft's E3 press conference set to begin in just a few short hours, the IBTimes takes a look at the last minute updates and rumours surrounding the company's 2011 line-up.

As reported by the IBTimes earlier this year, Microsoft have in many ways been the quietest of the the big three games companies -- Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft.

Both Sony and Nintendo are showing off new consoles at this year's E3. Nintendo is set to reveal its new "Project Cafe" console, while Sony is set to show-off its new handheld NGP console.

Microsoft on the other hand are apparently just showing of a slew of new titles, most of these via third-party developers.

In this sense the biggest part of Microsoft's E3 will most likely be new software and titles for its semi-new Kinect peripheral.

For those that don't know, the Kinect was a new plug-in device Microsoft made for its Xbox 360 console. The unit was released late last year and added motion controlled gaming to the Xbox. It works using cameras to track the players movements, thus allowing them to play games without the use of a handheld controller -- hence its slogan "you are the controller".

Despite solid opening sales figures, the Kinect has since suffered ailing fortunes. Many analysts have speculated the reason for the peripherals troubles to be a lack of strong titles to back it up. For this reason, it seems likely that Microsoft will use this year's E3 expo as an opportunity to try to correct this mistake.

Two of the biggest rumours in this regard revolve around the unveiling of two new Kinect-enabled Halo and Gears of War games.

The rumour about a possible remake of the classic Halo: Combat Evolved game has been bouncing around the internet for months. But, these rumours have since reached boiling point after a magazine last week showed a reported image of the new Halo on its front cover.

The magazine also reported that it had confirmed the Kinect-enabled Gears of war game as being in development. The game is reportedly titled Gears of War: Exile and will be a Kinect-ready version of the first game in the trilogy.

Other reportedly "outed" new Kinect-enabled titles include a new Fable game titled Fable: The Journey and a new Dance Central.

Microsoft's E3 2011 press conference is set to begin at 9:30 a.m. PDT Monday, today and can be watched here.

UPDATE: Halo 4 has been confirmed.