Microsoft E3 press conference to be held first

It's less than two months before the biggest event in gaming happens in Los Angeles. E3, the Electronic Entertainment Expo, will bring in lots of news and video game goodness from June 5 to June 7, but we all know that it's the day before, when most of the major companies hold their high-octane media events, that really matters. And Microsoft will be the company that sets the E3 bar this year.

Just like last year, the Redmond-based software giant will be the first to hold its E3 media event, while Sony, Nintendo, and major publishers will follow. The events are referred to among the enthusiast crowd as the E3 "press conferences," though that name is sort of a misnomer since at no point during the event itself does the press get to ask questions. They are instead highly orchestrated presentations and they set the tone for the rest of E3, and really the rest of the year for each company.

Microsoft's E3 press conference will take place on Manday, June 4 at 1:00 PM Eastern Time (10:00 AM local time in Los Angeles where the event will be held). Sony, meanwhile, will come at the end of the day. That company has set its media spectacle for 9:00 PM Eastern Time. Microsoft's event location has not been revealed, but Sony announced it will hold its event at the Memorial Sports Arena, the same venue that it used last year. Sony took advantage of its last-of-the-day status and opened up the venue to a night full of open bars and playable game stations. It looks like it will be doing the same this year.

[via Examiner]