Nintendo listed 23 titles that will launch alongside the Wii U, including Super Mario Bros. U, Pimkin 3, Batman Arkham City, Zombi U, Rabbids Lands and more. Another title, NintendoLand, offers mini-games like Donkey Kong within the game.

Nintendo President of America Reggie Fils-Aime said NintendoLand would become available when the Wii U launches — “this holiday season.”

But aside from that, the game maker kept mum on details regarding launch date and price, to the disappointment of some E3 attendees.

The Japanese gaming company first announced the Wii U at last year’s E3, with more details about the device trickling out in recent months.

Just a couple days ago, Nintendo President Satoru Iwata appeared in a video and revealed that the tablet-like game controller for the game system is officially called the GamePad. He also announced plans for a Web-based social network, Miiverse, which won’t link to other social networks like Facebook or Twitter.

Fils-Aime did reveal today that the Wii U will work with up to two GamePads. Traditional Wii controllers, as well as Nintendo’s new secondary Pro Controller, will also work with the Wii U for multiplayer game play.

The GamePad has a 6.2-inch touchscreen display and a forward-facing camera, and in addition to acting as a controller for the Wii U gaming system, it offers standalone games, video chatting and Internet browsing.

It now also has near field communication (NFC), which allows for the wireless sharing of data between devices.

Nintendo faces formidable competition from other console makers like Microsoft and Sony, both of which have introduced motion-sensor and gesture control technology to their newer gaming consoles in the past year and a half. Microsoft in particular has built up the library of media and entertainment apps available on Xbox 360 to draw consumers who aren’t necessarily hardcore gamers — an audience that Nintendo had previously been successful in wooing.

Nintendo reported that it sold 4.5 million Wii units in 2011, having gotten a boost during the holiday season. Last year, the game maker dropped the price of the six-year-old console to $150 from $200.

In the video posted Sunday, Iwata said the Wii U system was a much more friendly environment compared to the war-torn, trash-talking environments found on Microsoft’s Xbox Live and Sony’s PlayStation 3.

The Japanese game company first unveiled the Wii U a year ago, and two days ago, it hosted a video briefing, where it unveiled a lot more information, including details of the 6.2 inch touchscreen it is calling the GamePad.

On Sunday, Nintendo said the GamePad will come with near field communication and infrared to control TVs and set-top boxes. It also announced a secondary remote, called the Pro Controller, which is similar to ones used by Microsoft’s Xbox and Sony’s PlayStation.

In addition to hardware, Nintendo provided an overview of some of its online services for the new console, including Miiverse, a social network that will be accessible from any Web-enabled device.

Nintendo’s press conference at E3 kicks off this morning at 9 am PT in the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles.

Follow the live updates here to see if there are any surprises:

9:00 am: Pretty much everyone has taken their seat in what is a very packed crowd at Nokia Theatre.

And, looks like we are about to begin. The music has stopped and we are watching a video with Nintendo’s star game creator Shigeru Miyamoto.

Miyamoto takes the stage to huge applause, and brings out his translator with a blow of a whistle.

Through his translator, he says for more than 30 years, game machines have had to connect to the TV. They could never take a more important role than the TV.

“We decided that the next system would have its own dedicated screen,” he said.

With the Wii U, the independent screen changes the importance of the gaming system. With this in your hands, you can quickly turn on a game.

As we were developing the new system, I wanted to develop the newest Pikmin game for the platform, he says.

They are showing off Pikmin 3, which features very cute and adorable “pikmins,” which look like little ants.

The little characters are challenged to collect as much fruit as they can, including oranges and apples and strawberries, which they must carry on their backs. The Wii U GamePad gives players an overhead view of the game play as the little characters scurry over the map collecting the items.

9:10 am: Nintendo’s President of North America Reggie Fils-Aime comes on stage to say that today’s press conference will be showing off 23 new titles for the Wii U.

That’s a lot of titles for an hour-long event.

