Hasta La Gadget!

Microsoft today kicked off 2009’s newly resurrected E3 with a star-studded press conference at USC’s Galen Center in LA, on Monday morning. As promised in a last-minute time change, the event kicked off at 10:25 sharp, a full 5 minutes earlier than originally scheduled.

Emceed by Microsoft’s Corporate Vice President of Interactive Entertainment LIVE, John Schappert, who promised not to show off charts and graphs and instead demo real games, the event kicked off with an exclusive demo of Harmonix’s Beatles Rock Band game. Due out on September 9th, 2009–the same date as the Beatles’ remastered catalog–the game features 45 Beatles tracks, including “I Saw Her Standing There,” “I Wanna Hold Your Hand,” “I Feel Fine,” “Day Tripper,” “Tax Man,” “I am The Walrus,” “Back in the USSR,” “Octopus’s Garden,” “Here Comes the Sun,” and “Get Back.” The game also incorporates some previously unheard studio chatter from the band.

Beatles Rock Band also offers downloable songs and full albums, beginning with Abbey Road in its entirety. All proceeds from the exclusive Xbox Live download, “All You Need is Love,” will benefit Doctors Without Borders. Microsoft debuted the game with a demo from the “Harmonix House Band,” and brought onstage a number of special guests–including Yoko Ono-Lennon and a goofy banter session with Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr.