E3: New Games, Xbox Live Extras Updated, and the Future of the Games Hub

The Xbox 360 and the Kinect dominated Microsoft's press conference today at the E3 gaming expo, but don't think they completely forgot about Windows Phone gamers. For example, Xbox Live Extras has now been updated to v1.6 and it brings along with it a highly requested feature: the Avatar Marketplace. Now you can freely customize your Avatar with more stylish accessories without having to use a PC or an Xbox 360. Brian Seitz also gave us our first look at the new style of and talked about what users can expect to see in the Games Hub when Windows Phone Mango launches in the Fall and it's exactly what we want (except for multiplayer):

· See your played games and unlocked/locked Achievements
· Compare Achievements with other Xbox LIVE members
· Search your list of friends to see who is online and what they are doing
· See your Xbox LIVE messages and Send/Accept/Reject friend requests

Of course, E3 is also the perfect time to talk about the actual games and Microsoft came out with a nice list of exclusive titles, like Hasta La Muerte, and ports of popular games, like Splinter Cell: Conviction, headed to Windows Phone soon. Join us past the break for all of the games and their descriptions.

Beards & Beaks

(Windows Phone exclusive!): Developed by the award-winning team at Microsoft Game Studios, “Beards & Beaks” is an all-out turf war between gnomes and crows that knows no bounds. A race of treasure heisting, a ballet of gnome flicking, and a natural disaster of very unbecoming behavior, this game is unlike any other!

Hasta La Muerte

(Windows Phone exclusive!): In this unique 2D world, you are the emissary of death responsible for freeing souls of those whose time has come. Encounter trials, bosses and enemies in more than 30 worlds with the aid of “soulpets” in this thrilling quest.

Tentacles

(Windows Phone exclusive!): From Press Play, the creators of “Max & the Magic Marker,” this beautifully crafted game features Lemmy, a creepy yet adorable creature who navigates through 40 levels of madness attaching his tentacles to the environments with the tap of your finger. Enjoy groundbreaking, intuitive gameplay as you guide this eyeball-eating creature through boss fights and challenges and outrun Dr. Phluff’s acid attacks.

Z0MB1ES (on teh ph0ne)

(Windows Phone exclusive!): This is not a typo. It’s an epic 3-pack of musically charged shooters from Ska Studios which includes: “I MAED A GAM3 W1TH ZOMB1ES 1N IT!!!1,” “Time Viking,” and “ENDL3SS ZOMB1ES!!!1” – including original music and the ability to upload a friends (or foes) face onto your zombie enemies from your photo library!

Let’s Golf

Gameloft presents a fun new way to golf with eight fun 3D characters with super powers, customized golfers, 108 holes across 6 locations, an in-depth Career mode, and new challenges like Shoot Out.

Splinter Cell

In this game from Gameloft, play as Sam Fisher, a highly skilled Special Forces operative and fight a corrupted secret agency to get your daughter back. Follow a trail of intrigue that leads from Iraq to a high-security building in Washington. Run, jump, fight, and shoot using a handgun, shotgun, AK47 and bazooka, or maintain stealth by improvising with nearby objects.

Top Gun

Defend the skies in the most authentic first person jet shooter game on Windows Phone, courtesy of Paramount. Become one of the few to survive the Highway to the Danger Zone! Shoot down enemy jets, dodge incoming air-to-air and surface-to-air missiles, navigate dangerous environments and obliterate the enemy's air power.