He says: “That’s less time to consider what Wii U means to gamers and non-gamers and how it can change your life.

At its core, Wii U does three things: changes your gaming, how you interact with your gaming friends and changes the way you enjoy your TV.

“It’s not intuitive, but it stands to revolutionize your living room.”

9:14 am: Sounds like we won’t be hearing today about how the Wii U will be used as an entertainment device in the living room, like the Xbox 360.

But Fils-Aime said that doesn’t mean it isn’t coming. That means Netflix, Amazon Video, Hulu, YouTube, yes, yes, yes, he said.

“There’s no way we could explain it all this week, so at E3 we are focusing on the new way of gaming, and then in the future, we’ll show you how it will integrate and elevate your living room entertainment.”

Quickly, he clears something up: The Wii U will now support two GamePads simultaneously in addition to being backwards compatible with remotes from the original Wii.

While that may sound like a minor detail, it means fewer fights among kids in the living room to see who gets to play with the GamePad next.

9:17 am: The Nintendo president is now drilling down on the Miiverse, the Wii U’s social network.

He said to think of it as Main Street, where you can see and interact with your friends, who can communicate to you with “speech bubbles,” appearing over their pictures — sort of like text messages.

Players will also be able to show recent scores or screenshots from the games they are playing.

The social network will eventually be browser based, so it will be accessible on any Web-enabled device.

9:20 am: With Miiverse, you’ll be able to connect with friends inside the new Super Mario Bros. U game.

The game is obviously the best known franchise for Nintendo; to launch the Wii U without it would be a seriously bad idea.

In the demo, Mario and his friends scroll from left to right like the traditional games, interacting with coins and turtle shells.

9:23 am: Nintendo is now getting ready to mention all the new third-party games coming to the console, which will be one of the keys to a successful launch.

Nintendo is starting off with something a little more “hardcore,” like Batman Arkham City: Armored Edition.

Unlike other press conferences yesterday at E3, where the developers take the stage to play the demos live, we have not seen any live demonstrations. Instead, there have been pre-recorded videos.

While the graphics appear impressive and the gaming experience looks intuitive on the GamePad, you wonder what it will really look like when everything ships.

Next up, from Warner Bros. Games, will be “ScribbleNauts Unlimited,” a family-friendly cartoonish title. In the game, players get to draw and create silly characters, like a dog on wheels. The illustrations are created on the GamePad, and then imported into the game.

9:31 am: Here’s a montage of more games that are on the way. In other words, more video and less action. The list includes lots of titles but is limited here by my ability to type fast enough: EA’s Mass Effect 3, Tank! Tank! Tank! and other games from Namco; Trine 2; and Aliens Colonial Marines.

And, in case you were worried about your waistline with all these games coming out at E3, Nintendo’s got a solution for that, too!

It says that 43 million copies of Wii Fit and Wii Fit Plus have been sold to date.

It will also allow you to use the balance board with the new Wii U, or continue to do exercises from the GamePad when the TV is being used for other purposes.

“And, now Wii Fit U adds another valuable accessory,” he said. “It will leave you happier and sweatier.”

9:37 am: Next, a workout for your vocal cords. Nintendo’s “Sing” is a karaoke game, where the lyrics are displayed on the GamePad.

9:39 am: Nintendo’s head of marketing, Scott Moffit, comes onstage to spend a few minutes on Nintendo 3DS, but for more updates, he’ll be hosting a Webcast tomorrow at 6 pm PT at www.e3.nintendo.com.

He says a number of first-party titles for the handheld gaming unit are coming, including Super Mario Bros. 2, which is different than the one they showed off earlier, and Paper Mario: Sticker Star. Paper Mario is coming this holiday season.

“What 3DS doesn’t have enough of yet is Mario’s little brother Luigi,” Moffit says.

Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon will haunt you in 3D this holiday season.

9:45 am: Reggie’s back to talk about Lego City: Undercover!

