Microsoft marked the unofficial kick off of E3 2010 Monday morning with its Xbox Media Event at the Wiltern Theater in downtown Los Angeles, whose highlight was the launch of the anticipated "slim" version of the Xbox 360.

Microsoft marked the unofficial kick off of E3 2010 Monday morning with its Xbox Media Event at the Wiltern Theater in downtown Los Angeles, whose highlight was the launch of the .

The event follows of a Cirque du Soleil-themed party held by the company Sunday night, in which Project Natalthe unveiled at last year's showwas .

The Kinect once again took center stage at Monday's event, along with a brand new bit of hardware in the form of a slimmed down Xbox 360. Before delving too far into hardware, however, Microsoft showcased a handful of Xbox 360 titles, including the latest installments of such popular franchises as "Halo," "Call of Duty," "Gears of War," "Metal Gear Solid," and "Fable".

"Call of Duty: Black Ops" was first up. The first-person shooter is set to arrive on the Xbox 360 in November of this year. Mark Lamia of gaming studio Treyarch also announced that, while the game will not be exclusive to Microsoft's console, all map packs and add-ons for "Call of Duty" will appear on the Xbox 360 first through 2012.

"Metal Gear Solid: Rising" producer Shigenobu Matsuyama (the protégé of "Metal Gear" creator Hideo Kojima) then appeared to showcase the latest addition to the popular series, demoing the protagonist Raiden's in-game ability to slice through objects as diverse as watermelons and cars with a sword.

A number of Xbox 360-only games took the stage next, including "Gears of War III," "Fable III" (shipping in October), and a new title, "Codename: Kingdom". Bungie director Marcus Lheto announced the latest addition to the "Halo" franchise, "Halo: Reach". He called the squad-based sequel, which ships in September, "the most ambitious game Bungie has created."

Next up, Microsoft showcased new Xbox Live features utilizing the new Kinect controller. The device's built-in multi-array mic allows users to control programming on the Xbox Live using either voice commands (such as "Xbox: play,") or gestures, without the aid of a headset. Users can control video and music playback via the new simplified Zune interface, and both live and video-on-demand offerings from Xbox Live's new partner, ESPN. The deal with the cable sports network brings content from college football, college basketball, the MLB, NBA, and professional soccer to the console. The content includes 3,500 live sporting events, all of which are free for Xbox Live Gold members.

The face of Microsoft Kinect, Kudo Tsunoda, took the stage next to showcase a handful of new games designed for the new Kinect hardware. "We've been talking about this for a year now," he told the audience, "and the time for talk is over."

"Kinectimals," which made its public debut at last night's event, allows the player to interact with a virtual animal, executing "30 unique activities," Tsunoda said. "Kinect Sports" takes advance of the device's full body capture for mini games, including bowling, ping-pong, soccer, and boxing. "Kinect Joy Ride" is a light-hearted kart racing game, while "Kinect Adventures" features simulated outdoor activities like river rafting.

A number of non-Microsoft Kinect games made their debut as well, including Ubisoft's exercise title "Your Shape: Fitness Evolved," "Harmonix's Dance Central," and a LucasArts "Star Wars" game that will launch next year. The Kinect itself is launching this November with 15 games. Pricing has yet to be announced.

Microsoft had one final surprise up its sleeve  or, rather, beneath a fake white Xbox. A new sleeker, "whisper-quiet" and black version of the console made its debut at the event. The console features built-in 802.11n networking and a 250GB hard drive. It ships this week for $299, which includes an Xbox 360 wireless controller, Xbox 360 headset, HDMI input, USB flash drive storage capabilities and more, and a one-year limited warranty.

With the announcement of the slim Xbox 360, one of the can also be confirmed as true.