Microsoft's E3 offerings (photos)

At its E3 press conference today in Los Angeles, Microsoft had a gaggle of announcements, including live TV, YouTube content, and Bing coming to the Xbox--and voice control to command it all. That means less time fiddling around with a controller. "You no longer have to navigate through the menus to find content," said Mark Whitten, head of Xbox Live. Voice control is also coming to some games.

It's almost showtime inside the Galen Center near USC in Los Angeles, as the audience waits for Microsoft's Xbox press briefing to begin. Before the Electronic Entertainment Expo officially starts Wednesday, the three big console makers are holding their own press conferences to launch new titles, features, and services. Microsoft went first this year.

Mass Effect 3 is just one of several games getting broad Kinect support. It will feature voice controls.

Microsoft's press event opened with a demo of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, which launches November 8. It will also be available on PCs and on Sony's PlayStation 3.

Tomb Raider is among the games getting an Xbox reboot. Lara Croft is on a "journey of intense and visceral survival," the developers said at Microsoft's event.

Dance Central 2 will bring new opportunities to dance like nobody's watching. Harmonix said all songs from the previous Dance Central can be imported into the new version.

Kinect Sports: Season Two is getting six new activities, including tennis, golf, American football, baseball, skiing, and darts.

Been itching for Halo 4? You'll have to wait for the 2012 holiday season. Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, meanwhile, will celebrate 10 years since the game's initial release and feature a remastered version of the game complete with multiplayer maps and co-op mode.

In case you want to create an avatar that's unmistakably you, Kinect Me scans details of your face, and even your clothing, to create a customized virtual facsimile.

Another fancy new Kinect feature, Finger Tracking, lets you create a background, and then, with your fingers, paint in 3D around images of yourself. It's part of Kinect Fun Labs, which allows players to make interactive toys and create art using the Kinect's camera.

Lightsabers! A demo of Star Wars with Kinect showed how a player can say "lightsaber on," and then, using motions, swing away with the lightsaber.

Kids should be happy with today's announcements. With the Xbox exclusive Disneyland Adventures, they can now take a virtual spin on Disneyland "rides" via the Kinect (arms out to fly through the Peter Pan ride) and virtually hug their favorite characters. Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster lets them dance alongside colorful creatures.