We’re taking a look: Funny stuff. Lego men are scaling buildings, tearing up building blocks with jack hammers and fighting evil. But it also is only video, so it’s more of a trailer than live action. There will also be a 3-D version for the 3DS.

“Our goal is to provide new and engrossing kinds of game experiences from hardcore to the newest of the newbies,” Reggie said, introducing Yves Guillemot, CEO of Ubisoft to the stage, whose company has said it has at least eight titles cooking for the platform.

9:52 am: Finally a live demo!

Ubisoft’s Just Dance 4 has four dancers on the stage to dance as Reggie decides from the GamePad which moves the dancers will perform next.

Next up, an original hardcore title from Ubisoft called Zombi U.

Yesterday, I described this as Plants Vs. Zombies meets AMC’s “The Walking Dead.” As the zombies approach from behind, the player must run — you can die from just one bite! This really is a hardcore game.

But at the end of the clip, for fun, Reggie takes a picture of his face and, using augmented reality, turns into a zombie.

9:57 am: Reggie’s back onstage after a short intermission to set up some props on the stage.

“Welcome to Nintendo Land,” Reggie said. The game is similar to Wii Sports for the original Wii and will be used to teach players how to use the new Wii U.

This makes a whole lot of sense, given that the GamePad may be daunting to some players, who will find it confusing to flip between the TV screen and the touchscreen in their hands.

Nintendo Land will have five mini-games: Donkey Kong’s crash course, Luigi’s Mansion and Ninja Castle, among other titles.

The game is a theme park, where you can play with friends or family, or competitively by yourself. What’s making this a reality is Miiverse, which they’ll talk about more later today in a developer’s roundtable.

A quick comment on that: If it takes multiple hours over several days at E3 to explain the Wii U, how much time will consumers take to understand it?

It will be vitally important for Nintendo Land to play this role and get across how much fun the system is very quickly.

10:05 am: We are more than an hour into this press conference and we still haven’t heard the two things people want to know: How much will the Wii U cost and when will it be available?

Ok, this has got to be the moment. Reggie is back onstage.

He’s saying Nintendo Land will launch at the same time as the Wii U this holiday.

But when???

The press here at Nokia Theatre will be able to play Nintendo Land, Zombi U and try out the Nintendo Wii fit features.

Reggie says, “If you imagine Wii U as a Wii Universe, then the touchscreen is the portal that transports you. Families in the same room, today distracted by their individual devices, will soon be enjoying time together. And friends online will feel more together. In a world with more obligations and less time, the promise: Together, Better.”

Okay, folks, that’s it for Nintendo (well, not counting the three other Web cast events they have lined up for developers for the rest of E3).

I guess with Nintendo, anything is possible.

No pricing. No availability.

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• Nintendo Holds Back the Goods on Wii U Launch Date
• Nintendo Reveals a Wii Bit More About the Wii U
• From Sony, More Games and More Cross-Platform Play
• Ubisoft Prepping Eight Wii U Titles, Including Exclusives Like Zombi U
• EA Building Up Its Facebook Empire — This Time With SimCity Social
• Ear-Splitting, Eyeball-Peeling Demos From EA
• Microsoft Calls Dibs on New Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 for Xbox
• Microsoft Doubling Down on Video and Music for the Xbox
• Microsoft Unloads the Latest for Xbox: Shooters, Sports and Songs
• Nintendo’s Wii U Embraces Social Networking (Video)
• E3 Interview: EA’s Riccitiello Promises to Make “Eyeballs Peel”

That’s what everyone will be looking for at tonight’s Sony press event, which kicks off at 6 pm PT, along with new software titles for both PlayStation and the PlayStation Vita, Sony’s handheld gaming device.

If the Sony press conference mirrors today’s earlier announcements from Microsoft Xbox and Electronic Arts, we’ll likely see sequels of established software franchises as well as a focus on interconnectivity between devices — the console, the TV, your tablet and your phone.

