Welcome to the first day of Game Rant’s E3 2010 coverage.  The first big event of the show, Microsoft’s press conference, is scheduled to begin at 10:30 AM Pacific Time.  No doubt there will be a ton of information on the newly named Kinect.  But what else?  Will we see the rumored Xbox 360 Slim?  Any new news on Halo: Reach or Gears of War 3? And what surprises are in store?

Stay right here, Ranters.  We’ll be bringing you the news as it happens.

Starting now

  • Show kicks off with trailer for Call of Duty: Black Ops. Trailer is action packed - game looks great. Treyarch onstage to demo game. Demo started in dark, cramped tunnel, moved into open jungle. Next, into a helicopter.

Don Mattrick steps onstage

  • All Call of Duty map-packs and add-ons set to debut on 360 through 2012 thanks to exclusive agreement between Microsoft and Activision. Discussing Kinect. “It’s all about showing, not telling.”

  • Hideo Kojima steps onstage, with something “new and unique” Shigenobu Matsuyama, producer on Metal Gear Rising, steps onstage. “Zan Datsu” Zan - to cut, Datsu - to take.  Theme for MGR. Trailer now. Raiden slices up a cyborg and rips its spine out, drains its energy, and crushes it. “Cut at will” “Cut what you want” Cute reference to the slicing game in Wii Sports Resort.

Phil Spencer takes the stage

  • Name-checks Halo: Reach, Fable 3, and Crackdown 2. Everything for the rest of the conference is Xbox 360 exclusive. Cliffy B steps out onstage. Gears of War 3 played live on-stage. Mutating enemies look really cool - Unreal Engine 3 is graphically amazing. New mode called “Beast” set to be unveiled.

Peter Molyneux takes the stage

  • Fable 3 - “a world that you’ve never seen in Fable before.” Ships Oct. 26th. More of a “British colonial” look to the game - ship to ship battles. New Microsoft Game Studios partner… …is Crytec. New game, Codename Kingdoms.  Gladiator game?

Halo: Reach

  • Reach beta was the biggest multiplayer beta in history. First campaign trailer. Open battlefield with lots of cover, Spartans battling the Covenant. Spartan performs a hand-to-hand take take-down of an enemy. Camera pulls to third person. Space battle!!!

Marc Whitten, Corporate VP for Xbox Live takes the stage

  • Talking about Kinect. “Recognizes you, responds to your gestures, recognizes your voice.” Demoing user interface - waves to sign in. Kinect Hub - home screen looks a bit like the Wii dashboard. Speak commands, “Xbox” or “Zune”- Kinect takes you to that mode. Controls movie playback with hands and voice - looks cool. Zune Music - more than 7 million songs available. Xbox Live on Windows Phone 7. Kinect video chat - Video Kinect revealed. Works across Xbox Live and Windows Live Messenger. Can watch videos while chatting. Kinect can track people during chat to keep them onscreen. ESPN signs exclusive partnership with Xbox Live, for live and on-demand events. Trivia challenges during events.

Kudo Tsunoda comes onstage

  • Tsunoda is Creative Director for Kinect. Launch games: Kinectimals - little girl is “petting” her Lion, Skittles. Lion responds to voice and physical commands. 40 animals, 30 unique activities. Kinect Sports, demoed by Rare. Running and jumping hurdles. Uses 360 Avatars. Soccer, bowling, track events, ping pong, boxing, volleyball all included. Kinect Joy Ride - players hold their hands as if they were gripping a steering wheel. Huge jumps with stunts. Players physically jump to boost or jump in the game. Kinect Adventures - riding a railroad car, dodging obstacles, collecting coins.  Jump in/jump out multiplayer. River rafting. Looks mechanically similar to the railroad car. Your Shape Fitness from Ubisoft - fitness game. Dance Central, from (as rumored) Harmonix. Bonus points for using Bell, Biv, DeVoe’s “Poison” in demo! Music store will  be available for the game. Launches November 4th in North America. 15 launch titles. Star Wars game displayed - heavy on the lightsabers.

Turn 10 Studios take the stage

  • Kinect support for Forza 3. Players can “walk around” and interact with their cars using Kinect.

Don Mattrick returns to the stage

  • Xbox slim revealed. 250 gig hard drive and wi-fi n included.  Same price as previous edition.  Shipping to stores today.  Available later this week. New system is “whisper quiet.” End of conference.

Well, that’s it, Ranters.  Not many surprises.  No price for Kinect.  What did you think of Microsoft’s E3 2010 press conference?  What are you looking forward to at E3 2010?