Well, with Microsoft's E3 conference over, crowds dispersing and online watchers all over the net taking stock of all that went down today the question that begs to be asked is; was the wait and hype really worth it?

 Below is a run-down of the major anouncements and demoes. And believe me, there were some huge ones.

Beatles: Rock Band

The conference kicks off with the opening cinematic for the latest Rock Band game, followed by a trailer showing off their career as it progresses from playing in small clubs to performing in giant stadiums packed to the rafters. Harmonix's house band shows up to play a song, lots of psychedelic backgrounds ensue. 10 new songs are revealed through the montage of The Beatles' career, I Saw Her Standing Their, I Want To Hold Your Hand, I Feel Fine, Day Tripper, Taxman, I Am The Walrus, Back In The USSR, Octopus' Garden, Here Comes The Sun and Get Back. The release date of 09.09.09 is reaffirmed. The first piece of DLC will be the entirety of Abbey Road as well as All You Need Is Love as an Xbox 360 exclusive with all donations going towards Doctors Without Borders. As a finale Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr appear on stage to promote the game.

Tony Hawk Ride

The accelerator driven skateboard controller is designed to full immerse the player in the experience of skateboarding. A video is played showing off the new controller responding well to its pro skater's movements. The motions seems fluid and responsive and looks like it allows for an interesting way to re-invigorate the franchise.

Modern Warfare 2

A quick trailer plays, it's one we've already seen. Jason West and Vince Zampella are on stage to show off an MW2 demo. The demo shows off a snowy level thats starts out with an ice-climbing section, looks like the visuals have taken a small step forward from the last installment. The demo goes through what look like fairly open areas, and culminates in a snowmobile chase in which you can fire a pistol one handed. Infinity Ward will release two map packs on XBL first.

Shadow Complex - Epic Games

Cliffy B and Donald Mustard take the stage to announce an entirely new XBLA game; Shadow Complex. It appears to be a Castlevania and Metroid inspired side-scroller, it's powered by the UE3. Overworld maps are present and you can collect different items, tools and abilities to progress through the estimated 10 hours of gameplay. A projected release window of Summer 2009 on XBLA. 

Joy Ride

A new avatar game is displayed, showing souped up cars doing stunts, tricks and various jummps through desert style environments. The avatars are driving the cars and they seem fully customisable. The game will be free to download and play with micro-transactions taking place in the form of cars, upgrades and more. The tracks can be played by any of your friends via sharing regardless of whather they have the game or not. Dropping Winter 09.

Crackdown 2 Confirmed

A trailer shows up portraying a city enveloped in crime, a city where you are the cure. Power suits a-plenty and acrobatic free running make it obvious what it is. Crackdown 2 seems a reality, no further details.

Left 4 Dead 2

Mark your calenders zombie fans because it's coming. November 17th will turn up with a zombie infestation in tow, gore is splattered all over the screen .. with chainsaws. The platforms will be the same as the original, PC/360.

Splinter Cell: Conviction

Starting with an action heavy trailer, Fisher is shown jumping through the glass of a skyscraper Wanted style. Various locations are touched upon, Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial included. Soon the dev team show up to demo the game for the waiting crowd. A new and interesting narrative style is shown, with story elements being projected onto the walls of a derelict bathroom. Fisher is interogating people about his daughter's death. One of the new gameplay hooks is mark and execute, by placing a red dot over his enemies from behind cover he can rapidly dispatch them. More of the projector cut-scenes are shown as Fisher plays around with some new toys, like an EMP grenade. This fall for 360 only, score one for MS.

Halo 3: ODST  

A short demo finally made an appearance, highlighting a few key new features for the franchise. Unlike Spartans, ODST's get unique low light vision with their visor, apparently leading to the discovery of hidden items. Seems the team are throwing a bone to those who enjoyed the pistol in Halo 1, with a new pistol featuring a zoom ability. The discovery of an item leads to a flashback section in which you play as Dutch, another ODST involved in the conflict. Apparently the story will be driven forward by various other flashbacks similar to this one, eventually you will piece together the 'mystery'. Prepare for September 22nd.

New Bungie game - Halo: Reach

Very little was shown of this mysterious title; just the words "From the beggining, you know the end". The short trailer shows a rotating planet with frequent distress calls coming through and various attacks evidently taking place on the surface. Halo: Reach is hitting stores in 2010. When you buy ODST you will recieve a Halo: Reach multi-player beta key.

Alan Wake

Another new in-game demo, this time Alan Wake. The visuals may not be as strong as possible but the lighting and soundscape far outweight these points, creating a stellar atmosphere. The area is soon punctuated by the screams of your friend, Wake gives chase only to encounter numerous 'ghosts' that have an aversion to light; as evidenced by the use of a flare to ward off the supernatural creeps. Shotgun and flashlight as the chosen weapons, Wake makes his way past object chucking ghoulies and hordes of spectres to get to his objective, aided by a mini-map. Slow motion shots take a frontseat on the action as moments of intense drama are highlighted by these effects. Expect the frights in Spring 2010.

Last.fm Anouncement

A new specific channel will be gracing the 'new Xbox experience', with a huge variety of music on demand to all gold members free of charge. 

Sky TV

For all those grumpy Brits like myself who yearn for some of this content; your prayers have been answered ... sort of. You will be able to watch live TV and stream movies all from one neat little package.

Zune Video

A couple of major overhauls have been made to the newly re-branded Zune Video to address the complaints of current users. Firstly, videos will be accessible instantly instead of having to wait for them to download, secondly the number of countries it is available in will jump from 8 to 18 and finally all HD movies will be upgraded in quality to 'full 1080p'.

Facebook and Twitter

A brand new partnership with Facebook has been unveiled, bringing with it the ability to view status updates, photos, and most significantly Friends in a new Friend Linker. With the linker you can see both your Facebook and XBL friends in the same list, allowing for invitations to be sent out to either side of their social networking if you haven't already. Facebook Connect allows a user to post screens and text in real time, something that will work with Tiger Wood's PGA Tour. A Twitter channel has also been revealed.

Metal Gear Solid: Rising

Billed as Lightning action, Kojima took to the stage to announce that the MGS series will be making its debut on the Xbox 360. Metal Gear Solid: Rising will feature Raiden as its primary protagonist it seems, with the trailer declaring "Raiden is back".  Further details were unforthcoming but expect news shortly, and keep an eye on that countdown timer just in case.

Project Natal - Full Motion Control

Project Natal needs to been seen to be understood. If you have not seen this thing in action then you absolutely need to duck on over to Youtube and check it out. In essence Natal offers you full control over games and menu screens by using your body and voice. By moving your arm as you would to move books, Natal allows you to scroll through movies. With a simple "Play Movie" your experience is launched. No more controllers to inhibit the ease of use for an Xbox 360.

Several games were shown utilising the motion sensor, including a painting game, skateboarding in which you could scan your own board and an interactive chat feature. Steven Spielberg was rolled out to promote his involvement in "eliminating the wheel, instead of re-inventing it".

Mind. Blow. - Molyneux and Milo

As a final piece to leave the audience open mouthed, Peter Molyneux strutted out and showed what can quite easily be described as a potential SkyNet. Milo is Lionhead's A.I. child, he is able to recognise you on sight and voice, hold dynamic and realistic conversations, convey emotions depending on the subject and the questions asked and recieve objects from you via instant scanning. Milo has the potential to revolutionise how we see the interactive medium, atleast Molyneux thinks so.

Sorry for such brief looks at each of the aspects from a truly long conference, I'll be back later with full impressions on where some of these elements could lead Microsoft and the industry in general.