We’ll also have our eye on SOEmote, Sony’s new facial animation technology for EverQuest II, to see how that works.

6:06 pm: Jack Tretton, President and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment of America, is kicking off the event.

It’s a packed house here at Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena.

6:08 pm: Tretton says Sony is broadcasting the event tonight in four different languages.

Kaz Hirai — Sony’s new CEO — is here, too.

6:13 pm: Sony starts off with a brand-new game title: Beyond Two Souls, which features a protagonist named Jodie Holmes.

Jodie Holmes is the strong, silent type, or so it seems from this game clip we’re seeing. She’s being interrogated by someone, not saying a word. But this girl can make objects fly through the air.

She’s the antithesis of the Lara Croft look, with cropped hair, a flannel shirt and dog tags.

6:18 pm: Now a reference to Sony’s viral “Michael” ad from last year.

The team behind PlayStation’s All-Stars: Battle Royale takes the stage.

All-Stars will now be available for the PlayStation Vita, and will be compatible with PlayStation 3. In other words: More cross-play on multiple devices.

6:23 pm: Now the All-Stars: Battle Royal team is demonstrating cross-play.

The clown character in this game is enough to keep a small child up at night.

And Fat Princess — that’s the character’s name — wins this round. Handshakes among the team; a smattering of applause.

6:27 pm: As AllThingsD’s Tricia Duryee predicted earlier, we’re seeing more cross-platform playing options.

Later this year, Sony will introduce a cross-controller that allows players to play and share games using the PS3 and PS Vita together, Tretton says.

Eighty percent of PS3s and PS Vitas are connected to the Internet now, Tretton says, with 1,500 downloadable titles available.

6:31 pm: Tretton says games like Journey, Papo & Yo and Unfinished Swan will now be available for download on the PlayStation Network, just a few of more than 200 digital downloadable titles that will come to the PlayStation Network this month.

Plus, freebies: Infamous 2, Saints Row 2 and Little Big Planet 2.

It’s not a new strategy, throwing in free software to drive hardware sales, but the crowd seems to like the idea.

6:32 pm: Long live the freebie: E3 attendees will also get PlayStation Plus access for free for a year.

6:35 pm: Turning now to focus on the video offerings in the PlayStation store, like Amazon’s video service, Hulu Plus and NHL Game Center.

Last week, YouTube came to Vita; Tretton says Hulu and Crackle Television are coming to Vita soon, too.

(How many Vita units have sold, Jack? We’re waiting …)

6:41 pm: They are now showing off Assassin’s Creed III for PS Vita, with a female leading role! (i.e., no more uncomfortable sex scenes for female players).

The beginning of the game takes place at sea with a boat getting rocked by the waves. No pirates so far, but it looks like there should be some.

6:44 pm: Far Cry 3 is up now, another Ubisoft title. An insane cast of characters hits a remote island.

The differentiating playing feature of this game is four-player co-op, so there’s four people up on stage — one female — showing us how it is done. The players are all in verbal contact with each other as they come under heavy fire.

Go, go, go!

High fives all around!

By the way, this is Tricia Duryee taking over from Lauren Goode, who is experiencing technical difficulties. I swear, E3 requires multiple laptops and Wi-Fi connections to make reporting it possible.

6:49 pm: Next is an update on Sony’s Move, the motion-controlled device for the PS3.

I would love to have some new numbers on Move shipments, too, as it doesn’t seem to be doing as well as Microsoft’s Kinect. You have to have a lot of compelling software titles to get people excited about buying an accessory.

To that end, Sony is showing off some new Move content.

It’s something called “Wonderbook,” which appears to be a way to make a children’s pop-up book digital. There will be educational content.

Moonbot Studios is one of the first to be working on a “game” or “book” called Diggs Nightcrawler. Moonbot is mostly known for its e-books for children, so this is bringing new kinds of content to the PS3.

