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LOS ANGELES, June 6 (UPI) -- Microsoft Corp. Monday revealed the Xbox game platform would incorporate television programming and YouTube by the fall of this year. In addition, at a press conference in advance of a major video game convention, the company said users would be less stuck to a hand-held controller, as the system would have voice recognition, CNET reported Monday.
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That means a user could say the name of a movie and the machine would select that one.
In an apparent leak, Micrrosoft also said Halo 4 would be launched at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles this week.
GamesBeat reported Monday an apparent announcement "Halo 4 is on the way," appeared on Microsoft's Web site, but it was apparently a leak and quickly removed.
"The news millions of Halo fans have waited for: Halo 4 is on the way," the Web site said, albeit briefly.
Earlier reports said Microsoft was expected to concentrate on new software this year at the conference that officially starts Tuesday.
"I think we're going to be looking at a second generation of games around the Kinect that aren't just the point-and-move type early generation games," said Martin Rae, president of the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences, CNN reported.
GamePro reported that EA Games is revealed footage of the follow-up Mass Effect 3, which will be released in March 2012.
For some, the conference is a battle of the heavyweights in the gaming industry: Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo, who produce, respectively, the PlayStation, Xbox and Wii platforms.
For others, it's a conference that allows an unknown developer to step into the limelight.
At Nintendo, "They know they've kind of lost touch with that market," said Dan Hsu, co-founder of gaming site Bitmob.
Analysts expect Nintendo to reach out to hardcore gamers who failed to get excited by the family-oriented games played on the Wii.
Sony said it will be touting the Next Generation Portable that the firm says is "blurring the lines between interactive and entertainment."
