E3 Day Zero Preview & Guesstimation: EA, Square, Microsoft, Gears

The 2008 Electronic Entertainment Expo officially starts this Tuesday, but a large portion of the exciting news will be hitting tomorrow.

Microsoft and Electronic Arts are both holding their lengthy press conferences, and Square Enix is putting together a last-minute event of their own. We'll also be getting hands-on time with Epic's Gears of War 2.

Inbetween iPhone lightsaber battles and trips to the local Wokcano, the Shacknews crew will be covering all of the events with up-to-the-minute postings. In preparation, we've put together a short list of our expectations and speculative nonsense for tomorrow's big events.

Microsoft Press Conference, 10:30 AM PST

Expectations:

• Release dates for:

  • Fable 2

  • Halo Wars

  • Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts

  • Gears of War 2.

• Motion controller announcement.

• Announcement of Lips, the karaoke/dancing Xbox 360 game by Elite Beat Agent creators iNiS.

• Xbox Live Arcade announcements of some kind. More details on the Xbox Live community games.

• New Games for Windows initiative--perhaps digital distribution, which the team has hinted at.

Square Enix Press Conference, 1:00 PM

Expectations:

• New trailers of Final Fantasy games and other E3 titles.

• Final Fantasy XIII details seem a long shot, but are a possibility.

Electronic Arts Press Conference, 3:00 PM

Expectations:

• Release dates for:

  • Battlefield Heroes

  • Mirror's Edge

  • Dragon Age

  • Commander & Conquer: Red Alert 3

  • Lord of the Rings Conquest

  • Crysis Warhead

• Announcement of BioWare's MMO or another Battlefield project from EA DICE.

• Dragon Age details and footage.

• Warhammer Online damage control/release date.

• New SSX game--it's about time for another.

• Crytek console project details.

Gears of War 2 Reception, 8:30 PM

Expectations:

• Hands-on time with Gears of War 2.

• Epic free food.