The first title will be called “Book of Spells,” authored by J.K. Rowling, better known as the author of “Harry Potter.”

6:56 pm: “Welcome to the reinvention of the book. … Open the Book of Spells to enjoy new writing by J.K. Rowling.”

The Book of Spells is no ordinary book, sort of like the paintings that come to life in the Harry Potter series.

Words pop up out of the book, dragons flap their wings and fly off the page with the wave a wand. Very cool!

Handing back to Lauren Goode, who is back online.

7:00 pm: Thanks Tricia!

The book in this game also becomes a digital pop-up book.

And a game controller turns into a spell-casting wand.

All the, um, kids who voraciously read “Harry Potter” will fully appreciate the possibilities of this game.

The Book of Spells from J.K. Rowling is the first of many books that will be available for the Wonderbook library, Sony says.

7:04 pm: In case you haven’t heard: Mobile gaming is giving traditional gaming a run for its money.

So Sony is now touting its PlayStation-certified mobile games.

HTC will be Sony’s first hardware partner for PlayStation mobile games.

7:06 pm: PlayStation Suite is now going to be called PlayStation Mobile, natch.

7:10 pm: This game clip we’re watching now is showing a fierce battle on a dock with some eel-like creature slithering around in the water. There are spears! Chains! Great balls of fire!

It’s God of War Ascension, which comes out March 12, 2013.

7:20 pm: We’re watching a trailer now of the new Uncharted game featuring Nathan Drake.

Update: This game is actually titled The Last of Us…not Uncharted. I shouldn’t have assumed this heart-throbbish guy was Drake!

7:22 pm: Lots of gun-firing, head-bashing and explicit cursing in this game. Not kid-friendly, for sure.

And the head-bashing just went to a whole new level.

This is the third game we’ve seen today showing people shot directly in the face.

(I think I’ll go back to Draw Something now …)

7:25 pm: Wow. So Sony’s concluding this portion of the event with the gunshot to the face clip?

Jack Tretton wraps it up and the crowd starts to file out of the arena.

As expected, no new console from Sony this year, but we did see a new cross-platform game controller, a partnership with HTC for mobile games, new IP (Beyond Two Souls) and more titles to boost PS Vita and Move, including the super-cool Wonderbook demo.

But will this be enough to drive more sales of PlayStation 3 as it enters its seventh year on the market?

Only time will tell. We’re out for now, but stay tuned to AllThingsD for continuing coverage, including Nintendo’s press conference at 9 am PT tomorrow!

RELATED POSTS:

• Nintendo Holds Back the Goods on Wii U Launch Date
• Nintendo Reveals a Wii Bit More About the Wii U
• From Sony, More Games and More Cross-Platform Play
• Ubisoft Prepping Eight Wii U Titles, Including Exclusives Like Zombi U
• EA Building Up Its Facebook Empire — This Time With SimCity Social
• Ear-Splitting, Eyeball-Peeling Demos From EA
• Microsoft Calls Dibs on New Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 for Xbox
• Microsoft Doubling Down on Video and Music for the Xbox
• Microsoft Unloads the Latest for Xbox: Shooters, Sports and Songs
• Nintendo’s Wii U Embraces Social Networking (Video)
• E3 Interview: EA’s Riccitiello Promises to Make “Eyeballs Peel”

The software maker first introduced its Xbox 360 gaming console seven years ago, and it hasn’t been refreshed since — the longest console cycle for any company in the videogame industry. Still, it’s not really expected that we’ll see brand new hardware at today’s event.

What we will be keeping an eye on: More news surrounding upcoming software titles, including Forza Horizon, the highly-anticipated Halo 4 game. Also expect to see some key software partners taking the stage alongside Microsoft.

And in recent months, Microsoft has been expanding its media and entertainment offerings through the console, with recent data showing more people are watching Web stuff on Microsoft’s machine than on the iPad, iPhone or any Android machine, anywhere. Also, Xbox Live users are now watching more movies and TV and listening to music than gamers are using it to play online games.

Will Microsoft dare to stray from the traditional gaming talk to introduce more media apps for Xbox?

We’ll find out shortly.

9:20 am: People are still climbing into their seats at USC’s Galen Center, where my AllThingsD colleague Tricia Duryee and I will be providing live updates. It’s a nearly full house.

For all the gaming fans unable to make the show in person, here’s a shot of the entrance to the event.

Because we haven’t heard enough of Gotye lately, “Somebody That I Used to Know” is now playing overhead.

9:30 am: And we begin! Microsoft kicks off the event with a dramatic starship/military/world domination montage.

9:32 am: It’s Halo 4. Cheers from the crowd.

I missed the memo about bringing earplugs. We’re still in the middle of an intense, electrifying game of Halo 4, being played out on the big screen.

The Galen Center is dark, with smartphone screens dotting the crowd.

Halo 4, for those who don’t know, drops on November 6 of this year.

9:38 am: Microsoft’s Xbox Director Don Mattrick takes the stage, saying Xbox is now the number-one-selling console worldwide.

9:41 am: And now, another videogame montage. More combat scenes, brutal killings.

It’s Ubisoft’s Splinter Cell Blacklist, which was leaked ahead of this event.

Blacklist features single-player co-op and spies vs. mercs. It ships spring of 2013. Expect to see more at the Ubisoft event later today.

9:47 am: Now Andrew Wilson from EA Sports takes the stage. He’s talking about FIFA 13. (There are 13 of them?)

FIFA 13 will utilize voice recognition technology and will be available around the world this coming fall.

9:49 am: Joe Montana is here — promoting Madden 13.

Madden NFL 13 will also use voice commands. Montana says he’s excited to give the game a go, as it makes him feel like he’s “back on the field again.”

He starts using the voice command feature on stage. It’s kind of fun to see Joe Montana calling plays to a console.

Fittingly, he’s calling a 49ers game. Wonder what he thinks about Alex Smith’s performance (on Madden NFL 13, of course).

The game hits stores on August 28th.

9:52 am: Mythical creatures and impossibly realistic computer-generated humans appear in this next little montage.

Then head of Microsoft Studios, Phil Spencer, walks out.

9:54 am: He teases Forza! But first, a trailer to the Gears of War saga.

9:55 am: Now Forza. Forget Nuremberg: This Forza game is set on the open road.

Fancy sports cars are veering off the road, hitting trees, speeding off.

Forza Horizon hits the market on October 23.

9:57 am: Now we hear from Yusuf Mehdi, senior VP of Microsoft’s Online Audience Business Group. We’re seeing more Xbox voice command functions, with a focus on the media apps from Hulu, Netflix, etc.

He’s speaking in Spanish to Xbox, calling up foreign-language apps, showing how the Xbox can be used for entertainment around the world.

Paramount movies, Nickelodeon, Machinima and Univision are new content partners. Machinima gets the loudest applause — not surprisingly. This is a gaming crowd.

Now, on to sports.

The NBA is coming to Xbox, Mehdi says. NBA League Pass will give access to hundreds of games.

NHL Game Center Live is coming to Xbox, too.

ESPN on Xbox is about to get even better, he continues. Xbox already carries some ESPN content, but now: ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3 and ESPNU. Mehdi mentions that SportsCenter, Mike & Mike, all live and all in HD, are coming to Xbox 360.

Other set-top boxes, like Roku, already have deals for MLB content, as well as NBA League Pass and NHL Game Center live, by the way. And in almost all cases, consumers still have to pay for those packages or monthly access passes.

But the ESPN deal is notable. What’s still unclear is what the payment structure will be for this cable content. (AllThingsD’s Tricia Duryee has more on this in her write-up here.)

10:03 am: A video montage shows high-fiving bros on couches watching this awesome sports content via Xbox.

10:04 am: Now, a new streaming music service: Xbox Music, available on the console, tablets and phones.

Last fall, it was reported that Microsoft’s earlier music device and service, Zune, was finally, officially dead. Let’s see if the new service sticks.

10:06 am: Here’s Stefan Olander, Vice President of Digital Sport at Nike. He’s the Viking-looking guy who’s been promoting the Nike+ FuelBand in recent months.

He’s walking through Nike+ Kinect training, showing how the Kinect sensor will recognize your fitness movements while the new program calculates your movements and your NikeFuel score. NikeFuel, for those who don’t know, is Nike’s new currency for energy exerted during a work out.

Marc Whitten, head of Xbox Live, comes out after the Nike+ Kinect video.

So far, this event is heavy on teases, light on details.

10:12 am: He introduces Xbox SmartGlass, which sounds not unlike AirPlay. He can start a movie on his tablet (Windows 8, naturally) and pick it up where he left off on his TV at home.

The tablet becomes a device for contextual information about the movie, he says.

10:15 am: With Xbox SmartGlass, the tablet acts as a kind of enhancement controller for games as well. We’re seeing how a gamer can pause Halo 4, check his tablet for the specifications of the gun he’s using, then resume the game on the TV. (Update: The app will be available on iOS and Android as well as Windows mobile platforms.)

10:17 am: Internet Explorer is coming to Xbox this year.

He demonstrates how a movie can be watched through an IE Web page on TV, via the Xbox.

Now, we’re looking at an interactive auto Web page, via IE on Xbox.

The Xbox SmartGlass app on a tablet is controlling the Web page navigation.

Whitten emphasizes that SmartGlass works with the devices you already own: Xbox, TV, tablet, smartphone, etc. Unclear on which operating systems, though. (Update: SmartGlass will work on iOS and Android in addition to Windows mobile devices.)

10:22 am: Now two guys from Crystal Dynamics, creators of Tomb Raider, take the stage.

Lara Croft looking as fierce as ever in this clip.

10:27 am: Microsoft’s Phil Spencer is now back onstage.

Here come the world premiere exclusive titles, he says:

First, from Signal Studios, the creators of Toy Soldiers, the miniature army game that came out a couple years ago and will be featured in the Windows 8 Consumer Preview Store: Their new game is called Ascend New Gods.

Second, from Twisted Pixel, there’s a Kinect game from the director of “Pirates of the Caribbean,” called Matter.

10:32 am: Now, a preview of Resident Evil 6, the franchise even some hardcore gamers admit to being afraid of playing by themselves.

This one looks like a Michael Bay movie on steroids.

(With zombies.)

10:37 am: Now, a much tamer presentation of Wreckateer from Alex Ruiz.

Wreckateer’s coming to Xbox Live this summer, she says.

10:39 am: Next! A dramatic rendition of a South Park video game. Yes, really. Laughs.

The Stick of Truth comes out March 5. And now a surprise visit from Trey Parker and Matt Stone.

They immediately poke fun at the idea of the interconnected, multi-device game-player, asking, how many of you want to play a game that’s connected to your tablet that’s also connected to your oven while you’re sitting in the refrigerator?

But really: We wanted to create a game where people feel like they’re in South Park, they say.

10:43 am: And just as quickly as they entered, they’re off, joking about procrastinating on creating the game as they do everything else.

10:44 am: Next up, Dance Central 3. AllThingsD’s Tricia Duryee is getting excited next to me. I think she’s even dancing in her seat.

Whoa — and we’ve got Usher on stage, singing and showing off his moves. (You, too, can dance like Usher if you play Dance Central 3!)

10:48 am: Usher wraps, to applause.

Don Mattrick up again.

He makes a joke about “ushering in” entertainment.

Groans.

10:50 am: Now, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2. All new content will launch first on Xbox 360.

One thing that sets this version of the popular first-person shooter game apart from its earlier software counterparts: This one is set in the future, around a 21st Century Cold War, while the others have focused on historical battles and wars.

Gamers can preorder it now, the game’s Web site says. Xbox 360 is already listed as a console partner on the game’s official Web site, alongside Sony’s PlayStation 3, and the game will be playable on PCs.

10:58 am: The future looks bleak in Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, for the record.

The first-person shooter can also steer a floating, futuristic military sky-vehicle around the apocalyptic game stage.

11:05 am: That’s a wrap. Some main takeaways: As expected, we didn’t see new hardware, but that was about as likely as us seeing a new iPhone prototype at D10 last week.

We got more glimpses and details surrounding key software franchises like Halo 4 and Forza Horizon, as well as Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 and Dance Central 3. Plus: The South Park game, which will likely generate some buzz. Will Cartman and the gang translate well to the gaming screen?

And the Nike+ Kinect integration might lure some Nintendo Wii users who have been using the console for fitness-related activities.

The most interesting announcement is probably SmartGlass, and how that will impact both the gaming and entertainment experience in the “connected home” — at least, those with Xboxes.

On to the next E3 event!

RELATED POSTS:

• Nintendo Holds Back the Goods on Wii U Launch Date
• Nintendo Reveals a Wii Bit More About the Wii U
• From Sony, More Games and More Cross-Platform Play
• Ubisoft Prepping Eight Wii U Titles, Including Exclusives Like Zombi U
• EA Building Up Its Facebook Empire — This Time With SimCity Social
• Ear-Splitting, Eyeball-Peeling Demos From EA
• Microsoft Calls Dibs on New Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 for Xbox
• Microsoft Doubling Down on Video and Music for the Xbox
• Microsoft Unloads the Latest for Xbox: Shooters, Sports and Songs
• Nintendo’s Wii U Embraces Social Networking (Video)
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Now there’s some additional information on timing, thanks to a lawsuit between Activision and some former employees.

According to confidential agreements unsealed in the court case, Microsoft’s next game console, which is referred to as the “Xbox 720,” could be released in time for the 2013 holiday season.

The Los Angeles Times originally posted the documents on Monday, but it was Brier Dudley of the Seattle Times who came up with the theory on the timing.

The lawsuit is a complicated tale, involving Activision’s insanely successful first-person shooter Call of Duty. Former Activision developers are claiming they are owed hundreds of millions of dollars in royalties and bonus payments. Activision is claiming breach of contract.

The documents, revealed last week, detail a high-profile deal between Bungie and Activision in 2010.

The 27-page agreement calls for Bungie to develop four “sci-fantasy, action shooter games,” code-named “Destiny,” released every other year, beginning in the fall of 2013, according to the Los Angeles Times. Additionally, Bungie agreed to put out four downloadable expansion packs code-named “Comet.”

Bungie is the developer behind the successful Halo franchise, but is not the developer behind Halo 4, which Microsoft is developing and releasing in November.

Here’s what Dudley is suggesting based on the contract language:

Microsoft hasn’t said when the next version of the Xbox will go on sale, but the Bungie contract suggests that it could happen in the 2013 holiday season, with “Destiny” as a key launch title. That would be similar to the way Halo was a cornerstone of the first Xbox launch in November 2001.

An Xbox spokesman declined to comment on this theory, and referred questions to Activision and Bungie.

The document also says the game is expected to be released for the PlayStation 3 successor in the fall of 2014.

The big caveat to all of this guesswork is that the document is now two years old, so timing could easily change. Additionally, the name “Xbox 720″ could just be a code name or placeholder. Of course, console makers keep the timing of their upcoming hardware close to their vests, so that consumers don’t hold off on making purchases.

In March, Microsoft’s Corporate Communications boss Frank Shaw told AllThingsD that consumers probably shouldn’t expect new hardware at the E3 game conference, or “anytime soon.”

“For us, 2012 is all about Xbox 360,” he added.